2024

  • Dr. Charnette Frederic Charnette was a Ph.D student with research mentor Dr. Wiedman in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Seton Hall University. She completed her PhD Dissertation titled Fluorescence Based Techniques for the Identification of Small Molecules in 2024. In her time at the 3B Lab not only did Charnette work hard to complete her PhD, she was also a part-time student working in industry, a member of the Irvington City Council, and a Mom. LinkedIn

  • Miryam Kikhwa Miryam was a Masters student in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. She served as an excellent TA who always went above and beyond for her students. Her Master’s Thesis was completed in 2024 and is titled Exploring the Design Space of Antifungal Peptides. She is continuing to pursue a career in healthcare. LinkedIn

  • Dylan Schwartz Dylan was an undergraduate student in the 3B Lab. He was instrumental in a collaborative project with The Romanian Academy on making anti-cancer peptides.

  • Yogarupa Das Roja was an undergraduate student at Seton Hall University. She joined the lab in 2022 and worked on an independet study project regarding peptide synthesis and purification.

  • Zena Karam Zena was undergraduate Biochemistry major and Joint Bachelor’s/M.D. at Seton Hall University. She is also a teaching assistant in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Her projects focused on antimicrobial peptides and light active peptides. LinkedIn

  • Ishan Sharma Ishan worked in the lab both as an undergraduate researcher from the Biology department as well as a Research Fellow. His work focused on the synthesis of computational-rationally designed peptides.

  • Reesha Hora Reesha joined the lab in 2022 as an undergraduate studying Biochemistry. She worked on an independent project that focused on computational methods of peptide design.

2023

  • Dr. Cristina R Ventura Cristina joined the lab in 2018 as a Doctoral Student the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Seton Hall University. She published her dissertation: "Photoisomerizable Membrane Active Peptides”. Throughout her time in the 3B Lab Cristina won numerous awards included the 2021 Petershiem “Best Poster” award in addition to publishing several papers including her seminal work: Substituting azobenzene for proline in melittin to create photomelittin: A light-controlled membrane active peptide. LinkedIn

  • Dr. Julian Daniel Torres Varga Julian was an exchange student, PhD Candidate who visited the lab from Universidad de Los Andes in Bogota Columbia. He worked on a project to synthesize, purify, and test computationally designed antimicrobial peptides. LinkedIn

  • Fabian Dagnober Ricardo Lopez Fabian was an exchange graduate student and soon-to-be PhD candidate who visited the lab from Universidad de Los Andes in Bogota Columbia. Fabian worked on a project to develop peptides with emulisive properties for applications such as bioremediation and drug delivery. LinkedIn

  • Makayla Manfredi Makayla began working in the 3B lab in her Freshman year at Seton Hall. In her time she worked with Akilah Mateen as well as another student Raygen Murray to develop a series of antiviral peptides that would use reactive oxygen species to damage spike proteins. Makayla was a two-time Claire Boothe Luce scholar and presented her work externally at venues such as the Theobald Smith Society and the American Chemical Society. LinkedIn

2022

  • Dr. Robert J Tancer Rob joined the lab in 2018 and worked extremely hard to publish his dissertation work: “Flippase Inhibitors as Antimicrobial Agents”. Rob developed a series of peptides that target fungal lipid flippase enzymes and improve drug synergy for the limited classes of antifungal drugs. His work was published in the journals Peptide Science, Microbiology Spectrum, and Antibiotics. LinkedIn

  • Kazim M Baynes Kazim joined the lab as a freshman undergraduate Chemistry major to pursue research related to his interests in healthcare. He graduated with a Bachelors in Chemistry after having spent all four years working in the lab. During this time, he worked with Dr. Robert J Tancer studying antimicrobial peptides. Kazim’s work lead to him being recognized as a co-author on a peer-reviewed journal article as well as a finalist for the 2020 Georgetown ARCHES program. LinkedIn

  • Ayanna M Hodges Ayanna was student in the Biology Department at Seton Hall University. She worked on a project to develop peptide-organometallic complex hybrids along with Makayla Manfredi and Akilah Mateen. LinkedIn

  • Axel Martinez-Gaona Axel was an undergraduate student who joined the lab in 2020 as a freshman to studying microwave peptide synthesis. His was interested in drug delivery and the business of science.

  • Daniela Noguera-Urbina Daniela was a graduate student who rotated in the lab working on various antimicrobial projects. LinkedIn

  • Julia Paucar-Ojeda Julia was an undergraduate student who worked over the Summer of 2022 on projects related to azobenzene amino acid synthesis.

  • Siya Patel Siya was an undergraduate student studying antimicrobial peptides in the lab during Summer 2022

Kaz got a feature on the University webpage!

2021

  • Adam Kmeck: Adam received his Masters in Chemistry while working in the lab. His project involved the utilization of BAPCs (Branched Amphiphilic Peptide Capsules) for treatment of fungal infections. Among other accolades, Adam was an author on a paper published in Antibiotics. LinkedIn

  • Marinelle Geda: Marinelle graduated with a Bachelors Degree from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. While working in the 3B lab she studied aptamer design. He work culminated in a presentation at the 2019 Petersheim Academic Expo titled “Aptamers Towards Anti-Tuberculosis Drugs”. LinkedIn

  • Osei Lindsay: Osei graduated from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry with a Bachelors Degree on the Premed track. During his time in the 3B lab he worked on a variety of projects studying fungal pathogen. He received several accolades for his work including a 2020 NJSGC grant and an honorable mention for the 2021 Petersheim Academic Expo Student Poster Award. LinkedIn

  • Abigail Richter: Abby worked in the 3B Lab for three years as an undergraduate student while completing her Bachelors Degree from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. She won numerous awards while working in the 3B Lab including a Clare Booth Luce Summer Research Fellowship and a Best Poster Award from the 2020 Petersheim Academic Expo. Her work focused on studying aptamers and their abilities to inhibit viral replication.

2020

  • Elizabeth Boyer: Elizabeth conducted an independent undergraduate research project studying Microwave Peptide Synthesis. Along with Axel and Makayla she was instrumental in getting our microwave peptide synthesizer up and running.

  • Erika Tamakloe: Erika worked in the lab as an undergraduate student on an Independent Project studying light-activated membrane active peptides. LinkedIn

2019

  • Kynzie M Campbell: Kynzie worked in the lab while attending Seton Hall as a  BSN student in the College of Nursing at Seton Hall University.  She pursued her interested in drug resistance by working in the lab on projects involving the microbiology behind resistance. Kynzie was fond of pointing out that her name was spelled “Campbell…like the soup”.

  • Esther Y Shinne: While an undergraduate student at Seton Hall University working on her Bachelors of Science in Nursing, Esther joined the 3B Lab to pursue an interest in Biochemistry after having taken Elements of General, Biological, and Organic Chemistry. She looked at ways to more efficiently monitor the drug concentrations in the body.

  • Vincent La Iacona: As a part-time Masters student Vincent worked on projects involving development of RNA-aptamers LinkedIn