Current Fellows

Alaa Abdelazziz

Alaa will join Professor Brian Blagg's lab at the University of Notre Dame from September 2026 to December 2026. Alaa will focus on the design, synthesis, and purification of PROTACs.

Carlos Cal y Mayor Luna

M.S. 2022, Instituto de Química - UNAM, Ciudad de México, México

B.S. 2017, UPAEP, Puebla, México

Discipline: Biophysics

Mentor: Shahriar Mobashery

 

Research Project:

Carlos's research project focuses on elucidating the germination process of Clostridioides difficile using an interdisciplinary approach that integrates protein biochemistry, protein biophysics, structural techniques, and computational methods. The project aims to uncover how the Csp proteins interact with germinant molecules and with each other to initiate the germination process of this pathogen.

 

Internship:

September 8 - December 1, 2025. Instituto de Química-Física Rocasolano, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Madrid, Spain. Mentor: Professor Juan A. Hermoso Domínguez

Carlos focused on resolving the different complexes between the Csp proteins with their germinant molecules through X-ray crystallography and characterizing the higher-order complex of the CspA-CspB-CspC proteins with cryo-EM.

 

Publications:

• Cal y Mayor Luna, C.; Alcorlo, M.; Kim, C.; Jacobson, G. N.; Lázaro, M.; Valle, M.; Chang, M.; Hermoso, J. A.; Mobashery, S. Structure of Core Assembly of Clostriodioides difficle Germinosome. Nat Commun. 2026, Jun 17. doi: 10.1038/s41467-026-74264-w. Online ahead of print.PMID: 42310002
• Yang, J.; Qian, Y.; Kim, C.; Birhanu, B. T.; Cal y Mayor-Luna, C.; Ding, D.; Yu, X.; Schroeder, V. A.; Mobashery, S.; Chang, M. J. Targeting SleC and CspB in the Inhibition of Spore Germination in Clostridioides difficile. Med Chem. 2025, May 8;68(9):9357-9370. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.4c03090. Epub 2025 Apr 26.PMID: 40286328

 

Elizabeth Chang

Internship:

Elizabeth will join Dr. Jason Gill's lab at Texas A&M University from January 2027 to April 2027. Elizabeth will focus on learning to genetically engineer phages for therapeutic applications.

Publications:

• Chang, E.T.; Wanigasinghe, S.; Kerr, C.M.; Young, K.; Dovichi, N.J.; Champion, M.M.; Jaskowski Huge, B. 3-D printed aseptic injection system for capillary electrophoresis, Talanta, 2026, 300-129153. PMID:41317479.

Luke Cowart

Publications:

• Cowart, L. J.; Nemeth, A. M.; Jania, L. A.; Overly, M.; Ellis, C. F.; Koller, B. H.; Melander, R. J.; Doi, Y.; Ernst, R. K.; Melander, C. IMD-0354 optimization generates potent colistin adjuvants with in vivo activity and reduced eukaryotic toxicity.
  Eur J Med Chem. 2026, Jun 3;316:119028. doi: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2026.119028. Online ahead of print.PMID: 42248056

Matthew Debany

Amr El-Araby

B.Pharm 2017, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
Discipline: Biochemistry
Mentor: Shahriar Mobashery

Research Project:

Amr's research involves the investigation of the cell-wall recycling pathway in the Gram-negative bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The focus of this project is to integrate chemical synthesis, biochemical methods, and biophysics to elucidate and characterize the metabolic flux of this pathway and the protein-protein interactions among the pathway enzymes.

Internship:

September 1 - November 30, 2023. The University of Notre Dame. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Notre Dame, IN. Mentor: Shahriar Mobashery. Amr focused on evolving the reconstituted cell-wall-recycling pathway into a 96-well-plate format to allow for high-throughput compound screening and designing and synthesizing an analog of bulgecian A, a natural product inhibitor of lytic transglycosylases.

