JEFF MARTELL
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
B.A. 2009, Northwestern University
Ph.D. 2015, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Poctdoctoral Researcher at University of California, Berkeley, 2015 – 2019
Jeff was born and raised in Chicago, and he was an undergraduate at Northwestern, where he did research in the group of Rick Silverman on organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry, and enzymology. Jeff did his PhD in Chemistry at MIT in the group of Alice Ting, where he used protein engineering and directed evolution to create new tools for studying cell biology. Inspired by the idea of creating protein-mimicking cavities in synthetic materials, he did postdoctoral research at UC Berkeley in the group of Jeff Long, where he studied diamine-appended metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) for cooperative CO2 capture and developed a chiral MOF for enantioselective recognition. At UW-Madison, Jeff is excited to build a team of interdisciplinary researchers that draws from biochemistry, organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, and materials to create enzyme-mimicking catalysts.
GRADUATE STUDENTS
Leslie Acevedo
Position title: Joined 2022
Email:
lacevedo
Leslie received her B.S in Chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she worked with Dr. Steven Zimmerman synthesizing polymers for drug delivery. She has previously worked in the pharmaceutical industry where she worked with biopharmaceutical compounds for analytical and stability testing. Outside of the lab, Leslie enjoys hiking and cross-country traveling with her husband.
Jedidiah Chung
Position title: Joined 2019
Email:
jschung4
Jed has a B.S in Chemistry from University of Delaware. He has previously worked under professor Zhihao Zhuang in developing activity-based ubiquitin probes to study deubiquitinase activities in cells. Outside labs, he enjoys very enthusiastic walks.
Caleb Cox
Position title: Joined 2020
Email:
cacox2
Caleb has a B.S. in Chemistry and Mathematics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As an undergraduate, he worked with Professor Abigail Knight synthesizing peptide-polymer amphiphiles and studying structural changes due to self-assembly. In his free time, Caleb enjoys cooking, playing video games, and hiking.
Sifei Fang
Position title: Joined 2019
Email:
sfang38
Sifei got his B.A. in Chemistry from University of Minnesota Twin Cities. During this time, he worked on utilizing photo-cleavable protecting groups to study intermediate states of biological processes and to spatial-temporal control drug releasing using two-photon irradiation. When Sifei is not in the lab, he likes to be a Pokémon trainer and a competitive Pokémon battler.
Jean Paul Habumugisha
Position title: Joined 2021
Email:
habumugisha
Jean Paul graduated from the University of Southern Maine with a BS in Biochemistry. He has previously worked in the biotech industry where he manufactured chemical reagents for lateral flow diagnostic devices for infectious diseases early detection. In his free time, He enjoys watching and playing soccer, hiking, listening to music and spending time with friends.
David Hardy
Position title: Joined 2023
Email:
dehardy2
David received a B.S. in biochemistry from Florida Gulf Coast University, where he worked with Durgesh Wagle performing computational research on deep eutectic solvents and their interactions with complex biomolecules. He also attended an REU at George Washington University where he studied ubiquitin ligases. Davids loves strategy games, old books, sunny days, and physical activity.
Ethan Hartman
Position title: Joined 2021
Email:
emhartman
Ethan received his B.S. in chemistry from Washington and Lee University. His undergraduate research focused on examining the process of RNA translation in yeast. He also spent a summer REU at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign doing organic synthesis. Outside of lab, Ethan enjoys going to various Badgers sporting events on campus especially wrestling.
Andres Lira
Position title: Joined 2024
Email:
alira3
Andres received his B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of California Davis where he worked with Dr. Justin Seigel characterizing β-Glucosidase mutants for benchmarking Rosetta stability predictions. He has enrolled as a post-baccalaureate at Northwestern University under Dr. Gabriel Rocklin where he benchmarked protein fold stability to Rosetta protein stability predictions. He then enrolled in the Biophysics graduate program and joined Dr. Philip Romero’s lab where he worked on prototyping the use of Rosetta docking data for machine-learning guided protein engineering from 2022-2024. Outside of lab, Andres enjoys backpack camping, fishing, and video games.
Eli Mertick-Sykes
Position title: Joined 2022
Email:
merticksykes
Eli received his B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the Pennsylvania State University. His undergraduate research focused on phase-separating proteins and methods to detect liquid-liquid phase separation in cells. Outside of the lab, he enjoys rock climbing, listening to music, writing, and exploring the surrounding area.
Zach Ziolkowski
Position title: Joined 2022
Email:
zbziolkowski
Zach has a B.S. in Chemistry from The College of New Jersey. As an undergraduate, he worked with Dr. Levi Ekanger designing an inhibitor assay for a key bacterial stress response metalloprotein and synthesizing model complexes to study the iron coordination chemistry of cysteine analogues. In his free time, Zach likes to play video games, make music, and spend time with friends.
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
Sasha Hsu
Position title: Joined 2023
Email:
sthsu
Sasha is an undergraduate working towards her B.S. in Molecular and Cell Biology. She is currently working with her graduate student mentor Sifei Fang on directed evolution of enzymes. During her free time, Sasha enjoys playing music, traveling, and playing pickleball with friends and family.
Mia Lor
Position title: Joined 2023
Email:
mdlor
Mia is an undergraduate working towards her B.S. in biochemistry and computer science. During her free time, she loves playing her viola, baking, and (making very poor attempts at) playing tennis.
FORMER GROUP MEMBERS
Hassan Alkhunaizi
Position title: Former Undergraduate Student, B.S. 2022
Current Position: PhD student, Duke University, Department of Chemistry
Elliot Delfosse
Position title: Former Undergraduate Student, B.S. 2024
Current Position: Graduate Student, University of Washington
Christian Gomez
Position title: Former Undergraduate Student, B.S. 2023
Current Position: Associate Scientist, Bioconjugation at Arrowhead Pharmaceutical
Gillian Good
Position title: Former Graduate Student, M.S. 2021
Current Position: LabCorp Drug Development (formerly Covance)
Annika Hansen
Position title: Former Undergraduate Student, B.S. 2024
Current Position: MD student at Medical College of Wisconsin
Justice Merrifield
Position title: Former Undergraduate Student (B.S. 2022) and Research Intern (2023)
Current Position: DVM/PhD student at UW-Madison
Ashley Ogorek
Position title: Former Graduate Student, Ph.D. 2024
Current Position: Postdoc, University of Chicago
Edward Pimentel
Position title: Former Graduate Student, Ph.D. 2024
Current Position: Postdoc, Stanford University
Max Unger
Position title: Former Undergraduate Student, B.S. 2023
Current Position: PhD student at University of Michigan in the Department of Chemistry
Hang Yin
Position title: Former Undergraduate Student, B.S. 2023
Current Position: Assistant scientist at Thermo Fisher Scientific
Xu Zhou
Position title: Former Postdoc, 2024
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Nanjing University