Group Members

I am an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of Vermont. I received my Bachelor’s of Science in Molecular Biology and my doctorate in Molecular Biophysics and Structural Biology from the University of Pittsburgh. My research interests primarily lie in developing new optical imaging tools that can be used to understand the function of biomolecules by visualizing their molecular interactions and structural dynamics biological cells.

My name is Maddie Hatch, and I am a Ph.D. student from Massachusetts. I completed my undergraduate degree at Wheaton College, MA in Chemistry. I am interested in studying amylin, which is a protein involved in Type II Diabetes. Amylin amyloids can aggregate on the pancreas and can lead to in β-cell death, where both amylin and insulin are stored and released from when blood sugar increases. I am interested in studying amylin protein folding and amyloid formation, protein interactions in a cellular environment, and possible disease cross-seeding. In my off time, I enjoy skiing, hiking, and camping.

My name is Rusul Mustafa and I am from Iraq, Baghdad. I’m a graduate student pursing a PhD degree in Analytical Chemistry specifically in the field of gene/drug delivery. My research interest is focused on characterizing the molecular interaction between the cell and the most evolving non-viral polymeric delivery vehicles using an innovative technique called Raman Chemical Imaging.

Hello! My name is Nicholas Perez and I am a freshman attending the University of Vermont. Currently, I am Biochemistry major on the pre-med track! Ever since I was young, I was always into science and I am really glad that I get to work on protein folding in the cell!