The Chong Lab Research Group

Principal Investigator

Lillian Chong
Lillian Chong

Professor, Department of Chemistry
PhD, Biophysics, UCSF
BS, Chemistry, MIT
Room 331, Eberly Hall
Email: ltchong AT pitt DOT edu
Tel: 412-624-6026
ORCID: 0000-0002-0590-483X
CV

Current Group Members

Postdoctoral Researchers

Yuanhao Li
Yuanhao Li

Postdoctoral Fellow
PhD, Computational Mechanics, Carnegie Mellon University
MS, Computational Mechanics, Carnegie Mellon University
BS, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Auburn University
Room 338, Eberly Hall
Email: lel178 AT pitt DOT edu
ORCID: 0000-0003-0688-0910

Graduate Students

Jeremy Leung
Jeremy Leung

PhD Candidate in Chemistry
BA, Chemistry, Occidental College
Room 338, Eberly Hall
Email: jml230 AT pitt DOT edu
ORCID: 0000-0001-7021-4619

Baily Ford
Baily Ford

PhD Candidate in Chemistry
BS, Chemistry, Austin Peay State University
Room 323, Eberly Hall
Email: bwf15 AT pitt DOT edu

Alex Goldberg
Alex Goldberg

PhD Candidate in Biophysics
BS, Biochemistry, Muhlenberg College
Room 338, Eberly Hall
Email: amg535 AT pitt DOT edu

Undergraduate Students

Rhea Abraham
Rhea Abraham

Neuroscience Major
Room 338, Eberly Hall
Email: rca27 AT pitt DOT edu

Kaylee Spadaro
Kaylee Spadaro

Chemistry Major
Room 338, Eberly Hall
Email: kjs189 AT pitt DOT edu

Group Alumni

  • Matthew Zwier, PhD in Chemistry (2013), A&S and Mellon Fellow, now an Associate Professor at Drake University.
  • Yiwen Zou, BS in Chemistry (2012), PharmD student at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Med, now a Specialty Clinical Pharmacist.
  • Darian Yang, PhD in Biophysics (2024), Co-advisor: Angela Gronenborn, Mellon Fellow, now a postdoc with Kresten Lindorff-Larsen (University of Copenhagen).
  • David Wang, BPhil in Chemistry & Applied Math (2012), Harvard-MIT HST program, now an Assistant Professor at U. Pittsburgh Medical School.
  • Erin Walsh (2017), First Experiences Undergraduate Program participant.
  • Paul Torrillo, BS in Molecular Biology & Applied Math (2021), NSF GRFP award, now a PhD in math candidate at MIT.
  • Jakob Sorkness, BS in Chemistry(2017), Writer in Residence, now at Salubris Biotherapeutics.
  • Riccardo Solazzo, Visiting MS student from University of Bologna, Italy (2022), now a PhD candidate with Sereina Riniker (ETH Zurich).
  • Luke Smallwood (2024), Pitt Chemistry REU Program participant.
  • Marion Silvestrini, postdoc (2021-2023), now a postdoc with Amelie Stein (University of Copenhagen).
  • Claire Shao, North Allegheny Senior High School (2019-2020), now an MIT undergraduate.
  • Joseph Seemiller (2011), TecBio REU participant, now a neurology resident at Johns Hopkins University.
  • Reza Salari, PhD in Chemistry (2012), A&S Fellow, now a radiologist at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.
  • Maria (Panteva) Salari, BS in Chemistry (2010), now an Assistant Professor at McKendree University.
  • Ali Sinan Saglam, PhD in Chemistry (2018), DAAD Grant awardee, now a Computational Chemisty at VantAI.
  • Nicholas Rego, BS in Bioinformatics & Economics (2012), now a postdoc with Amish Patel (U. Pennsylvania).
  • Hannah Piston, BS in Chemistry (2019), now a medical student at U. Pittsburgh.
  • Brandon Mills, BPhil/MS in Chemistry (2014), A&S Fellow, now a Senior Analyst at Accenture Scientific Informatics Services.
  • Marion LoPresti (2023), TecBio REU participant.
  • Joseph Kaus, BS in Chemistry (2011), A&S Fellow, now a Senior Software Engineer II at Relay Therapeutics.
  • Parmila Kafley, BS in chemistry & political science (2020), now a PhD in chemistry candidate with Ross Wang (Temple University).
  • Page Harrison, BS in comp sci & physics (2021), now a PhD in physics candidate at the University of Pittsburgh.
  • Daniel Hatfield, BS in Chemistry (2013), A&S Fellow, now a science high school teacher at Jack M. Hebrew Academy.
  • Natalia Hajlasz, Allderdice High School (2014-2017), Regeneron High School STS 2017 Finalist, now a G1 at NYU’s Courant Institute.
  • Gabriel Garcia-Borrero, BS in Biochemistry (2020), Brackenridge Fellow.
  • Nicolas Frazee, postdoc (2022-2024).
  • Elissa Fink (2017), TecBio REU participant, now a PhD candidate in biophysics with Brian Shoichet (UCSF).
  • Max Dudek, BS in Molecular Biology & Computer Science (2021), NSF GRFP Award, now a PhD in chemistry candidate at U Penn.
  • Alex DeGrave, BS in Molecular Biology & Applied Math (2018), now an MD/PhD student with Su-In Lee (U. Washington).
  • Karl Debiec, PhD in Biophysics (2017), Co-advisor: Angela Gronenborn, Mellon Fellow, now a software engineer at Epic Systems.
  • Kayva Darapuneni (2017), First Experiences Undergraduate Program participant.
  • Anthony Bogetti, PhD in Chemistry (2023), Mellow Fellow, now a postdoc with Ken Dill (Stony Brook University).
  • Monica Bhattacharjee, BS in Chemistry (2009), medical student at the U. Maryland at Baltimore.
  • Andrew Bellesis, MS in Biophysics (2020), now a Lab Manager at CMU.
  • Lewis Baker, BS in Applied Math (2015), now a Data Scientist at Amyris.