Contact & People

Department of Chemistry
Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science
University of British Columbia Okanagan
3247 Research Road
Kelowna, BC V1V 1V7
Canada

Email: chemistry.okanagan@ubc.ca
Please direct all general inquires to the above email address.

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Scott Minh An | MSc Student | Chemistry | scott.an@ubc.ca | FIP 378B
Research Interests: Single-molecule; optical tweezer; rolling adhesion, and instrumentation.
Adam Bergren | Adjunct Professor | Chemistry | adam.bergren@ubc.ca
Michele Cannon | Lab Technician | Chemistry | michele.cannon@ubc.ca | 250.807.9942 | SCI 224C
Colin Dai | MSc Student | Biochemistry and Molecular Biology | colindai@alumni.ubc.ca | FIP 245
Research Interests: Designing a DNA-based biosensor specifically targeting exosomes/vesicles with different size.
Thu-Thuy Dang | Assistant Professor | Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Chemistry | thuy.dang@ubc.ca | 250.807.9468 | FIP 354

Graduate student supervisor


Research Interests: Discovering new biosynthetic enzymes and pathways; generating specialized metabolites structural and functional diversities; re-constituting natural products metabolism in synthetic biology chassis.
Courses & Teaching: Biochemistry
Everald David | Senior Department Assistant | Chemistry | everald.david@ubc.ca | 250.807.8769 | FIP 355
Luis Del Rio | Sessional Lecturer | Chemistry | lfdelrio@mail.ubc.ca
Eric Dennis | Lab Technician | Chemistry | eric.dennis@ubc.ca | 250.807.9031 | SCI 224B
Gino DiLabio | Professor | Chemistry | gino.dilabio@ubc.ca | 250.807.8617 | ASC 451

Graduate student supervisor


Research Interests: Computational studies of i) radical reactions involving organic, inorganic, biological and solid-state systems; ii) noncovalent interactions; iii) oxygen-centred radical induced damage of proteins.
Courses & Teaching: Physical and computational chemistry.
Lauren Erland | Affiliate Assistant Professor | Chemistry | lauren.erland@ubc.ca
Research Interests: Plant perception and response to environmental change, phytohormones, morphogenesis, metabolomics, plant signaling, plant chemistry, biotechnology
Courses & Teaching: CHEM412 Introduction to Bioanalytical Chemistry CHEM533 Bioanalytical Chemistry
Tamara Freeman | Associate Professor of Teaching | Chemistry | tamara.freeman@ubc.ca | 250.807.8223 | SCI 210
Research Interests: First year coordinator of lectures and laboratories.
Courses & Teaching: CHEM 111/113 & CHEM 121/123 CHEM 214
Liubov Frolova | PhD Student | Biochemistry and Molecular Biology | liubovf@mail.ubc.ca
Research Interests: Exosome biogenesis; exosomal biomarkers; drug delivery; single molecule imaging.
Bhavesh Gnnanapareddy | MSc Student | Chemistry | bha217@mail.ubc.ca
Robert Godin | Assistant Professor | Chemistry | robert.godin@ubc.ca | 250.807.8438 | FIP 341

Graduate student supervisor


Research Interests: Transient absorption spectroscopy/microscopy to determine the charge carrier dynamics; carbon-based photocatalytic materials; sustainable energy production; sustainable photochemistry for water purification and chemical transformations
Courses & Teaching: Solar energy; chemical kinetics; physical chemistry; spectroscopy.
Alisha Greene | MSc Student | Chemistry | greene95@mail.ubc.ca
Thomas Head | MSc Student | Chemistry | headtom@mail.ubc.ca
Janet Heisler | Department Manager | Biology, Chemistry | janet.heisler@ubc.ca | 250.807.8757 | SCI 164
Omid Hosseinzadeh | MSc Student | Chemistry | ohzde@mail.ubc.ca
Jackline Irungu | PhD Student | Chemistry | jackline.irungu@ubc.ca
David Jack | Associate Professor | Chemistry | david.jack@ubc.ca | 250.807.8747 | FIP 344

Graduate student supervisor


Research Interests: Chemical and physical processes at solid surfaces; phase transitions; molecular computer simulations; heterogeneous catalysis; functional surfaces; nanoscience.
Courses & Teaching: Physical, biophysical, quantum, and computational chemistry.
Zhehan Jia | MSc Student | Chemistry | zhj05@mail.ubc.ca
William Kennedy | MSc Student | Chemistry | william.kennedy@ubc.ca
M. Hossein Khalilian | PhD Student | Chemistry | hossein.khalilian@ubc.ca | FIP 245A
Research Interests: Using quantum mechanical modelling techniques to see quantum effects in radical enzymes; investigating mechanism of chemical reactions, including those related to organic and biological systems by means of computational methods.
Sutripto Khasnabis | PhD Student | Chemistry | sutripto@mail.ubc.ca
Seongho Kim | Postdoctoral Fellow | Chemistry | seongho.kim@ubc.ca | 236.457.3480
Research Interests: Mechanobiology
Omkar Kulkarni | MSc Student | Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Chemistry | omkar.kulkarni@ubc.ca
Viki Kumar Prasad | PhD Student | Chemistry | vikikumarprasad@gmail.com | FIP 245A
Research Interests: Method development; treatment of non-covalent interactions; density functional theory; time-dependent density functional theory.
Isaac Li | Associate Professor | Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Chemistry | isaac.li@ubc.ca | 250.807.8069 | FIP 343