Honors:

• 2025 Advanced Research Impact Award, Notre Dame Graduate Student Government
• Two-year American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowship 2025-2026

Publications:

• Auberger, N.; El-Araby, A. M.; Van Tran, T.; Feltzer, R.; Poveda, A.; Jiménez-Barbero, J.; Mobashery, S.; Blériot, Y. Ring opening, conformational analysis and NagZ inhibition of a GlcNAc-configured iminosugar-derived aziridine. Carbohydr Res. 2026, Jun;564:109899. doi: 10.1016/j.carres.2026.109899. Epub 2026 Mar 23.PMID: 41903358
• El-Araby, A. M.; Pérez de José, U.; Miguel-Ruano. V.; Lee, M.; Feltzer, R.; Avila-Cobian, L.F.; Hesek, D.; Fisher, J.F.; Hermoso, J.A.; Mobashery, S. Outer Membrane-Peptidoglycan Anchoring in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. J Am Chem Soc. 2026, May 8. doi: 10.1021/jacs.6c03160. Online ahead of print.PMID: 42100858
• Dominguez-Cisneros, H.; Konai, M. M.; Kim, C.; Rana, N.; Feltzer, R.; Janardhanan, J.; El-Araby, A. M.; Nguyen, V. T.; Fisher, J. F.; Chang, M.; Mobashery, S. Antibacterial Benzimidazole-2-Methanamines as Allosteric Modulators of Streptococcus pneumoniae Penicillin-Binding Protein 2x. J. Med Chem. 2026, Jan 22;69(2):1085-1099. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.5c02273. Epub 2025 Nov 10.PMID: 41215557
• Thomas, C. A.; Kim, C.; El-Araby, A. M.; Birhanu, B. T.; Nguyen, V. T.; Schroeder, V. A.; Fisher, J. F.; Chang, M.; Mobashery, S. Discovery and Evaluation of a Methylpyrazolopyrimidine Antibacterial Active against Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus. ACS Infect Dis. 2025, Nov 14;11(11):3276-3285. doi: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.5c00685. Epub 2025 Oct 16.PMID: 41100849
• Nguyen, V. T.; Birhanu, B. T.; Miguel-Ruano, V.; Kim, C.; Batuecas, M.; Yang, J.; El-Araby AM.; Jiménez-Faraco, E.; Schroeder, V. A.; Alba, A.; Rana, N.; Sader, S.; Thomas, C. A.; Feltzer, R.; Lee, M.; Fisher. J. F.; Hermoso, J. A.; Chang, M.; Mobashery, S. Restoring susceptibility to β-lactam antibiotics in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Nat Chem Biol. 2025, Apr;21(4):482-489. doi: 10.1038/s41589-024-01688-0. Epub 2024 Jul 26.PMID: 39060390
• El-Araby, A. M.; Fisher, J.F.; Mobashery, S. Bacterial peptidoglycan as a living polymer. Curr Opin Chem Biol. 2025, Feb;84:102562. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2024.102562. Epub 2024 Dec 18.PMID: 39700530
• Miguel-Ruano, V.; Feltzer, R.; Batuecas, M. T.; Ramachandran, B.; El-Araby, A. M.; Avila-Cobian, L. F.; De Benedetti, S.; Mobashery, S.; Hermoso, J. A. Structural characterization of lytic transglycosylase MltD of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a target for the natural product bulgecin A. Int J Biol Macromol. 2024, May;267(Pt 1):131420. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.131420. Epub 2024 Apr 5.PMID: 38583835
• Avila-Cobian, L.F.; De Benedetti, S.; Hoshino, H.; Nguyen, V. T.; El-Araby, A.M.; Sader, S.; Hu, D. D.; Cole, S.L.; Kim, C.; Fisher, J.F.; Champion, M.M.; Mobashery, S. Lytic transglycosylase Slt of Pseudomonas aeruginosa as a periplasmic hub protein. Protein Sci. 2024 Jul;33(7):e5038. doi: 10.1002/pro.5038.PMID: 38864725
• El-Araby, A. M.; Jiménez-Faraco, E.; Feltzer, R.; Martin-Garcia, J.M.; Karri, B.R.; Ramachandran, B.; Kim, C.; Fisher, J.F.; Hermoso, J.A.; Mobashery, S. Catalytic process of anhydro-N-acetylmuramic acid kinase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2023, 299 (10):105198. doi: 10.1016/j.jbc.2023.105198. Epub 2023 Sep 1. 105198-105198.
• El-Araby, A. M.; Feltzer, R.; Kim, C.; Mobashery, S. Application of 2D-ITC to the Elucidation of the enzymatic Mechanism of N-Acetylmuramic Acid/N-Acetylglucosamine Kinase (AmgK) from Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Biochemistry, 2023. 18, 62(8): 1337-1341.. Epub 2023 Mar 27. PMID: 36971350DO DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.3c00090

