Department of BioMolecular Sciences
The University of Mississippi

Recent Graduates

Graduates from each division of the Department of BioMolecular Sciences have found employment in a variety of fields in both the public and private sectors. We have included a list of our graduates from the past 12 years below. Please contact us if you note any omissions or items that need to be corrected!

Environmental Toxicology (ETRP)

  • Ann Fairly Barnett, M.S., 2019
    Thesis Title: “The Independent and Combined Effects of Hypoxia and Tributyltin on the Eastern Oyster, Crassostrea virginica
    Advisor, Dr. Deborah Gochfeld
  • James Gledhill, M.S., 2019
    Thesis Title: “The Effects of Hypoxia and Freshwater Intrusion on the Eastern Oyster (Crassostrea virginica)”
    Advisor, Dr. Kristine Willett
  • Dennis Carty, Ph.D., 2017
    Characterizing the Developmental and Reproductive Toxicities of Cannabidiol and Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Kristie Willett
  • Faisal Albaqami, Ph.D., 2015
    Saffron Extract and Its Active Constituents as Preventative and/or Treatment Agent for Prostate Cancer
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Kristie Willett
  • Adam Hawkins, Ph.D., 2014
    Effects of nanosilver and silver nitrate exposure on fathead minnows (Pimephales Promelas) and zebrafish (Danio Rerio)
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Kristie Willett
  • Mindi Ansley, M.S., 2014
    Thesis Title: “Characterizing innate immunity in the Hawaiian coral Montipora capitata”
    Advisor, Dr. Deborah Gochfeld
  • Cole Easson, Ph.D., 2013
    Thesis Title: “Individual and Population Responses of a Common Caribbean Sponge, Aplysina cauliformis, to Combinations of Natural and Anthropogenic Stressors”
    Advisor, Dr. Marc Slattery
  • Frank Booc, M.S., 2013
    Thesis Title: “Benzo[a]pyrene Effects on Fundulus heteroclitus Reproductive Endpoints”
    Advisor, Dr. Kristie Willett
  • Kimberly Foster, M.S., 2013
    Thesis Title: “Synthesis and evaluation of naturally occurring halogenated bipyrroles in a relevant marine species, Fundulus heteroclitus”
  • Sylvester Lee, M.S., 2012
    Thesis Title: “Adaptive Tolerance to Ocean Acidification in the Marine Sponge Chondrilla nucula
  • Meghan Dailey, M.S., 2012
    Thesis Title: “Temporal and Spatial Assessment of PAHs in Water, Sediment, and Oysters as a result of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill”
  • Suzanne Childress Seale, M.S., 2010
    Thesis Title: “Behavioral and transcriptional effects of acrylamide in rat pups”
  • Lindsay Krentz O’Donahue, M.S., 2010
    Thesis Title: “The effect of ethynylestradiol, benzo(a)pyrene and a mixture of the two on the sex change event in the hermaphroditic bridled goby, Coryphopterus glaucofraenum
  • Kelley Ivey Ezell, M.S., 2010
    Thesis Title: “Real time drug abuse by measurement of influent wastewater in sewage treatment plants”

 

