Luesch Group Members

Principal Investigator

Hendrik Luesch

Hendrik Luesch Ph.D.

Professor And Chair, Debbie And Sylvia DeSantis Chair In Natural Products Drug Discovery And Development
Department: Medicinal Chemistry
Phone: (352) 273-7738

Research Track Faculty

Qi-Yin Chen

Qi-Yin Chen Ph.D.

Research Associate Professor
Department: Medicinal Chemistry
Phone: (352) 273-7739
Ranjala Ratnayake

Ranjala Ratnayake Ph.D.

Research Associate Professor
Department: Medicinal Chemistry
Phone: (352) 627-9220
Manyun Chen

Manyun Chen Ph.D., M.S.

Assistant Scientist
Department: Medicinal Chemistry
Phone: (626) 278-1175

Postdoctoral Associates

sofia

Sofia Kokkaliari
Ph.D., Chemistry, University of South Florida
B.S. Pharmacy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
skokkaliari@cop.ufl.edu

Mallesh Kathe

Mallesh Kathe
Ph.D. Organic Chemistry, CSIR-Indian Institue of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad, India
malleshk@cop.ufl.edu

Larissa

Larissa Costa de Almeida
Ph.D., Science (Pharmacology), University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
B.S. Pharmacy (B. Pharm.), University of Mato Grosso, Brazil
costadealmeida.l@ufl.edu

Pornkanok Pongpamorn

Pornkanok Pongpamorn
Ph.D., Chemical Biology, Chulabhorn Graduate Institute, Thailand
B.S. Biological Sciences, Mahidol University, Thailand
p.pongpamorn@ufl.edu

Visiting Scholars

Fatma Al-Awadhi
Assistant Professor
Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, Kuwait University, Kuwait
Ph.D., Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Florida
B.S. Pharmacy (B.Pharm.), Kuwait University, Kuwait
fatalawadhi@ufl.edu

Graduate Students

Tam Pham headshot

Hoan Dan Tam Pham
B.S. Biochemistry, Stetson University
tampham98@ufl.edu

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Hens Laurent
B.S. Chemistry, Florida A&M University
hens.laurent@cop.ufl.edu

Emma Ellis
B.S. Biochemistry, Oklahoma Baptist University
Downing.ekate@ufl.edu

Lobna Elsadek

Lobna Elsadek
B.S. Pharmacy, Cairo University, Egypt
lobna.elsadek@ufl.edu

Emily Simon
B.S. Biology, Molecular Concentration with Chemistry Minor, Duquesne University
simonemily@ufl.edu

CNPD3 Staff

Kalina Rosenova Atanasova
Biological Scientist

PhD. Veterinary virology, Ghent University, Belgium
DVM, University of Forestry, Sofia, Bulgaria
katanasova@cop.ufl.edu

Taylor Corcoran
Laboratory Technician

B.S. Chemistry, University of Florida
tcorcoran@cop.ufl.edu

Alumni

Graduate Students:

  • Kanchan Taori, 2006–2008 (M.S., 2008)
  • Jason Kwan, 2005–2010 (Ph.D., 2010)
  • Kamolrat Metavarayuth, 2010–2012 (M.S., 2012)
  • Rui Wang, 2007–2012 (Ph.D., 2012)
  • Lilibeth Salvador, 2008–2013 (Ph.D., 2013)
  • Rana Montaser, 2008–2013 (Ph.D., 2013)
  • Michelle Bousquet, 2010–2015 (Ph.D., 2015)
  • Khanh Ha, 2014–2016 (Ph.D., 2016, Chemistry)
  • Lorelie Imperial, 2014–2016 (M.S., 2016)
  • Fatma Al-Awadhi, 2012–2017 (Ph.D., 2017)
  • Weijing Cai, 2012–2017 (Ph.D., 2017)
  • Kara Spencer, 2015–2017 (M.S., 2017)
  • Danmeng Luo, 2013–2018 (Ph.D., 2018)
  • Xiao Liang, 2014–2019 (Ph.D., 2019)
  • David Brumley, 2017–2022 (Ph.D., 2022)

International Visiting Students:

  • Dheran Ladwa, University of Bath (Pharmacy), UK, 2007
  • Ludwig Angermeier, University of Regensburg (Pharmacy), Germany, 2008–2009
  • Gudrun Schlegel, University of Regensburg (Pharmacy), Germany, 2009–2010
  • Michael Fürst, University of Erlangen (Pharmacy), Germany, 2011–2012
  • Raphael Wiedey, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf (Pharmacy), Germany, 2013–2014
  • Birthe Förster, Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Chemical Biology), Germany, 2014
  • Anna Sandner, Philipps-University Marburg (Pharmacy, Chemistry), Germany, 2014–2015
  • Katharina Lamm, Technical University of Munich (Biochemistry), Germany, 2015
  • Simon Dolles, University of Erlangen (Pharmacy), Germany, 2016
  • Sabine Kuznia, UF/University of Greifswald (Diplomarbeit, Pharmacy), Germany, 2015–2016 (Diplom Pharmacist, 2016)
  • Yusoph C. Manalundong II, Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology, Philippines 2019-2020
  • Harmie N. Luyao, Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology, Philippines 2019-2020

Postdoctoral Associates and Assistant Scientists:

  • Susan Matthew, Ph.D., 2006–2009
  • Yanxia Liu, Ph.D., 2006–2014
  • Pamela Havre, Ph.D., 2014–2015
  • Dimitris Kallifidas, Ph.D., 2013–2017
  • James Matthews, Ph.D., 2015–2018
  • Atsushi Kawamura, Ph.D., 2018-2019

Undergraduate Students:

  • Kathrina Gonzales, University of Florida (Biology), 2008–2009
  • Kristen Lee, University of Florida (Biochemistry), 2009
  • Gabriel Jerkins, University of Florida (Chemistry) 2012–2013
  • Samantha Riccini, University of Florida (Pre-Pharmacy), 2014
  • Duyen Truong, University of Florida (Pre-Pharmacy), 2017–2018
  • Varvara Folimonova, University of Florida (Chemistry), 2019-2022

Visiting Scholars:

  • Wei Zhang, Ph.D., Fudan University, Shanghai, China, 2012–2013
  • Mylene Uy, Ph.D., Mindanao State University-Iligan, Iligan City, Philippines, 2014
  • Mariangela Soares de Azevedo, Ph.D., Universidade Federal de Rondônia, Brazil, 2014–2015
  • Yoshiharu Okuno, Ph.D., Wakayama College, Japan, 2017–2018
  • Ahmad Mostafa, Ph.D., Al-Azhar University, Egypt, 2018
  • Masteria PutraPh.D., Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Indonesia, 2018
  • Rita de Cássia Ribeiro Gonçalves, Ph.D., , Federal University of Espirito Santo, UFES, Vitoria, Brazil, 2018–2019
  • Rodrigo Rezende Kitagawa, Ph.D., Federal University of Espirito Santo, UFES, Vitoria, Brazil, 2018–2019
  • Na Liu, Ph.D., University of Jinan, China 2019-2020

Pharm.D. Students:

  • Chudi Onyiuke, University of Florida, 2010
  • Jennifer Corder, University of Florida, 2014
  • Latoy Waite, University of Florida, 2016–2017
  • Arsany Makhar, Rutgers University, 2018

High School Students:

  • Jessica Lee, Eastside High School (Gainesville), 2013–2014