Mahmoud Elazazy

B. Pharm 2022, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
Discipline: Chemistry
Mentor: Shahriar Mobashery

Research Project: Mahmoud’s research involves the design and synthesis of novel compounds that disarm bacterial defense mechanisms against β-lactam antibiotics. The project aims to develop a set of covalent inhibitors of β-Lactam Receptor (BlaR), in order to block the recognition of β-lactams in the milieu, silencing the downstream expression of resistance effector proteins. Mahmoud’s work will lead to the resensitization of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) to β-lactams.

Internship: Mahmoud will join Professor Juan A. Hermoso in the Department of Crystallography and Structural Biology at the Instituto de Química-Física (Institute of Physical Chemistry), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Madrid, Spain, from February to April 2028. Mahmoud will receive training in structural biology and biophysics, learning different ways for protein crystallization with ligands of interest, and techniques of solving protein structures by X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy. Mahmoud will gain hands-on experience in determining and processing X-ray diffraction data of the structures of his inhibitors bound to BlaR.

---

Bassant Eldaly

B.S. 2022, Zewail City of Science and Technology, Cairo, Egypt

Discipline: IBMS

Mentor: Brian Baker

 

Research Project: Bassant's research focuses on developing novel immunotherapeutic strategies for targeting resistant KRAS mutations, particularly the KRAS-G12D variant. Integrating structural biology, immunology, and synthetic chemistry, her work aims to harness T cell receptor recognition of KRAS public neoantigens and explore the integration of peptide-based therapeutic cancer vaccines with T cell therapy for durable anti-tumor immunity against KRAS-mutant cancers.

 

Internship:

January 8 - March 10, 2026. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY. Mentor: Drs. Christopher Klebanoff and Smita Chandran. Bassant focused on learning advanced cellular immunology by transducing primary human T cells with the TCRs. She conducted functional co-culture studies with HLA-A11 antigen-presenting cells. Her internship provided extensive training in cellular immunology and immunotherapy and exposed her to a translational immunotherapy laboratory.

 

Publications:

• Ma, J.; Ayres, C. M.; Brambley, C. A.; Eldaly, B.; Perera, W. W. J. G.; Lazar, J. A.; Kovrigin, E. L.; Chandran, S. S.; Klebanoff, C.A.; Baker, B.M. HLA micropolymorphisms confine neoantigen conformational adaptability and guide T cell receptor selectivity.
  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2026 Jun 9;123(23):e2602949123. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2602949123. Epub 2026 Jun 1.
• Eldaly, B.; Baker, B. M. Dynamic Allostery in T Cell Receptor Specificity: A Role for Peptides and MHC Polymorphisms in Allosterically Tuning Immune Recognition. Bioessays. 2026 Mar;48(3):e70126. doi: 10.1002/bies.70126.PMID: 41879488
• Ma, J.; C. M.; Brambley, C. A.; Eldaly, B.; Perera, W. W. J. G.; Lazar, J. A.; Kovrigin, E. L.; Chandran, S.S.; Klebanoff, C. A.; Baker, B. M. HLA micropolymorphisms confine neoantigen conformational adaptability and guide T cell receptor selectivity.
  bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2026 Jan 12:2025.12.22.696040. doi: 10.64898/2025.12.22.696040. Update in: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2026 Jun 9;123(23):e2602949123. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2602949123.PMID: 41509343

