Alumni

Alumni of Montelione Research Group

Postdoctoral Fellows and Graduate Students

1. Barbara Lyons. (Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry, Cornell University, 1988). Postdoctoral Fellow, Research Assistant Professor, 1990 – 1993. Project Title at CABM: “New Methods for Protein Structure Determination by NMR.” Former Assistant Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Vermont.  Currently Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at New Mexico State University. blyons@nmsu.edu  

2. S. Donald Emerson. (Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry, University of California at Davis, 1988). Research Assistant Professor, 1991 – 1993. Project Title at CABM: “NMR Methods for Determining Homo- and Heteronuclear Scalar Coupling Constants.” Currently Research Scientist at Pfizer Global Research and Development, Ann Arbor, MI.  steven.emerson@pfizer.com

3. Franklin Moy (Ph.D. in Chemistry, Cornell University, 1991). Joint Graduate Student of Harold A. Scheraga at Cornell and Gaetano T. Montelione at CABM, 1985-1991. Ph.D. Thesis Title:”Heteronuclear NMR Studies of Type-α Transforming Growth Factor.” Former Research Scientist at Lederle Labs and Wyeth-Ayerst in Pearl River, NY and Pfizer in Cambridge, MA. Currently NMR Research Operation Manager at UNC Greensboro. fjmoy@uncg.edu

4. Keith Newkirk. (Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry, Univ. of Arkansas, 1992). Postdoctoral Fellow, 1992 – 1994. Project Title at CABM: “Initial Structure Analysis of the Major Cold Shock Protein from E. coli.” Former Area Manager at Nalco Chemical Company. Currently a Senior Process Engineer at Evergreen Packaging. linkedin.com/in/keith-newkirk-b8904422

5. Yuchin Li (Ph.D. in Chemistry, Rutgers University, 1994). Graduate Student, 1989-1994. Ph.D. Thesis Title: “Heteronuclear NMR Studies of Protein Dynamics.” Currently Research Scientist at Novartis Pharmaceuticals, East Hanover, NJ.  yu-chin.li@pharma.novartis.com

6. Clelia Biamonti Clelia Biamonti (Ph.D. in Biochemistry, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, 1996). Graduate Student, 1990-1996. Ph.D. Thesis Title: “Structural and Dynamic Investigations of Macromolecular Recognition Processes by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy.” Recipient of Graduate Fellowship from New Jersey Commission on Cancer Research and an NIH Training Grant in Biotechnology. Former management consultant to the biopharma industry.  Currently the Executive Director of Overlook Foundation at Overlook Medical Center in New Jersey. clelia.biamonti@atlantichealth.org, cbiamonti@gmail.com.

7. Mitsuru Tashiro (Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry, University of Tokyo, Japan, 1996). Graduate Student, 1992-1996. Ph.D. Thesis Title: High Resolution Solution NMR Structure of the Z-Domain of Staphylococcal Protein A and Initial Binding Study with Immunoglobulin G.” Currently Assistant Professor at Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan. tashiro@nmr.chem.metro-u.ac.jp

8. Carlos B. Rios (Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry, Rutgers University, Newark, 1989; Postdoc at Rockefeller University). Research Associate, 1993 – 1997. Project Title at CABM: “Novel Pulse Sequence for Triple-Resonance NMR.” Former Systems Administrator at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Lawrenceville, NJ. Currently a Senior Research Investigator at Bristol Myers Squibb.  carlos.rios@bms.com

9. Zhigang Shang (Ph.D. in Biophysics, State University of New York at Stony Brook, 1990). Postdoctoral fellow, 1993- 1997. Project title at CABM: “Triple Resonance NMR of HIV Ribonuclease H.”

