Staff

STAFF

	Craig Lindsley, Co-Director Craig Lindsley was recruited jointly by the Vanderbilt Institute of Chemical Biology, the Department of Pharmacology and the Department of Chemistry, joining in September 2006 as Associate Professor. Craig earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of California, Santa Barabra in the Lipshutz laboratory developing novel bi-directional organometallic linchpins for all-E polyene synthesis. Then as an ICCB postdoctoral fellow in the labs of Matt Shair at Harvard University, Craig developed a solid phase biomimetic synthesis of carpanone-like molecules. After brief stints at Parke-Davis and Eli Lilly, Craig joined Merck where he established and led the Technology Enabled Synthesis (TES) group as a senior research fellow/group leader in the medicinal chemistry department. By application of an iterative parallel synthesis approach in combination with microwave synthesis technology and a custom, mass-directed preparative LCMS platform, Craig’s TES group rapidly developed proof of concept compounds for nascent programs as well as four preclinical candidates with only 1-2 chemists/project. Upon arriving at Vanderbilt, Craig has built a new TES lab to develop nascent Vanderbilt programs and perform translational research within the VICB Program in Drug Discovery. His current research interests are drug discovery, medicinal chemistry and traditional organic synthesis.
	Jeffrey Johnston, Co-Director Jeffrey Johnston obtained his B.S. (Honors) in Chemistry (summa cum laude) in 1992 from Xavier University. While at Xavier, he completed his undergraduate thesis research with Professor Robert G. Johnson. He continued his training in organic chemistry at the Ohio State University working with Leo A. Paquette. There, he developed the oxonium ion-mediated pinacol rearrangement and was involved with two efforts in natural products total synthesis (polycavernoside A, taxol). In 1997, he moved to Harvard to join Professor David A. Evans as an NIH postdoctoral fellow. In the Evans group, he developed (with M. Willis, U. Bath) the first highly diastereoselective and enantioselective Mukaiyama-Michael reactions using bisoxazoline copper(II) Lewis acids as catalysts while delineating the associated mechanistic details. He began his independent career at Indiana University in 1999 and was ultimately promoted to Professor of Chemistry with tenure. In 2006, he moved with his research group to Vanderbilt University where he is currently a Professor of Chemistry and a member of the Vanderbilt Institute of Chemical Biology. His research program has been recognized by several organizations, including the Boehringer-Ingelheim New Investigator Award, the Yamanouchi and Astellas faculty awards, an Amgen Young Investigator Award, and an Eli Lilly Grantee Award. At Indiana University, he received the IU Outstanding Junior Faculty Award, as well as an IU Trustees Teaching Award.
	Gary Sulikowski, Co-Director Gary Sulikowski received a BS in chemistry from Wayne State University and a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania. He was an American Cancer Society postdoctoral fellow at Yale University. His first faculty appointment was in the Department of Chemistry at Texas A&M University in 1991, where he was promoted to full professor in 2001. He joined the Vanderbilt Chemistry Department as Professor of Chemistry and member of the Vanderbilt Institute of Chemical Biology in the 2004-2005 academic year. Dr. Sulikowski's research area is organic and bioorganic chemistry. His research interests are in the development of synthetic strategies and reactions, biomimetic syntheses and investigations into the biological properties of natural products. He has published over fifty research articles in the areas of natural products chemistry and biology.
	Richard Williams, Senior Research Specialist Richard graduated from Sheffield Hallam University with an honours degree in applied chemistry in 1998. During his degree course Richard worked for Abbott Laboratories in Kent as an analytical chemist for 1 year. At Abbott laboratories he ran purity and degradation assays for clarithromycin pediatric suspension and Ritonavir. Upon completion of his degree Richard moved to the University of Sheffield to work on his Ph.D with Professor Varinder Aggarwal. Richard's Ph.D research revolved around the newly re-discovered Baylis-Hillman reaction. The project had several areas of research, rate enhancement of a notoriously slow BH reaction, synthesis of chiral catalysts and a natural product synthesis of a conduritol. In 2001, Richard moved to the US to work for Albany Molecular Research in upstate New York as a senior research scientist in the medicinal chemistry department. At AMRI he worked with external customers on contracted medicinal chemistry projects as well as spending 4 months in the chemical development department developing a novel chiral reduction method. After 4 years of New York life Richard decided to move to Vanderbilt in late 2005 to join the synthesis core. Outside of work he enjoys spending time with my two children and playing soccer.