Medicinal Chemistry

  • Maali Alshammari, Ph.D., 2022
    Synthetic Studies on Valuable Fluorinated Building Blocks
    Dissertation Director, Dr. David Colby
  • AyoOluwa Aderibigbe, Ph.D., 2021
    Computational modeling of non-active functional states of the cannabinoid receptor 1 and its ligands
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Robert Doerksen
  • Nicholas Akins, Ph.D., 2021
    Development of Salvinorin-based Ligands for the Opioid Receptors
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Hoang Le
  • Amna T. Adam, Ph.D., 2020
    Application of Fluorinated Reagents in Synthesis and Drug Discovery
    Dissertation Director, Dr. David Colby
  • Sweta Adhikari, M.S., 2019
    Thesis Title: “A Study to Regioselectively Access Fluorinated Triazoles and Isoxazoles”
    Advisor, Dr. Sudeshna Roy
  • Reem Alkhodier, M.S., 2019
    Thesis Title: “Synthesis of 3-Methoxyflavones as Potential Antioxidants, Neuroprotective Agents, and Trifluoromethylated 19F NMR Probes”
    Advisor, Dr. David Colby
  • Maali Alshammari, M.S., 2019
    Thesis Title: “Synthesis of Fluoroflavones as Potential Neuroprotective Agents”
    Advisor, Dr. David Colby
  • Munia Sowaileh, Ph.D., 2018
    Fluorinated Organic Molecules for Medicinal Applications
    Dissertation Director, Dr. David Colby
  • Kelsey McPherson, Ph.D., 2018
    Synthesis and Evaluation of Dual-Acting Ligands for Mu Opioid and Neuropeptide FF Receptors
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Christopher McCurdy
  • Michael Cunningham, Ph.D., 2018
    Synthetic Investigation of Natural Products Causing Dopaminergic Neurodegeneration
    Dissertation Director, Dr. John Rimoldi
  • Mohammed Jihan, Ph.D., 2017
    Synthesis, Chemistry, Biological Evaluation and Structure-Activity Relationships of rac- and Chiral 6-Desmethyl-5β-Hydroxy-D-secoartemisinin
    Dissertation director, Dr. John Rimoldi
  • Veda Gogineni, Ph.D., 2017
    Phytochemical Investigation of Psychoactive Medicinal Plants for the Treatment of Neurological Disorders
    Dissertation director, Dr. John Rimoldi
  • Manal Nael, Ph.D., 2016
    Targeting Protein Kinases to Manage or Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease
    Dissertation director, Dr. Robert J. Doerksen
  • Walid Alsharif, Ph.D., 2015
    Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of Sigma Receptors (sRS) Ligands as Potential Pharmacotherapy for Cancer, and Drug Addiction
    Dissertation director, Dr. Christopher R. McCurdy
  • Eric Bow, Ph.D., 2015
    Design, Synthesis and Cannabinoid Receptor Activity of Benzofuran Ligands
    Dissertation director, Dr. John M. Rimoldi
  • Pankaj Pandey, Ph.D., 2015
    Protein-Ligand Interaction Studies and Identification of New Drug-Like Hits as Cannabinoid Receptor Modulators
    Dissertation director, Dr. Robert Doerksen
  • Shuneize E. Slater, Ph.D., 2015
    The Discovery of Novel Inhibitors of Plasmodium falciparum ATPase 6 Obtained Via A Mechanistic Study of Artemisinin
    Dissertation director, Dr.Robert Doerksen