Graduate student supervisor


Research Interests: Single-molecule biophysics; programmable molecular devices and biosensors; cancer and immune cell biology; cell mechanics and mechanobiology.
Courses & Teaching: Nucleic Acid, Cellular and Molecular Biophysics, Instrumentation, Physical Chemistry
Summer Li | Lecturer | Chemistry | summerxia.li@ubc.ca | SCI 233A
Research Interests: Exosomal detection and drug delivery.
Chang Liu | MSc Student | Chemistry | cocolc@student.ubc.ca | 672.991.9455
Research Interests: Modified carbon nitride photocatalyst; Nickel nitride co-catalyst coated carbon nitride photocatalyst by plasma-enhanced atomoic layer deposition (PEALD).
Matthew McConnachie | MSc Student | Chemistry | mmcc1998@mail.ubc.ca
W. Stephen McNeil | Associate Professor | Chemistry | stephen.mcneil@ubc.ca | 250.807.8751 | FIP 352
Research Interests: Chemistry education: alternative conceptions of advanced bonding models, impacts and effectiveness of active and collaborative learning activities, affective learning outcomes.
Courses & Teaching: Introductory chemistry, molecular structure and bonding, bioinorganic chemistry
Frederic Menard | Associate Professor | Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Chemistry | frederic.menard@ubc.ca | 250.807.8225 | FIP 348

Graduate student supervisor


Research Interests: Chemical biology: use of small molecules to study and manipulate biological systems; design of molecular tools to study the real-time dynamics of cellular events; using organic chemistry, natural products are modified to label proteins involved in cellular signaling; the biology questions studied focus on protein-protein interactions, astrocytes communication, synapse elimination, and neurodegeneration.
Courses & Teaching: Synthetic organic chemistry.
Emma Mitchell | Lab Technician | Chemistry | emma.mitchell@ubc.ca | FIP 306
Research Interests: Solar energy conversion, photocatalysis, spectroscopy
Susan Murch | Professor | Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Chemistry | susan.murch@ubc.ca | 250.807.9566 | FIP 350

Graduate student supervisor


Research Interests: The Plant Secondary Metabolite Analytical Research Team (PlantSMART) researches chemistry of plants and how plant chemistry affects human health using analytical chemistry, mass spectrometry, biotechnology, metabolomics and hormonomics approaches.
Courses & Teaching: Analytical chemistry; plant biochemistry. Micro-credential in Metabolomics
Mahsa Nazemi Ashani | PhD Student | Chemistry | nazemias@mail.ubc.ca
Edward Neeland | Associate Professor | Chemistry | e.neeland@ubc.ca | 250.807.9572 | SCI 215
Research Interests: Intramolecular hetero-Diels-Alder reactions of furans; development of new synthetic reactions.
Courses & Teaching: Organic chemistry; advanced synthesis; advanced structural analysis.
Tuan-Anh Minh Nguyen | PhD Student | Chemistry | tuananh.nguyen@ubc.ca | FIP 245
Research Interests: Discovering new biosynthetic enzymes involved in plant specialized metabolism; reconstituting alkaloid metabolism in yeast platform; chemo-enzymatic reactions for high-value compounds synthesis.
Nitin Nitin | PhD Student | Chemistry | nikhawk@gmail.com
Matthew Noestheden | Adjunct Professor | Chemistry | matt.noestheden@ubc.ca
Research Interests: Analytical chemistry; applied mass spectrometry and chromatography; wine.
Peter Osei Ohemeng | PhD Student | Chemistry | pohemeng@student.ubc.ca
Shilong Pan | MSc Student | Chemistry | shilong@mail.ubc.ca
Vignesh Pattathil Narayanan | MSc Student | Chemistry | pvignesh@mail.ubc.ca | 236.338.1286 | FIP 371/372 Office Hours: Monday to Friday 10 am to 6 pm
Research Interests: Organometallics and main-group chemistry, synthetic inorganic chemistry related to transition metal catalysis, the study of reactive main-group molecules, and functional material design.
Raphael Poirier | MSc Student | Chemistry | raphael.poirier@ubc.ca
Conor Pranckevicius | Assistant Professor | Chemistry | cprancke@mail.ubc.ca | 250.807.8577 | FIP 320

