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
Jedidiah Chung
Position title: Second-Year Graduate Student
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: First-Year Graduate Student
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.
Mario Cribari
Position title: Third-Year Graduate Student
Mario has a B.S. in Chemistry and in Biophysics from Xavier University. During his undergraduate work he spent time researching protein folding. He also worked at the University of Cincinnati medical school in a research capacity, looking into the genetic and protein level effects of schizophrenia. In his free time Mario loves to play video games and also is a big trivia buff.
Sifei Fang
Position title: Second-Year Graduate Student
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.
Eric Kohn
Position title: Second-Year Graduate Student
Eric earned B.S. degrees in Biochemistry and Biological Sciences from Rowan University. His undergraduate research focused on peptide and protein biophysics. His interests in catalysis and supramolecular chemistry arose during an NSF-REU at Syracuse University. Outside the lab, Eric likes to read and go on hikes.
Ashley Ogorek
Position title: Second-Year Graduate Student
Ashley received a B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of St. Thomas. During her undergraduate career, she worked on synthesizing small molecule antimicrobials to fight Tuberculosis. When she is not in the lab, Ashley loves to bake, cook, and spend time with her husband.
Edward Pimentel
Position title: Third-Year Graduate Student
Edward got his B.S. in Chemistry from Brigham Young University, where he worked on natural product synthesis. He has also worked on herbicide development as an intern at Dow AgroSciences and on Joshua Tree research at Deep Springs College. When he’s not in the lab, he likes to play board games and spend time with his wife.
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
Hassan Alkhunaizi
Position title: Third-Year Undergraduate Student
Elliot Delfosse
Position title: Second-Year Undergraduate Student
Elliot is working towards his B.S. in Chemistry. He is currently researching under his graduate student mentor, Jedidiah Chung. During his free time Elliot loves thrifting, hiking, cooking, and spending time with friends.
Christian Gomez
Position title: Third-Year Undergraduate Student
Christian is a third- year undergraduate working for his B.S. majoring in biochemistry. He currently started working on research with Eric Kohn. During his free time he loves to play soccer, read and watch TV. His two favorite shows include The Office and Breaking Bad.
Justice Merrifield
Position title: Fourth-Year Undergraduate Student
Justice is working towards her B.S. in Molecular and Cell biology and Spanish. In her free time, she enjoys hiking and kayaking.
Max Unger
Position title: Second-Year Undergraduate Student
Max is working towards his B.S. in Chemistry. He is currently researching under his graduate student mentor, Mario. When not in the lab or class, Max enjoys getting outside, refereeing soccer, and listening to German music.
FORMER GROUP MEMBERS
Gillian Good
Position title: Former Graduate Student, M.S. 2021
Current Position: LabCorp Drug Development (formerly Covance)