  • Amer H. Tarawneh, Ph.D., 2015
    Evaluation of Novel Ligands for Opioid Receptors
    Dissertation director, Dr. Stephen Cutler
  • Arindam Chatterjee, Ph.D., 2013
  • Khaled Elokely, Ph.D., 2013
  • Yushan Wu, Ph.D., 2013
  • Shivangi Awasthi, Ph.D., 2013
  • Afeef Husni, Ph.D., 2013
  • Gang Fu, Ph.D., 2013
  • Zarana Chauhan, Ph.D., 2013
  • David Watson, Ph.D., 2012
  • Xiaoning Wang, Ph.D., 2012
  • Jessica Mankus, Ph.D., 2012
  • Sarah Chajkowski Scarry, Ph.D., 2012
    Dissertation director, Dr. John M. Rimoldi
  • Marco Arribas, Ph.D., 2011
    Synthesis of Analogues Based on the Opioid Alkaloid Mitragynine
    Dissertation director, Dr. Christopher R. McCurdy
  • Rohit Bhat, Ph.D., 2011
    Design, Synthesis, Biological Evaluatiohn and Metabolic Stability Studies of Sigma Receptor Ligands
    Dissertation director, Dr. Christopher R. McCurdy
  • Vanildo Braga, Ph.D., 2011
    Approaches Towards the Synthesis of Bradyoxetin
    Dissertation director, Dr. John M. Rimoldi
  • Jiangtao Gao, Ph.D., 2011
    Fungi Derived Natural Products with Binding Affinities for Human Opiod Receptors or Cannabinoid Receptors
    Dissertation director, Dr. Stephen J. Cutler
  • Swapnil Kulkarni, Ph.D., 2011
    Part A: Studies Towards the Total Synthesis of an Anticancer and Antifugal Natural Products: Pseudolaric Acid B, Part B: Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Berkeleyamid
    Dissertation director, Dr. Mitchell A. Avery
  • Rob Smith, Ph.D., 2011
    Design and Synthesis of Novel Agrofungicides Based on Naturally Occurring PBDEs
    Dissertation director, Dr. John M. Rimoldi
  • Falgun Shah, Ph.D., 2011
    Use of Structure and Ligand-Based Drug Design Tools for the Discovery of Small Molecule Inhibitors of Cysteine Proteases for the Treatment of Malaria and SARS Infection
    Dissertation director, Dr. Mitchell A. Avery
  • Mohamed Helal, Ph.D., 2010
    Melanin Concentrating Hormone Receptor-1 Antagonists: Discovery, Optimization, and Biological Evaluation
    Dissertation director, Dr. Mitchell A. Avery
  • Eman Habib, Ph.D., 2010
    Isolation and Structure Elucidation of Biologically Active Compounds from Terrestrial and Fungal Organisms
    Dissertation director, Dr. Stephen J. Cutler
  • Velvet Journigan, Ph.D., 2010
    Part I. Design, Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Ligands for Neuropeptide FF1 and FF2 Receptors. Part II. Design, Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Ligands for the K Opioid Receptor
    Dissertation director, Dr. Christopher R. McCurdy
  • Pankaj Daga, Ph.D., 2010
    Combating Hepatitis B Virus by Targeting DNA Polymerase. Computational Insights into Resistance Development and Search for Novel Inhibitors by Virtual Screening
    Dissertation director, Dr. Robert J. Doerksen
  • Tammy Nolan, Ph.D., 2010
    Molecular Recognition Studies for the Kappa Opioid and Sigma Receptors using Virtual Screening, Pharmacophore Modeling and Semi-Synthesis
    Dissertation director, Dr. Christopher R. McCurdy

