Department of
Chemistry & Biochemistry
Faculty & Staff
Edward Njoo
Organic Chemistry, Chemical Biology
Chairperson, Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Physical Science
Edward is a PhD candidate at Stanford University. Edward's research students study the applications of organic and physical organic chemistry in the context of the synthesis of molecules that have relevance in biological and biomedical applications. This is accomplished through chemical synthesis, computational modeling, and chemical biology. Our research interests include green methodology towards complex natural product synthesis, design and construction of colorimetric substrates, and small molecule therapeutics to target antibiotic resistant bacteria, HIV, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases.
Larry McMahan
Quantum Physics, Theoretical Chemistry
Dr. McMahan's research group employs computational methods, including Hartree-Fock, Moller-Plesset perturbation theory, and density functional theory in understanding the quantum mechanical basis of photophysical phenomena including chromodynamic theory. Dr. McMahan has a joint appointment in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering, and he received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. from Rice University.
Scott Clark
Organic Chemistry, Chemical Biology
Scott graduated from Loyola Marymount University with a B.S. in Biochemistry with a focus on synthetic organic chemistry. While there, he studied under Dr. Jeremy McCallum, synthesizing a library of novel polyphenol analogs that inhibits harmful amylin oligomerization in the progression of type 2 diabetes. Research in the Clark group focuses on complex organic synthesis of bioactive small molecules, including natural products with complex diketopiperazine cores, and heterocyclic compounds with biomedical applications.
Harman Brah
Biochemistry & Chemical Biology
The Brah lab investigates protein-ligand interactions and behavior of biological macromolecules through both computational methods, including ligand-protein docking, density functional theory, and high-resolution molecular dynamics simulations. The research in the Brah group is focused on issues of modern relevance in medicine from the perspective of biochemistry. Current targets include DNA G-quadruplex assemblies and signal transduction pathways in cancer cells.
Calvin Leung
Quantum Mechanics and Applied Physics
Calvin Leung is pursuing a PhD in physics at MIT studying the phenomena of fast radio bursts: brief, intense flashes of radio-frequency light originating from outside the Milky Way. His past research interests have included quantum communication and searching for dark matter using atomic clocks. In addition, he was a vibration engineer working on the Falcon 9 at SpaceX. Students interested in joining his group should reach out to him.
Gayathri Renganathan
Medicinal Chemistry, Biochemistry
Gayathri is an experienced medicinal biochemist interested in pushing forwards the frontiers of molecular medicine. She received her M.Pharm in Pharmaceutical Analysis from Anna University and has several years of experience as a lecturer, and in quality control and in inorganic/analytical biochemistry. The Renganathan research group applies small molecule phytochemistry in a robust drug discovery platform towards understanding the molecular mechanisms of human disease. Additionally, the group uses a variety of biophysical computational tools to understand the interaction of small molecules with their protein targets.
Nilai Patel
Physical Chemistry, Electrochemistry, Materials Science
Nilai Patel is materials scientist at MicroCor, Inc. and has extensive research experience in applications of electrochemistry. The Patel group performs research in the area of physical and inorganic chemistry, using spectroscopy and electrochemical methods to characterize and engineer materials that have unique properties towards applications in catalysis, electronics, and nanotechnology.
Mahesh Agrawal
Materials Science, Metallurgical Engineering
The Agrawal group's research straddles chemistry and materials science; the focus of their work centers around green polymers, metallurgical engineering, artificial photosynthesis, solar energy, and green chemical engineering towards addressing the world's need for renewable and clean energy.
Kavita Gandhi
Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry
Dr. Gandhi received her M.D. from the American University of Antigua, and has also completed a master's degree in biomedical science. Her research group is interested in understanding the role of molecules from nature in providing therapeutic leads with clinical impact. This is accomplished through extraction and isolation of bioactive molecules from nature.
Kavya Tallapaka
Biochemistry & Enzymology
Kavya is an experienced biochemist and COMET fellow at Stanford. The Tallapaka research group at ASDRP aims to use the tools of biochemistry and molecular biology in understanding the molecular basis of enzymology in the broader context of medicine, diagnostics, and other biomedical applications. This is interrogated through spectroscopic monitoring of enzyme kinetics and structural biology-informed mechanistic hypotheses.
Facilities & Instrumentation
Nanalysis NMReady 60 MHz Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Spectrometer
Our NMR spectrometer is used for characterization of small molecules. Our instrument is the only NMR in the U.S. dedicated for use by high school students and is capable of 1H, homonuclear COSY, and nutation experiments.
Perkin Elmer Lambda 11 UV-visible spectrophotometer
ASDRP operates six research grade UV-vis spectrophotometers; this one is capable of high-resolution absorbance measurements, time-resolved kinetics, and stray wavelength precision down to a tenth of a nanometer.
