2020

Nat. Chem. paper - check! Cover picture - check! PhD defense - check! Raffi ticked off the last item on this list in a successful PhD defense yesterday, rounding off his work in our group. While here, he focussed on the site-specific modification of recombinant proteins and developed a tool we call LACE to prepare protein-protein conjugates. Raffi will soon head off to New York to start his PostDoc at Rockefeller University. Raffi we wish you all the best and a successful PostDoc!

We are happy to announce the most recent graduate from our group, Dr. Yayi Wang! Yayi (someone who truly loves chemistry, as Jeff described him in the introduction to his thesis presentation) earned his PhD for development of new amino reagents for the synthesis of complex saturated N-heterocycles. His mechanistical understanding and ideas propelled the development of OLA and related chemistries in our group. Yayi, we wish you all the best for the new challenges after your PhD!

Jinling is a new PhD student who finished her Master's at University of Edinburgh where she worked on fluorogenic peptide synthesis for her Master's thesis. In our group, she will focus on organic synthesis and peptide chemistry. Welcome, Jinling, an all the best for the coming years!

Arnau is joining as a PhD student. He obtained his Master's in the synthesis of new drug candidates for the treatment of malaria with Prof. Marta Figueredo and will be adding to our research in the field of KAHA ligation. We wish Arnau the best of luck for the coming years!

Euan started his PhD in our group today. Coming from research on cyclic peptides and bringing some industry experience, he will tackle challenges in small molecule libraries and automation. We wish you a great start and all the best for your PhD, Euan!