Pharmacognosy

  • Hanan Albataineh, Ph.D., 2022
    Genomic Analysis and Metabolic Potential of Myxobacteria
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Cole Stevens
  • Hayley Prescott, Ph.D., 2022
    Botanical Aphrodisiacs for Women’s Health
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Ikhlas A. Khan
  • Moneerah Alqahtani, Ph.D., 2022
    Late-stage Diversification of Select Natural Products – New Chemical Entities with Improved Biological Activities
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Ikhlas A. Khan
  • Mohammed Hawwal, Ph.D., 2021
    Isolation of Marker Compounds from Copaiba Essential Oil and Mimosa Pigra for Quality Evaluation of Dietary Supplements
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Ikhlas A. Khan
  • Barbara Adaikpoh, Ph.D., 2021
    Responses of Myxobacteria to Plant-Related Chemosignals Suggests Their Roles in the Rhizobiome
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Cole Stevens
  • Shukria Akbar, Ph.D., 2021
    Responses of Predatory Myxobacteria to their Preys Signaling Molecules & Features of a Pseudomonas Prey Avoiding Predation
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Cole Stevens
  • Alysia Gonzales, M.S., 2021
    Thesis Title: “NMR-Based Characterization of a Glucan Isolated from Ganoderma lucidum”
    Advisor, Dr. Vitor Pomin
  • Vimal Sharma, Ph.D., 2020
    Phytochemical and Pharmacological Investigations of Mirabilis Multiflora and Tapinanthus Globiferus
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Ikhlas A. Khan
  • Taghreed Majrashi, M.S., 2020
    Chemical and Biological Evaluations of Asimina triloba and Rollinia mucosa
    Advisor, Dr. David Colby
  • William Vignovich, M.S., 2020
    Thesis Title: “Conformation and Binding Aspects of Sulfated Carbohydrates by Liquid-state NMR”
    Advisor, Dr. Vitor Pomin
  • Thanh-Thanh (Claire) Tran, Ph.D., 2020
    Biological Evaluation of Maasia Glauca (Hassk.) Mols, Kessler & Rogstad
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Ikhlas A. Khan
  • Manal Alhusban, Ph.D., 2019
    Cheminformatic Approach for Deconvolution of Active Compounds in a Complex Mixture – PhytoSERMs in Licorice
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Ikhlas A. Khan
  • Abidah Parveen, Ph.D., 2019
    Comparative Assessment of Safety and Quality of Tinospora Species – Tinospora crispa and Tinospora sinensis
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Ikhlas A. Khan
  • Ibrahim Almarabi, M.S., 2019
    Thesis Title: “Phytochemical Investigation and Drug Interaction Potential of Cyanotis vaga”
    Advisor, Dr. Ikhlas Khan
  • Omer Fantoukh, Ph.D., 2019
    Safety Assessment and Chemical Fingerprint Analysis of Medicinal Plants Commonly Consumed as Herbal Teas; Rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) and Moringa (Moringa oleifera)
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Ikhlas A. Khan
  • Mohamed Albadry, Ph.D., 2018
    Isolation, Structure Elucidation and Synthesis of Some Natural Products From Marine and Plant Sources
    Dissertation director, Dr. Ikhlas A. Khan
  • Najla Alzaid, M.S., 2018
    Thesis Title: “Exploring novel botanical ingredients for cosmetics – Efficacy and Safety of Triterpenes”
    Advisor, Dr. Ikhlas Khan
  • Adam Keasling, Ph.D., 2017
    Molecular Characterization of the Opioid Receptors: Design, Development, and Preclinical Evaluation of Salvinorin A-Based Molecular Probes
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Ikhlas Khan
  • Surendra Jain, Ph.D., 2017
    Development of Phenotypic Drug Discovery Models for Tropical Parasitic Diseases
    Dissertation director, Dr. Babu Tekwani
  • Jagrati Jain, Ph.D., 2017
    Biochemical and Molecular Assessment of Toxicity of Primaquine Metabolites on Erythrocytes
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Babu Tekwani
  • Yelkaira Vasquez, Ph.D., 2016
    Biological and Chemical Investigation of Panamanian Plants for Potential Utility Against Metabolic Syndrome
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Ikhlas A. Khan
  • Chinni Yalamanchili, Ph.D., 2016
    Exploring New Chemical Entities from Traditional Medicine: Synthesis and Specific Bioactivities
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Ikhlas A. Khan
  • Michael Chan, Ph.D., 2015
    Ethnobotanical- and Chemometric-Guided Investigation of Phytolacca americana
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Iklas Khan
  • Joonseok Oh, Ph.D., 2015
    Endangered Plant Species for Potential Drug Lead and Anticancer Prototypes for Treatment of Breast and Pancreatic Cancers
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Mark Hamann
  • Michael James, M.S., 2014
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Mark Hamann
  • Amanda Waters, Ph.D., 2014
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Mark Hamann
  • Christina Coleman, Ph.D., 2014
  • Michael Cunningham, M.S., 2013
  • Kimberly Auker, M.S., 2013
  • Samul Abbas, M.S., 2013
  • Kevin Llewellyn, Ph.D., 2013
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Mark Hamann
  • John Bowling, Ph.D., 2012
  • Sandipan Datta, Ph.D., 2012
  • Xiang Fu, Ph.D., 2012, St. Jude’s Children Research Hospital
  • Mallika Kumarihamy, Ph.D., 2012
  • Bin Wang, Ph.D., 2012
  • Mohamed Ibrahim, Ph.D., 2011
  • Damaris Meujo, Ph.D., 2011
  • Amir Wahba, Ph.D., 2011
  • Jing Li, Ph.D., 2010