10. Wenqing Feng (Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Rutgers University, 1997). Graduate Student, 1993 – 1997. Thesis Title: “Structure and Dynamics of the Major Cold Shock Protein from E.coli.” Formerly Senior Scientist at Schering-Plough Research Institute, Kenilworth, NJ.  wenqing.feng@spcorp.com

11. Sakurako Shimotakahara (Ph.D. in Chemistry, Cornell University, 1996). Graduate Student, 1994 – 1997. Thesis Title: “Expression and Structural Characterization of Oxidative Folding Intermediate Analog [C65S, C72S] Ribonuclease A.” Currently Assistant Professor at Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Science in Japan.  sakurako@titania.ps.toyaku.ac.jp

12. Diane Zimmerman (Ph.D. in Computer Science, Rutgers University, 1994). Research Assistant Professor, 1994 – 1998. Currently Research Scientist at New World Science and Technology, Silver Springs, MD.  dzimmerman@nwsti.com

13. David Yorio (Masters, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology- Rutgers University, 1998, Doctor of Osteopathy- Rowan University 2002).  Masters Degree Student, 1996 – 1998. Currently Research Associate in NJ biotechnology company.  Currently a Family Physician at Yorio Family Medicine.

14. Subir Kumedan (Masters, Bioinformatics- Rutgers University, 1999). Masters Degree Student, 1996 – 1999.  Formerly Web Designer at Micro Modeling Associates, San Francisco, CA. Founder and currently User Experience Principal at UX for All. LinkedIn

15. Chen-ya Chien (Ph.D. in Molecular Biology & Biochemistry, Rutgers University, 1999).  Graduate Student, 1994 – 1999.  Currently Senior Scientist at Schering-Plough Research Institute, Kenilworth, NJ.  chen-ya.chien@spcorp.com

16. Michael Andrec (Ph.D. in Chemistry, Yale University, 1997).  Postdoctoral Fellow, 1997 – 1999.  Project title at CABM: “Bayesian Methods for Analysis of Nuclear Relaxation Data.”  Former Postdoctoral Fellow in Department of Chemistry,  Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ. Currently an Archivist and Web Developer at Ukrainian History and Education Center. Linkedin

17. Kristin C. Gunsalus (Ph.D. in Cell and Developmental Biology, Cornell University, 1997).  Postdoctoral Fellow, 1997 – 2000. Project title at CABM: ” New Technologies for Structural Genomics.”  Formerly Assistant Professor of Genomics in Department of Biology  at New York University.  Currently Professor of Biology; NYU-AD Faculty Director of Bioinformatics at New York University. kcg1@nyu.edu

18.  Parag Sahasrabudhe (Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 1996).  Postdoctoral Associate, 1997 – 2000.  Project title at CABM: “Structural Studies of RBP MS RNA Binding Protein.”  Currently Senior Principal Scientist at Pfizer Global Research and Development, Groton, CT.  parag.sahasrabudhe@pfizer.com Parag Sahasrabudhe | LinkedIn

19. Bonnie Lynn Dixon (Ph.D. in Biochemistry, University of Vermont, 1998).  Postdoctoral Associate, 1998 – 2000. Project title at CABM: ” Structural Studies of BRCT Domain From Bacterial Ligases.”  Formerly taught at The College of New Jersey (formerly Trenton State), Trenton, NJ. Currently a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Maryland. bdixon1@umd.edu

20. Ying Xiong (M.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Rutgers University & the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, 2000).  Graduate Student, 1997 – 2000. Project title at CABM: “Computational Tools For Automatic Structure Analysis.”  Currently at J.P. Morgan.

21. Elisabet Wahlberg.  (Ph.D. in Biotechnology at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 2006). Graduate Student at the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine at Rutgers University, 1999 – 2000.  Graduate Student at Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden.  Currently a Scientist at Affibody AB. Linkedin elisa@kth.se

22. David Pantoja. Graduate Student, 2000-2001.  Currently Graduate Student at Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain. dpantoja@iqfr.csic.es

23. Daniel Monleon (Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry, University of Valencia, Spain, 1999). Postdoctoral Fellow, 1999 – 2002.  Formerly Postdoctoral Associate at University of Valencia, Spain. Currently an Associate Professor at University of Valencia, Spain. daniel.monleon@uv.es