	Sam Saleh, Senior Research Specialist Sam is a native of Baghdad, Iraq and after high school in Baghdad he decided to move to the United States to persue a degree in Nashville and enrolled at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro. He received his B.S. Degree in Chemistry in 1976 and Master's in Chemistry in 1979. Upon graduation, Sam accepted a position at Vanderbilt in the Clinical Pharmacology Department working in the lab of Dr. Douglas Taber doing organic synthesis. His primary responsibility was the synthesis of a wide variety of complex organic molecules of biological importance including prostaglandins, leukotrienes, and prostacyclins. In 1995, he joined Dr. Marnett's lab and worked on research involving the synthesis of compounds for selective inhibition of COX-1 or COX-2 metabolism of arachidonic acid and glyceryl prostaglandins. Sam is married and has three children and four grandchildren. In his spare time, he enjoys participating in activities with my family, gardening, bird watching, and reading.
	Kwangho Kim, Senior Research Specialist Kim was born and raised in South Korea and received his B. A. and M.S. degrees in chemistry and polymer chemistry from Hanyang University. Prior to attending Ph.D. program, he worked in Daelim Industrial, a petrochemical company in Korea, as a senior research scientist for 7 years. In 1998, Kim moved to Japan and began graduate studies in chemical synthesis at Tokyo Institute of Technology. Under the direction of Professor Fumie Sato, he was involved in the development of novel synthetic methodologies and synthesis of biologically active compounds. In particular Kim developed novel chiral building blocks to construct a number of multifunctional chiral acyclic and cyclic compounds by using organotitanium reagents, and obtained his Ph.D. degree in 2001. For his research and education, I received the Japanese Government Monbusho Scholarship and Sasagawa Scientific Research Grant from the Japan Science Society. From 2001-2004, Kim was a postdoctoral research associate in the laboratory of Professor Gary A. Sulikowski at Texas A&M University in college station, where he contributed to the total synthesis of hibarimicin B and congeners of a protein tyrosine kinase inhibitor. In 2004, Prof. Sulikowski moved his research group to Vanderbilt University where Kim was involved in the total synthesis of hibarimicin B, upenamide, and epothilone. In 2006, he joined the chemical synthesis core as a senior research specialist. Kim's interests include playing tennis, golf, and traveling with his family and friends.
	Graeme Dennis, Chemical Informatics Specialist As an undergraduate, Graeme performed calorimetry research in the lab of Babour Z. Chowdury at the University of Greenwich, London, investigating the miscellization of POP-POE-POP polymers. After graduating from Vanderbilt (B.S. Chemistry 1999), Graeme accepted a teaching fellowship in Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University, where he served as head teaching fellow from 1999-2004, leading sections of general, organic, and advanced organic synthesis in Harvard College, in addition to developing the undergraduate organic chemistry lab curriculum. Graeme also rowed crew for Leverett House, where he continues as a non-resident tutor in chemistry and chemical biology. Graeme rejoined the Chemistry Department at Vanderbilt in 2005, and came to VICB in March 2007, where he works on compound management and other chemical informatics projects. A native of Augusta, Georgia and the youngest of six brothers, Graeme enjoys improvisational music and outdoor recreation.
	Padma Portonovo, Lab Manager Padma Portonovo joined the VICB Chemical Synthesis Core as a lab manger in August of 2007. Padma earned her Ph.D. in the area of asymmetric synthesis under Prof. Franklin Davis at Temple University, PA, then worked as a postdoctoral Fellow in the labs of Madeleine Joullie at the University of Pennsylvania, PA. Padma joined Cambrex Pharmaceuticals as a research scientist trained as a cGMP process chemist where she worked on various pharmaceutical intermediates (API’s) and controlled substances and drafted a drug master file for various cGMP processes. Her current work at the Vanderbilt Institute of Chemical Biology includes drafting research proposals for the current projects of the core lab, assisting in billing and overall needs of the lab. She also assists Dr. Lindsley's group and the High-Throughput Screening Core.