• Gray, G. I.; Chukwuma, P. C.; Eldaly, B.; Perera, W. W. J. G.; Brambley, C. A.; Rosales, T. J.; Baker, B. M. The Evolving T Cell Receptor Recognition Code: The Rules Are More Like Guidelines. Immunol Rev. 2025, Jan;329(1):e13439. doi: 10.1111/imr.13439.PMID: 39804137

• Ma, J.; Ayres, C. M.; Brambley CA.; Chandran, S.S.; Rosales, T. J.; Perera, W.W.J.G.; Eldaly, B.; Murray, W.T.; Corcelli, S. A.; Kovrigin, E.L.; Klebanoff, C.A.; Baker, B. M. Dynamic allostery in the peptide/MHC complex enables TCR neoantigen selectivity.
  Nat Commun. 2025, Jan 20;16(1):849. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-56004-8.PMID: 39833157

•  

---

Julia Haas

B.S. 2021, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

M.S. 2022, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Discipline: Biochemistry

Mentor: Brittany Morgan

Research Project:

Julia's project focuses on covalently targeting RNA-binding proteins. The goal of her research is to understand the role of protein conformational dynamics in covalent selectivity.

Internship:

Julia will join Dr. Keriann Backus's lab at UCLA from July 2026 to September 2026. She will learn to synthesise chemical tools for subsequent use in chemoproteomic screenings

Laura Hession

Natalie Kotlin

B.S. 2024, Manchester University, North Manchester, IN

Discipline: Biochemistry

Mentor: Saurja DasGupta

Research Project: Natalie’s research involves probing the origins of life, using catalytically active RNA as her model system. The focus of her project is to develop a prebiotically plausible protocell model in the form of coacervates, and study how these early compartments influence RNA evolution and function.

Internship: Natalie will join Professor Christine Keating in the Department of Chemistry at Penn State University in the spring of 2027. There, she will investigate the systems chemistry and biophysics of RNA-coacervates, a type of liquid-liquid phase separated compartment. She will learn techniques necessary to characterize coacervate formation and stability, its interaction with RNA, and its ability to support RNA function and evolution.

---

Brandon Matos

B.S. 2024, Saint Peter’s University, Jersey City, New Jersey
Discipline: Biochemistry

Mentor: Mariko Morimoto

Research Project: Brandon’s research focuses on the design of synthetic chimeric proteins to rewire dysfunctional protein-protein interactions at the Tumor Associated Macrophages-T cell interface. The goal of this project is to develop novel therapeutics, while also deconvoluting molecular mechanisms of immunological processes.

Internship: Brandon will join Professor James A. Wells in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of California San Francisco from June to August 2027. Brandon will learn to utilize photocatalytic proximity labeling techniques such as Multimap. This will allow for profiling of the interactome of the TAM-T cell synapse.

---

Quinton Perry

B.S. 2024, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, Champaign, IL
Discipline: Chemistry
Mentor: Juan Del Valle

Research Project: Quinton's research leverages organic synthesis to develop unique, noncanonical scaffolds that impart distinct conformational constraints into peptidomimetics. His current research focuses on the development and implementation of β-strand-inducing modifications to recapitulate the structural features and antimicrobial activity of peptide natural products that selectively inhibit the β-barrel assembly machinery (BAM) complex in Gram-negative bacteria.

Internship: Quinton will join Professor Richard Ebright in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Rutgers University from August 1 to November 1, 2027. During this research experience, he will learn to perform protein refolding assays and advanced characterization techniques necessary to validate and visualize target–ligand interactions involving his synthetic peptidomimetics.