24.  Rajan K. Paranji (Ph.D. in Physics, University of Hyderabad, India, 1994).  Research Associate, 1999-2003.  Research Scientist at The University of Washington at Seattle. Currently the NMR Facility Manager at The University of Washington in Seattle. rajanp@uw.edu

25.  Deyou Zheng (Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Rutgers University, 2003).  Graduate Student, 1999-2003.  Thesis Title: “Rapid Determination of Accurate Low Resolution Protein Structures With Sparse NMR Constraints.”  Formerly a Postdoctoral fellow at Yale University.  Currently a Professor at Albert Einstein School of Medicine in Bronx, NY. Linkedin zhengdy@csb.yale.edu

27.  Michael Baran (Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Rutgers University, 2005). Vice President at Pfizer. Currently Executive Director, WRDM and Partner at Pfizer Ventures. Michael.Baran@pfizer.com

28.  Gregory Kornhaber (Ph.D. in Biochemistry, UMDNJ, 2005). “Solution NMR Structure of Zn-ligated Fe-S Cluster Assembly Scaffold Protein SufU from Bacillus subtilis.” Formerly the Associate Director of Business Development at ExSAR. Currently the Director of Quality and Alliances at OrthogenRx. Linkedin

29.  Cuifeng Yin (Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Rutgers University, 2005). “Structural Studies of NS1 Non-structural Protein 1 from Influenza Virus.” Former Postdoctoral fellow at Rutgers University. Currently a Specialized Statistical Programmer, Senior Associate at Pfizer. Linkedin

30. Lincong Wang (Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Michigan State University, 1998). 2006-2007 at NESG, Rutgers University. Currently a professor at the College of Computer Science and Technology, Jilin University, China working on computational structural biology, especially molecular surfaces, and the author of SESx, a program for molecular surface computation/triangulation:  https://github.com/wlincong/SESexact. wlincong@gmail.com

31. Rong Xiao. (Ph.D. in Applied Microbiology, Hokkaido University, 1988). Currently Chief Executive Officer at Nexomics Biosciences. rxiao@nexomics.com

32. Gauhua Liu. (Ph.D. in Chemistry, Nanjing University, 1996). Currently Chief Scientific Officer at Nexomics Biosciences. gliu@nexomics.com

33. Li-Chung Ma. Currently a Research Professor at Rutgers University. lima@rwjms.rutgers.edu

34. GVTS Swapna. (Ph.D. in NMR Spectroscopy and Physical Chemistry, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, 1993). Currently a Senior Research Scientist at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. swapna.gurla@gmail.com

35. James Aramini. (Ph.D. in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, University of Calgary, 1994). Currently a Research Associate Professor at City College of New York. jaramini@gc.cuny.edu

36. Khushboo Bafna (Ph.D. in Computational Molecular Biophysics from University of Tennessee Knoxville in 2019) Senior Research Scientist at Quantum-Si. Khushboo Bafna | LinkedIn Google Scholar

Visiting Scholars

1. Bernardo Celda (Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry, University of Valencia in Spain, 1984). Visiting Professor, 1991, 1995. Project Title at CABM: “NMR Studies of Epidermal Growth Factor and DNA-binding Proteins.” Currently Professor of Chemistry, Department of Physical Chemistry, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain. bernardo@bioiris.quifis.uv.es

2. Thomas Wehler (Ph.D. in Chemistry, Stockholm University). Visiting Scientist, 1991. Project Title at CABM: “NMR Solution Structure Determinants of Human Epidermal Growth Factor.” Currently Director of the NMR Group, Department of Pharmokinetic and Structure Analysis of Pharmacia-UpJohn, Stockholm, SWEDEN.

3. Marc Adler (Ph.D. in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University). Visiting Scientist, 1991 – 1992. Formerly Research Scientist, Berlex Biosciences, Morristown, NJ. Currently Principal Scientist at ChemPartner.

