Mirica Group Members

Group members of the Mirica Lab are diverse researchers coming from different nations, cultural backgrounds, and also research interests! Here, you can find the names, educational background, and contact information for both our current post docs, graduate students, undergraduates, and alumni. We also welcome you to take a look at our Group Photos and reach out via our Contact Us page.


Liviu M. Mirica


Postdoctoral Researchers


Dae Young Bae

  • dybae@illinois.edu
  • Ph.D., Chemistry, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) (2020)
  • B.S, Chemistry, POSTECH (2014)
  • Division Area: Inorganic Chemistry

Monika Rana

  • monika21@illinois.edu
  • Ph.D., Chemistry, Central University of Rajasthan (2021)
  • M.Sc. Chemistry, Central University of Rajasthan (2015)
  • B.Sc. (Hons.) Chemistry, Miranda House, Delhi University (2013)
  • Division Area: Chemical Biology

Saumitra Bhowmik

  • saumitra@illinois.edu
  • Ph.D., Chemistry, IISER Kolkata (2023)
  • M.Sc. Chemistry, University of Calcutta (2015)
  • B.Sc. (Hons.) Chemistry, R. K. M. V. C. College, West Bengal State University (2013)
  • Division Area: Inorganic Chemistry

Donghyun Jeong

  • djeong17@illinois.edu
  • Ph.D., Emerging Materials Science, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) (2022)
  • B.S. Chemical Engineering, Dankook University (2015)
  • Division Area: Inorganic Chemistry

Jusung An

  • jusungan@illinois.edu
  • Ph.D., Chemistry, Korea University (2024)
  • B.S., Chemistry, Hallym University (2018)
  • Division Area: Chemical Biology

Graduate Students


Karna Terpstra


Sagnik Chakrabarti

  • sagnikc2@illinois.edu
  • M.Sc., Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (2019)
  • B.Sc., Chemistry, Presidency University, Kolkata (2017)
  • Division Area: Inorganic Chemistry

Annika Holm

  • arholm2@illinois.edu
  • B.A., Chemistry, Sonoma State University (2019)
  • Division Area: Inorganic Chemistry
  • NSF GRFP Fellow (2021)

Jubyeong Chae

  • chae17@illinois.edu
  • M.S., Chemistry, Seoul National University of Science and Technology (2020)
  • B.S., Chemistry, Seoul National University of Science and Technology (2017)
  • Division Area: Inorganic Chemistry

Luke Westawker

  • lukepw2@illinois.edu
  • B.A., Chemistry & German, Carleton College (2020)
  • Division Area: Inorganic Chemistry
  • NSF GRFP Fellow (2023)

Glenn Blade

  • glennb2@illinois.edu
  • B.S., Biochemistry, St. Edward’s University (2021)
  • Division Area: Inorganic Chemistry

Tarek El Sayed

  • tareke2@illinois.edu
  • B.S., Chemistry, University of British Columbia (UBC) (2021)
  • Division Area: Inorganic Chemistry

Citlali Gutierrez

  • citlali3@illinois.edu
  • B.S. Chemistry/Biochemistry, University of West Florida (2021)
  • Division Area: Chemical Biology
  • NIH CBI-TP Fellow (2021)
  • NSF GRFP Fellow (2023)

Shounak Nath

  • shounak2@illinois.edu
  • M.S., Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science (2021)
  • B.S., Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science (2020)
  • Division Area: Inorganic Chemistry

Kerui “Kerry” Xu

  • keruixu2@illinois.edu
  • B.S. Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2020)
  • Division Area: Analytical Chemistry

Siddhartha Banerjee

  • sb86@illinois.edu
  • M.Sc., Chemistry, Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT), Nagpur, India (2023)
  • B.Sc., Chemistry, Scottish Church College, University of Calcutta, India (2021)
  • Division Area: Inorganic Chemistry

Joshua Leung

  • jjleung3@illinois.edu
  • B.S., Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley (2022)
  • Division Area: Inorganic Chemistry

Katy Knecht

  • kknecht@illinois.edu
  • B.S. Chemistry, Louisiana State University (2024)
  • Division Area: Inorganic Chemistry

Jennifer Salaiza

  • salaiza3@illinois.edu
  • B.S. Chemistry, University of La Verne (2023)
  • Division Area: Analytical Chemistry

Arka Ghosh

  • arkag2@illinois.edu
  • MSc. Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (2024)
  • BSc. Chemistry, Ramakrishna Mission Residential College (2022)
  • Division Area: Inorganic Chemistry

Husna A V

  • husnaa3@illinois.edu
  • Integrated MSc. Chemistry, National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Bhubaneswar (2024)
  • Division Area: Inorganic Chemistry

Ashutosh Sharma

  • as238@illinois.edu
  • Integrated MSc. Chemistry, Central University of Rajasthan (2023)
  • Division Area: Inorganic Chemistry

Julian Bowes

  • jbowes2@illinois.edu
  •  B.S. in Chemistry with ACS Certification, Minor in Psychology, University of Virginia (2023)
  • NIH CBI-TP Fellow (2024)
  • Division Area: Chemical Biology

Undergraduate Students


Jazmin Garcia

  • jazming2@illinois.edu
  • Area of study: Chemistry Major, Spanish Minor, Forensic Science Certificate (Expected graduation May 2025)
  • Area of research: Chemical Biology / Inorganic Chemistry (mentors: Jubyeong Chae, Sagnik Chakrabarti, Citlali Gutierrez)