 

---

Karolina Rooney

B.S. 2022, Creighton University, Omaha, NE

Discipline: Chemistry

Mentor: Bradley Smith

 

Research Project:

Karolina’s project focuses on the design of fluorescent probes with “smart” molecules that can selectively target tumor cells or microbes within the body. These bioresponsive probes are activated in diseased cells and can be used for both diagnosis and photodynamic therapy (PDT), making them powerful theranostic tools. Karolina will synthesize these probes and evaluate their performance in relevant biological models.

 

Internship:

June 8 - July 24, 2026. University of Texas at Dallas, Department of Clinical Microbiology. Mentor: Professor Nicole De Nisco. Karolina will evaluate the PDT capabilities of her compounds to target and destroy Uropathogenic Escherichia coli, a major cause of urinary tract infections.

 

Publications:

• Sanders, H. S.; Rooney, K. A.; Panethiere, M. A.; Atkinson, K. M.; Smith, B. D. Doubly Protected Ester Prodrug of 5-Aminolevulinic Acid for Enhanced Cell Uptake and Photoinactivation. [Preprint]. 2026 Apr 9:rs.3.rs-9033698.
  doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9033698/v1. PMID: 41994139. PMCID: PMC13082121

---

Johann Roque

B.S. 2022, State University of New York at Oswego, Oswego, NY

Discipline: Chemistry

Mentor: Brittany Morgan

 

Research Project: Johann's research focuses on covalently targeting dynamic and/or disordered proteins with small-molecule probes. The objective of his research is to uncover the guiding principles that govern the selective covalent targeting of these proteins and to develop potent, selective chemical tools.

 

Internship:

January 9 - July 11, 2026. AstraZeneca, Chemical Biology and Proteomics Division, Waltham, MA. Mentors: Drs. Jordan Mattheisen and Angelo Andres. Johann will focus on identifying novel protein targets for a multitude of bi-specific ligands. He will also set up the workflow of cell cultures for multiple cell lines to run assays on mass spectrometers and analyze the data.

---

Milah Young

B.A. 2022, Hanover College, Hanover, IN

Discipline: Biochemistry

Mentor: Christian Melander

Research Project:

Milah's research will focus on elucidating the mechanism by which polymyxin resistance is reversed in Klebsiella pneumoniae. Her work will focus on the adjuvant activity of the eukaryotic kinase inhibitor IMD-0354, which has been previously shown to reverse polymyxin resistance via the PmrAB two-component system. Using biochemical assays, Milah will determine how IMD-0354 and its derivatives resensitize polymyxin-resistant K. pneumoniae by disrupting PmrB, the histidine kinase involved in signaling the activation of polymyxin resistance.

Internship:

January 5 - May 1, 2026. East Carolina University. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Greenville, NC. Mentor: Professor John Cavanaugh.

January 6 - March 28, 2025. East Carolina University. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Greenville, NC. Mentor: Professors John Cavanaugh and Alex Hondros. Milah focused on understanding the mechanism of previously synthesized salicylanilides against colistin-resistant K. pneumoniae. Milah learned how to use X-ray crystallography, HDX-MS, XL-MS, and in silico docking methods to solve the structure of PmrBc and PmrBc bound to IMD-0354 and/or ATP.

Publications:

• Hondros, A. D.; Young, M. M.; Jaimes, F. E.; Kinkead, J.; Thompson, R. J.; Melander, C.; Cavanagh, J. Two-Component System Sensor Kinase Inhibitors Target the ATP-Lid of PmrB to Disrupt Colistin Resistance in Acinetobacter Baumannii. Biochemistry 2025, 64 (6), 1317–1327. DOI:10.1021/acs.biochem.4c00789.
• Nemeth, A. M.; Young, M. M.; Melander, R. J.; Smith, R. D.; Ernst, R. K.; Melander, C. Identification of a 2‐aminobenzimidazole Scaffold That Potentiates Gram‐positive Selective Antibiotics against Gram‐negative Bacteria. ChemBioChem 2024, 25 (8), 1439–4227. DOI:10.1002/cbic.202400127.