4. Roberto Tejero (Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry, University of Valencia in Spain, 1985). Visiting Professor, Summers 1992-2002. Project Title at CABM: “New Methods for Structure Determination Using Simulated Annealing with Molecular Dynamics.” Currently Professor of Chemistry, Department of Physical Chemistry, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain. Current member of the Montelione Lab. roberto.tejero@uv.es

5. Alexander Arseniev (Ph.D. in Chemical Sciences, Shemyakin Institute of Bio-organic Chemistry, 1988). Visiting Professor, 1994. Project Title at CABM: “NMR Studies of Staphylococcal Protein A.” Professor of Molecular Biophysics at the Shemyakin Institute of Bio-organic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia. Currently the Head of Department of the M.M. Shemyakin-Yu.A. Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences. aars@nmr.ru

6. Ronald Neiman (Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Arizona State University, 1981).  Visiting Scientist, Summer 1997.  Currently NMR Facility Director, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ. nieman@asu.edu

7. Takenao Ohkawa (Ph.D. in Engineering, Osaka University, 1992).  Visiting Scientist, 2000-2001.  Currently Associate Professor at Osaka University, Osaka, Japan. ohkawa@ise.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp

8. Kamal Shukla (Ph.D. Physiology and Biophysics, State University of New York, NY 1977).  Visiting Scientist, October 2000 – September 2001.  Formerly Director of the Molecular Biophysics Division, National Science Foundation.

Staff

1. George Elkins   Programmer/Analyst, 1989-1996. Currently a member of the systems analyst staff at Chesapeake Decision Sciences, Inc. gfe@chesapeake.com

2.  Daphne Macapagal (B.S. in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Rutgers University, 1998)  Laboratory Researcher, 1998-2000. (Ph.D. Immunology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, MD 2010). Currently Research Scientist, MedImmune Co., Rockville, MD. palacidap@yahoo.com

3.  Marina Kiriyeva (B.S. in Computer Science, Lafayette College, 1999)  Systems Programmer in Clearwater, FL

4.  Ray Schroeder Database Management, 2000. 

5.  Ngoc M. (Emily) Ly  Biochemical Technician, 1998-2000.

6.  Margaret Wu (B.S. in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Rutgers University,
2001, M.D., New Jersey Medical School-UMDNJ- Newark, NJ, 2007)  Biochemical Technician, 2001-2002.  Currently an Anesthesiologist in Hackensack, NJ. wuma@umdnj.edu

7.  Mathieu Levi (B.S. in History, Rutgers University, 2001).  Computer Systems Administrator, 2001 – 2003.  Formerly a member of the systems analyst staff at KBC Financial Products in Manhattan, NY. Currently the Manager of DevOps Engineering at iCapital Network, New York, NY. Mathieu Levi | LinkedIn mootimus@spamcop.net

8.  Ritu Shastry (M.S. in Bioengineering, Pennsylvania State University, University
Park, PA, 1998). Biochemical Technician, 2001 – 2004. Former Researcher at Janssen Pharmaceutical Company. Currently a Senior Scientist at Evotec. Ritu Shastry | LinkedIn

9.  Liang-yu Shih (B.S. in Biology, Rutgers University, 2001).  Biochemical
technician, 2001 – 2004.  Currently biochemical technician at
Medirex, Bloomsbury, NJ.  lydiafish@hotmail.com

10. Rebecca Klein (B.S. in English, Rutgers University, 1996).  Scientific Editor & Administrative Assistant, 1996 – 2005. Currently the Head Coach at Ideal-NOW: Nutrition for Optimal Wellness. Becky Klein | LinkedIn  beckers_klein@yahoo.com

11. Jane Kornhaber (B.S. Boston Conservatory at Berklee). Currently Administrative Coordinator at Rutgers University and Owner of Nils-Dale Farm. Jane Kornhaber | LinkedIn jtbaird@cabm.rutgers.edu

12. Helema Janjua Researcher at Janssen Pharmaceutical Company.

13. Christopher Damone (B.S. in Chemical Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 2022). Christopher Damone | LinkedIn