Research Scientists, Postdoc Fellows and Research Assistants

Prahlad Parajuli, PhD

Sr. Research Scientist, 2022-present
Project: Immunology & Cancer Biology

Narva Kushwaha, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow, 2022-present
Project: Medicinal Chemistry

Laxman Alakonda, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow, 2024-present
Project: Medicinal Chemistry

Babita Kushwaha, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow, 2024-present
Project: Medicinal Chemistry

Mohamad Bakkar, MD

Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellow, 2024-present
Project: Cancer Biology

Abdullah AI-Homoudi, PhD

PhD student, 2021-2024
Project: Structural Biology

Alexander Jakubiec

Research Assistant, 2024-present
Richard Barber Fellow, 2022-2023
Project: Medicinal Chemistry

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Graduate Students

Amirreza Samarbakhsh, MS

PhD student, 2022-present
Research Assistant, 2020-2022
Project: Medicinal Chemistry

Komal, MSc

PhD Student, 2023-present
Research Assistant, Jan.-Aug. 2023
Project: Molecular/Cellular Biology

Sadaf Dorandish, MS

PhD student, 2022-present
Project: Molecular/Cellular Biology

Duy Luong, MS

PhD student, 2022-present
Project: Nanotechnology

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Research Scholars

Steph Bozynski​

PharmD Research Scholar, 2023-present Project: Molecular/Cancer Biology

Diksha Pawar

Research Scholar, 2021-Present
Project: Medicinal Chemistry

Nidhi Daphal

Research Scholar, 2024-Present
Project: Molecular/Cancer Biology

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Visiting Fellows

Prasanth R. Nyalapatla, PhD

Visiting Scholar, 2021-present
Project: Medicinal Chemistry
Position: Sr. Process Scientist at AMPAC, CA

Munikumar Reddy, PhD

Visiting Fellow, 2020-present
Project: Molecular Modeling
Position: Senior Scientist at PharmCADD, India

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Lab Alumni

Jitender Gaddamedi, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow, 2019-2021
Current Position: Postdoc with Dr. Andrew Lipchik at WSU

Nivisa Vakeesan

Research Assistant, Jan-Aug 2021
Current Position: MS/PhD Student at WSU

Deepti Pandey, DVM, MS

Research Assistant, 2021-2022
MS Student, 2019-2021
Current Position: PhD Student with Dr. Kevin Dalby at The University of Texas, Austin

Somrita Dey, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow, 2021-2022
Current Position: Research Scientist, New York University, NY

Mohammed Teiama, PhD

Research Scientist, 2021-2022
Current Position: Assistant Professor at the Helwan University, Egypt

Olusayo Ogunyemi

MS student, 2021-2022
Current Position: PhD Student at The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Athira Rajan Pillai

MS student, 2020-2022
Current Position: Research Associate at Biogen, Boston

Shiv Sharma, PhD

Sr. Research Scientist, Mar-Sep 2022
Current Position: Research Scientist with Dr. Steven Firestine at WSU

Sara Serafimovski, BSHS

PharmD Research Scholar, 2020-2022
Current Position: Pharmacy Intern at Beaumont Hospital, Troy, MI

Prakash Chavan, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow, 2022-2023
Current Position: Faculty, Pune University, India

Salma Althobaiti

MS student, 2020-2022
Current Position: Faculty, Taif University, Saudi Arabia

Dinesh Chauhan, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow, 2021-2023
Current Position: Senior Scientist, Jubilant Biosys, India

Huy Nguyễn, BSc

Research Assistant 2022-2023
Current Position: MS student at WSU

Hussein W. Kansou

Research Scholar, 2021-2023
Current Position: Medical Track

Hariprasad Aruri, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow, 2020-2024
Current Position: Team Leader, Aragen (GVK) Bioscience, India

Sumaiya Syed

Research Assistant, 2023-2024

Evan Malin

Research Assistant, 2023-2024 Richard Barber Fellow, 2022-2023
Current Position: PhD Student, Wayne State School of Medicine. 

Aniha Jain

Research Assistant, 2024-2024

Ian Hay

PharmD Research Scholar, 2021-2024 Current Position: PGY1 Pharmacy Resident at the VA-Ann Arbor, MI

Tom Lucaj​

PharmD Research Scholar, 2021-2024 Current Position: Clinical Pharmacist, Karmanos Cancer Institute, Detroit, MI