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

Administrative Assistant

Amber Travis
Amber Travis

Administrative Assistant
Room 326, Eberly Hall
Email: adt59 AT pitt DOT edu

Current Group Members

Postdoctoral Researchers

Nicolas Frazee
Nicolas Frazee

Postdoctoral Fellow
PhD, Biophysics, West Virginia University
BS, Chemistry and Mathematics, Waynesburg University
Room 323, Eberly Hall
Email: ncf26 AT pitt DOT edu
ORCID: 0000-0002-6223-8036

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

Darian Yang
Darian Yang

PhD Candidate in Biophysics
Co-advisor: Angela Gronenborn (Department of Structural Biology)
BS, Biochemistry, University of Delaware
Room 338, Eberly Hall
Email: dty7 AT pitt DOT edu
ORCID: 0000-0002-8654-3529
SITE

Baily Ford
Baily Ford

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

Gessica Adornato
Gessica Adornato

PhD Candidate in Chemistry
BA, Classics, University of Washington, Seattle
Room 323, Eberly Hall
Email: gma27 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

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.
  • David Wang, BPhil in Chemistry & Applied Math (2012), Harvard-MIT HST program, now an [Assistant Professor] (https://www.anesthesiology.pitt.edu/people/david-wang-md) 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).
  • 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 Geisinger Medical Center.
  • 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 postdoc with James Faeder (U. Pittsburgh Medical School).
  • Nicholas Rego, BS in Bioinformatics & Economics (2012), now a postdoc in biophysics for 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.
  • 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), 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 Research Associate at BlueSphere Bio.
  • Lewis Baker, BS in Applied Math (2015), now a Data Scientist at Amyris.