Rudolph Instruments Optical Polarimeter
One of our two polarimeters, this instrument is capable of measuring optical rotation of plane-polarized light by chiral compounds. Our chemists and biochemists use this to study chirality in macromolecular structure and enantiopure small molecules.
Rotary Evaporators - a.k.a. "Rotavap"
Rotary evaporators are used by chemists in the gentle removal of volatile solvents under reduced pressure in the purification process of small molecules. Our chemistry laboratory has four rotary evaportators (Buchi) equipped with two-stage rotary vacuum pumps.
Thermo Labsystems Multiskan MS Plate Reader
One of three 96-well plate readers, this instrument is designed to provide rapid screening of colorimetric optical reporters, allowing our scientists to probe hundreds of conditions for biological activity in just minutes.
BioTek MicroQuant Fluorescence Plate Reader
Our MicroQuant instrument is capable of both fluorescence and absorbance experiments, enabling the rapid collection of large amounts of spectroscopic data for high-throughput screening of biomolecules.
Analogix IntelliFlash 280 Automated Chromatography
Our IntelliFlash system is used for purification of compounds out of complex reaction mixtures. It uses disposable silica gel normal phase or reverse phase chromatography columns with a built-in UV detector to track elution of UV-active compounds.
Hoefer Scientific DNA Fluorometer
Our Hoefer florometer is built to measure extremely low concentrations of DNA by using a UV lamp to track fluoresence of DNA nucleotide bases. This is useful for biochemists seeking to quantify DNA concentration.
Dynex Opsys MR Microplate Reader
Our Opsys MR microplate reader is built in with functions for biochemical quantification and for high-throughput screening of fluorescent optical reporters.
Laminar Flow Hoods & Tissue culture / cell culture space
Our biosciences lab has two laminar flow hoods, which are designed to maintain a sterile environment and keep contaminants out of cell cultures and cell lines.
Thermo Electron Spectronic Genesys 5 UV-visible spectrophotometer
Our Thermo Spectronic Genesys 5 spectrophotometer comes equipped with a wide range of detection capabilities and can be used for kinetic monitoring for reactions.
Thermo Scientific Nicolet iS5 Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) Spectrometer
The FT-IR spectrometer is equipped with an iD5 attenuated total reflectance (ATR) sample assembly, and is used for vibrational spectroscopy to characterize molecules and materials. IR spectra capture bond vibrational modes.
BioRad SmartSpec 3000 UV-visible spectrophotometer
ASDRP operates six research-grade UV-vis spectrophotometers. Our BioRad instrument is capable of time-resolved kinetics, full differential scan analysis, and quantification of biological macromolecules such as DNA and protein
High-Throughput Computing Server & Cluster
Our two servers are industry grade Dell Poweredge machines equipped with 48 core Xeon processors, 64 GB RAM, and 10 TB memory. This is used for powerful computing capabilities, ranging from quantum mechanical calculations to time-resolved molecular dynamics simlulations.
Millipore MilliQ Ultra High Purity Water System
Sometimes, de-ionized water simply isn't good enough! Our MilliQ Water purification systems makes sure that the aqueous environments our biochemists use to study proteins and nucleic acids meet the highest level of quality control, with filters to remove even trace impurities.
Synthesis Fume Hoods
Chemistry sometimes generates fumes and volatiles that are best to keep away from our student scientists. We have six heavy-duty synthesis fume hoods which duct air away from experimentalists. Three are equipped with carbon filters to remove volatiles from the air.
Princeton Applied Research Scanning Potentiostat
Our research-grade PAR potentiostat is used for cyclic voltammetry experiments, and allows chemists and physicists to probe redox states of particles in solution and to characterize metal ion oxidation states.
3-dimensional Laser Cutter
Our physicists and engineers use our industry-grade laser cutter to build custom-shaped and custom-sized components out of any material imaginable. The instrument uses a high-power laser to carve contours out of material.
Pelton & Crane High-Pressure Autoclave
To create super-sterile equipment and solutions, our biologists and biochemists use this autoclave to superheat solutions to temperatures upwards of 300 degrees and pressures up to 3,100 torr.
Bausch and Lomb Melting Point Apparatus
Melting point is often used to determine the purity of a substance, and our melting point apparatus is used by extraction chemists to determine if there are impurities in their material.
721 UV-visible-near infrared spectrophotometers
We have two twin instruments that are capable of measuring single wavelength absorbances at a range from 350 nm to 1150 nm. This can be used to monitor reaction kinetics, or to obtain specific absorbances along an absorption profile of a substance.
Thermo LC Packings Ultimate High Performace Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)
High-performace liquid chromatography (HPLC) is a method for the separation and purification of small molecules from a mixture. Our HPLC is outfitted for even the most challenging separations and has a built-in UV detector.