Pharmacology

  • Salahuddin Mohammed, Ph.D., 2022
    HIV-1 Tat and Opioids: Implications for Stress-Related Psychopathology
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Jason Paris
  • Brayden Thomas, M.S., 2022
    Thesis Title: “The Role of Astrocytic Insulin-like Growth Factor 1”
    Advisor, Dr. Ikhlas Khan
  • Hao Liu, Ph.D., 2021
    An In-depth Approach for Functional Oligosaccharide Analysis
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Joshua Sharp
  • Amber Kennon, Ph.D., 2021
    Influence of RAGE Signaling on Cellular Communication in Diabetes-Mediated
    Vascular Calcification
    Dissertation Director, Dr. James A. Stewart
  • Niloofar Abolhasani Khaje, Ph.D., 2021
    Towards a New Method of Determining Protein Structure
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Joshua Sharp
  • Stephanie Burr, Ph.D., 2021
    Rap1a overlaps the AGE/RAGE signaling cascade in type 2 diabetes mellitus
    Dissertation Director, Dr. James A. Stewart
  • Erik Hodges, Ph.D., 2020
    Behavioral Chronopharmacology of Cannabinoids in Young and Aged Mice
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Nicole Ashpole
  • Disha Prabhu, Ph.D., 2020
    Role of Astrocytic IGF-1 signaling in Regulation of Astrocyte Structure, Function and Cognition
    Dissertation Directors, Dr. Nicole Ashpole & Dr. Kristine Willett
  • Mohammad Riaz, M.S., 2019
    Thesis Title: “Implementing Mass Spectrometry for the Structural and Compositional Analysis of Proteins”
    Advisor, Dr. Joshua Sharp
  • Trisha Dhawan, Ph.D., 2018
    Developing Zebrafish as an In vivo Model to Screen Compounds for Anti-cancer Activity in Human Breast Cancer
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Kristie Willett
  • Santu Singha, Ph.D., 2018
    A Mechanistic Study of the Teratogenic Potential of 4-O-methylhonokiol (MH) on Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes)
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Zia Shariat-Madar
  • Taisen Hao, Ph.D., 2017
    Transcriptional Downregulation of MYC Through Nucleic Acid Clamp-mediated Stabilization of the Promoter G-quadruplex
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Kristie Willett
  • Harshul Batra, Ph.D., 2017
    Binding and Function of Regulatory Proteins to the kRAS Promoter: A Role in Pancreatic Cancer
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Kristie Willett
  • Rhianna Morgan, Ph.D., 2017
    G-quadruplexes as Molecular Targets for Transcriptional Control
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Kristie Willett
  • Khalid Alharthy, PhD., 2015
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Kristie Willett
  • Hassan Madkhali, Ph.D., 2015
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Zia Shariat-Madar
  • Surabhi Shukla, Ph.D., 2015
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Babu Tekwani
  • Tahmineh Tabrizian, Ph.D., 2015
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Zia Shariat-Madar
  • Jingjing Wang, Ph.D., 2014
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Zia Shariat-Madary
  • Pranapda Aumsuwan, Ph.D., 2013
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Asok Dasmahapatra
  • Monica Gole, Ph.D., 2013
    Dissertation Director, Dr. David Murray
  • Mona Haron, Ph.D., 2013
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Asok Dasmahapatra
  • Krishna Nagalla, Ph.D., 2013
    Dissertation Director, Dr. David Murray
  • Mengmeng Wu, M.S., 2013
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Asok Dasmahapatra
  • Xiefan Fang, Ph.D., 2011
    Dissertation director, Dr. Kristie Willett
  • Dhaval Kolte, Ph.D., 2011
    Dissertation Director, Dr. Zia Shariat-Madar
  • Mohamed Hammad, Ph.D., 2010
  • Minghui Wu, Ph.D., 2010
  • Monica Gole, M.S., 2010