Akhil Patel

  • apate513@illinois.edu
  • Area of study: Molecular Cellular Biology Major, Chemistry Minor (Expected graduation May 2025)
  • Area of research: Chemical Biology (mentor: Tarek El Sayed)

Hammed Adeoye

  • hadeo2@illinois.edu
  • Area of study: Biochemistry Major, Chemistry Minor (Expected graduation May 2026)
  • Area of research: Chemical Biology (mentor: Karna Terpstra)
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Zara Lateef

  • zlateef2@illinois.edu
  • Area of study: Chemistry Major (Expected graduation May 2025)
  • Area of research: Chemical Biology (mentor: Glenn Blade)

Alexander Glogovac

  • ag89@illinois.edu
  • Area of study: Chemistry major, Spanish minor, Mathematics minor (Expected graduation May 2026)
  • Area of research: Inorganic Chemistry (mentor: Jubyeong Chae)

Marie Mina

  • mmina3@illinois.edu
  • Area of study: Interdisciplinary Health Sciences (Expected graduation May 2027)
  • Area of research: Chemical Biology (mentor: Citlali Gutierrez)

Alumni


PostdocsCurrent Institution
Dr. Emi Evangelio, 2011Catalan Institute of Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Dr. Julia Khusnutdinova, 2011Okinawa Institute of Science and Technologyjuliak@weizmann.ac.il
Dr. Wei-Chih Lee, 2012Industrial Technology Research Instituteweichihlee@gmail.com
Dr. Bo Zheng, 2013Cerion Nanomaterialszhengbozy@gmail.com
Dr. Anuj Sharma, 2014Central University of Rajasthanaks.iitk@gmail.com
Dr. Wen Zhou, 2016Johnson & Johnsonwenzhou@brandeis.edu
Dr. Hui Duan, 2017
Dr. Bennett Eleazor
Dr. Liang Sun, 2021Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Dr. Soumalya Sinha, 2021University of Cincinnati
Dr. Hong-Jun Cho, 2021Pfizer, Inc.hjcho@illinois.edu
Dr. Hanah Na, 2022Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technologyhanahna@illinois.edu
Graduate StudentsCurrent Institution
Stephanie Tucker, 2011spavlova2@gmail.com
Daniel Weisz, 2011
Jia Luo, Ph.D. 2014
Fengzhi Tang, Ph.D. 2014Eurofins EAG Materials Sciences LLC
Fengrui Qu, Ph.D. 2014X-Ray Crystallographer, University of Michigan, Ann Arborfengruiqu@gmail.com
Barrie Cascella, Ph.D. 2014bgcascella@gmail.com
Ying Zhang, Ph.D. 2014
Shuai Zheng, 2015
Jason Schultz, Ph.D. 20163Mjschultz821@gmail.com
Michael Watson, Ph.D. 2017
Andrew Wessel, Ph.D. 2017USDA
Nick Ruhs, Ph.D.Florida State University
Kei Fuchigami, 2017
Emily Reeves, 2016
Liang Sun
Sofia Smith, Ph.D.
Neil Heberer, M.S. 2021Revolution Medicines
Yiran Huang, Ph.D. 2021Merck & Co.
Yung-Ching Wang, Ph.D. 2021Intel Corporation
Yujue Wang, Ph.D. 2021University of Pennsylvania
Gina Tran, Ph.D.Intel Corporation
Leonel Griego, Ph.D. 2021lgriego2@illinois.edu
Zhengxin Yu, Ph.D. 2023N1 Life, Inc.martinyu@illinois.edu
Yusuff Moshood, M.S. 2023moshood2@illinois.edu
Chi-Herng Hu, Ph.D. 2023chhu2@illinois.edu
Alyssa Mohr, M.S. 2024almohr2@illinois.edu
Rachel Wallick, Ph.D. 2024Argonne National Labwallick3@illinois.edu
Bailey Bouley, Ph.D. 2024X-Ray Crystallographer, Texas Tech Universitybbouley2@illinois.edu
Amy Wahlmeier, M.S. 2024
UndergraduatesCurrent Institution
Shayna Weiner, 2009
Megan Kelly, 2009
Michael Schultz, 2010
Aakash Gandhi, 2011
Nick Hawco, 2011
Jacob Shaw, 2011
Kathleen Hagan, 2011
Madeleine Coutre, 2011
Darren Finkelstein, 2011PhD, Stanford University (DuBois lab), Pilant Therapeutics
Sungho Park, 2013PhD, University of Wisconsin Madison (Berry lab)
Tim Prior, 2013
Lauren Raskauskas
Walter Fu
Philip Azanov, 2014
Nathaniel Blecher, 2015
Ryan Sun, 2015
Hyo Jin Jang, 2015
Aaron Rhee, 2015
Maya Sorini, 2016
Veronica Li, 2017
Aidan Levine, 2017Graduate school, University of Arizona College of Medicine
Justin Chu, 2018
Alice Hsu, 2018
Emily Morgan, 2018Graduate school, UCSB (Seshadri lab)
Shrey Patel, 2022Medical school, Carle Illinois College of Medicine
Ian Garvey, 2023Graduate school, University of Wisconsin Madison (Stahl lab)
Nicholas Cedron, 2023Graduate school, The Ohio State University (Thomas lab)