Graduate student supervisor


Research Interests: Low-valent main group compounds, catalysis, small molecule activation, conjugated materials.
Dyuti Raghu | MSc Student | Chemistry | dyuti.raghu@ubc.ca
Eduardo Romero-Montalvo | PhD Student | Chemistry | eromerom@mail.ubc.ca | FIP 245A
Jiao Rui | MSc Student | Chemistry | ruijiao@mail.ubc.ca
Alireza Sadeghifar | Lecturer | Chemistry | alireza.sadeghifar@ubc.ca | FIP320
Paul Shipley | Associate Professor | Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Chemistry | paul.shipley@ubc.ca | 250.807.8749 | EME 2171

Graduate student supervisor


Research Interests: Organic chemistry; natural products biosynthesis; the biochemistry of secondary metabolism; nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry; rational modification of biosynthetic pathways in bacteria to produce novel compounds with the potential to be pharmacologically relevant.
Courses & Teaching: Organic chemistry; structural spectrometry; bioorganic chemistry
Kevin Smith | Professor | Chemistry | kevin.m.smith@ubc.ca | 250.807.9933 | FIP 351

Graduate student supervisor


Research Interests: Synthesis and reactivity of paramagnetic organometallic chromium compounds of relevance to catalytic carbon-carbon bond forming reactions; single electron transfer reactions and electronic structure effects in synthetic organometallic chemistry.
Courses & Teaching: Inorganic synthesis; organometallic chemistry; coordination chemistry; transition metal catalysts.
Julia Solonenka | MSc Student | Chemistry | jtsolone@student.ubc.ca | FIP 306
Research Interests: Monitoring of environmental toxins; accumulation and production of neurotoxins by cyanobacteria and plants.
Robert Szilagyi | Associate Professor | Chemistry | robert.szilagyi@ubc.ca | 250.807.8346 | FIP 357

Graduate student supervisor


Research Interests: Computational chemistry of iron-sulphur coordination compounds, clusters, nanoparticles, and mineral surfaces; chemical structure and properties of templated carbon materials; synchrotron spectroscopy of inorganic, bioinorganic, and organometallic complexes.
Courses & Teaching: Environmental Chemistry and Computational Chemistry
Mitra Tabatabaee | Affiliate Assistant Professor | Biology, Chemistry | mitra.tabatabaee@ubc.ca | FIP 236
Research Interests: Microbiology of Built Systems; Signaling; Chemotaxis; Chemotaxis in Brain Cancer cells (Glioma);
Courses & Teaching: Environmental microbiology; Food and Industrial Microbiology; Virology
Anthony Tardif | MSc Student | Chemistry | anthonytardifpk@gmail.com
Research Interests: Synthesis of molecular tools to study activity in the brain.
Jeffrey Therrien | Sessional Lecturer | Chemistry | j.therrien@ubc.ca
Courses & Teaching: Organic chemistry; inorganic chemistry; environmental organic chemistry; upper-level laboratories.
Emilian Tuca | Postdoctoral Research Fellow | Chemistry | emilian.tuca@ubc.ca | 778.587.9597

Graduate student supervisor


Research Interests: Development of Atom-Centered Potentials for Application in Solid State Systems
Yuxiang Wei | MSc Student | Chemistry | wyx01@mail.ubc.ca
Sheila Williamson | Graduate Program Assistant, Biology & Chemistry | Biology, Chemistry | sheila.williamson@ubc.ca | 250.807.8094 | SCI 155
Kirsten Wolthers | Associate Professor | Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Chemistry | kirsten.wolthers@ubc.ca | 250.807.8663 | FIP 342

Graduate student supervisor


Research Interests: Mechanistic enzymology; structural and functional analysis of cofactor containing proteins.
Courses & Teaching: Enzymology; biochemistry.
Adam Yasunaga | PhD Student | Biochemistry and Molecular Biology | adam.yasunaga@alumni.ubc.ca | FIP 245
Research Interests: Development of molecular force sensors that will be used to study the forces involved in cellular processes such as adhesion and rolling. With these force sensors, we will be able to better quantify the forces that cells experience in their environment and how they respond to these forces.
Wesley Zandberg | Associate Professor | Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Chemistry | wesley.zandberg@ubc.ca | 250.807.9821 | SCI 209

Graduate student supervisor


Research Interests: Analytical glycobiology: the use of modern instrumental techniques to study carbohydrates, their oligomers (glycans) and their metabolism; developing new methods to investigate carbohydrates; and using chemical and analytical tools to investigate the functions of protein-linked glycans in cells and animals.
Courses & Teaching: Instrumental analytical chemistry
Jessica Zarama Buritica | MSc Student | Chemistry, Southern Medical Program | jzaramab@mail.ubc.ca
Ieva Zigg | Chemistry Program Lab Manager | Chemistry | Ieva.zigg@ubc.ca | 250.807.9568 | SCI 212