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
- mirica@illinois.edu
- Ph.D., Chemistry, Stanford University (2005)
- B.S., Chemistry, California Institute of Technology (1999)
- Full Profile
- CV

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
- karnat2@illinois.edu
- B.S., Chemistry, Whitworth University (2019)
- Division Area: Chemical Biology

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)

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
Postdocs | Current Institution | |
Dr. Emi Evangelio, 2011 | Catalan Institute of Nanoscience & Nanotechnology | |
Dr. Julia Khusnutdinova, 2011 | Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology | juliak@weizmann.ac.il |
Dr. Wei-Chih Lee, 2012 | Industrial Technology Research Institute | weichihlee@gmail.com |
Dr. Bo Zheng, 2013 | Cerion Nanomaterials | zhengbozy@gmail.com |
Dr. Anuj Sharma, 2014 | Central University of Rajasthan | aks.iitk@gmail.com |
Dr. Wen Zhou, 2016 | Johnson & Johnson | wenzhou@brandeis.edu |
Dr. Hui Duan, 2017 | ||
Dr. Bennett Eleazor | ||
Dr. Liang Sun, 2021 | Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center | |
Dr. Soumalya Sinha, 2021 | University of Cincinnati | |
Dr. Hong-Jun Cho, 2021 | Pfizer, Inc. | hjcho@illinois.edu |
Dr. Hanah Na, 2022 | Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology | hanahna@illinois.edu |
Graduate Students | Current Institution | |
Stephanie Tucker, 2011 | spavlova2@gmail.com | |
Daniel Weisz, 2011 | ||
Jia Luo, Ph.D. 2014 | ||
Fengzhi Tang, Ph.D. 2014 | Eurofins EAG Materials Sciences LLC | |
Fengrui Qu, Ph.D. 2014 | X-Ray Crystallographer, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor | fengruiqu@gmail.com |
Barrie Cascella, Ph.D. 2014 | bgcascella@gmail.com | |
Ying Zhang, Ph.D. 2014 | ||
Shuai Zheng, 2015 | ||
Jason Schultz, Ph.D. 2016 | 3M | jschultz821@gmail.com |
Michael Watson, Ph.D. 2017 | ||
Andrew Wessel, Ph.D. 2017 | USDA | |
Nick Ruhs, Ph.D. | Florida State University | |
Kei Fuchigami, 2017 | ||
Emily Reeves, 2016 | ||
Liang Sun | ||
Sofia Smith, Ph.D. | ||
Neil Heberer, M.S. 2021 | Revolution Medicines | |
Yiran Huang, Ph.D. 2021 | Merck & Co. | |
Yung-Ching Wang, Ph.D. 2021 | Intel Corporation | |
Yujue Wang, Ph.D. 2021 | University of Pennsylvania | |
Gina Tran, Ph.D. | Intel Corporation | |
Leonel Griego, Ph.D. 2021 | lgriego2@illinois.edu | |
Zhengxin Yu, Ph.D. 2023 | N1 Life, Inc. | martinyu@illinois.edu |
Yusuff Moshood, M.S. 2023 | moshood2@illinois.edu | |
Chi-Herng Hu, Ph.D. 2023 | chhu2@illinois.edu | |
Alyssa Mohr, M.S. 2024 | almohr2@illinois.edu | |
Rachel Wallick, Ph.D. 2024 | Argonne National Lab | wallick3@illinois.edu |
Bailey Bouley, Ph.D. 2024 | X-Ray Crystallographer, Texas Tech University | bbouley2@illinois.edu |
Amy Wahlmeier, M.S. 2024 |
Undergraduates | Current 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, 2011 | PhD, Stanford University (DuBois lab), Pilant Therapeutics |
Sungho Park, 2013 | PhD, 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, 2017 | Graduate school, University of Arizona College of Medicine |
Justin Chu, 2018 | |
Alice Hsu, 2018 | |
Emily Morgan, 2018 | Graduate school, UCSB (Seshadri lab) |
Shrey Patel, 2022 | Medical school, Carle Illinois College of Medicine |
Ian Garvey, 2023 | Graduate school, University of Wisconsin Madison (Stahl lab) |
Nicholas Cedron, 2023 | Graduate school, The Ohio State University (Thomas lab) |