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Brodie Thomson - PhD Candidate

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Brodie joined the group in 2019 after completing an MChem at the University of St Andrews. Inside the lab Brodie’s current research includes areas of both fluorine and CBD chemistry. Outside of the lab Brodie can be found making and drinking beer around Vancouver, or soaking up the sun on the beach in the short bursts it appears during the Vancouver summer.

Joey Lai - PhD Candidate

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Joey was born in Vancouver, B.C., and has a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from UBC. He has been in the Sammis Group since the summer of 2017, and he has worked on radical cyclization of oximes and hydrazones and on deoxyfluorination of alcohols. He continued in the group, starting his PhD in 2021, working on S(IV) mediated peptide couplings.

 

When he is not busy studying, Joey enjoys staying indoors reading, playing games, or looking at pictures of cats.

Will Chappell - PhD Candidate

 

Will was born in Bristol, UK, and grew up in Penarth, South Wales. He completed his MChem in Chemistry from the University of Oxford in 2020. For his Master's project he worked in Prof. Martin D. Smith's lab, investigating atropselective cyclisation reactions. He then worked as a Scientist for Evotec before joining the Sammis group in 2021. In the group he has worked on one-pot reactions of thionyl fluoride, and aspects of cannabinoid synthesis.

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In his free time, Will enjoys hiking, reading and watching SFF, travelling, cooking, and caring way too much about public transit.

Sean Betteridge - PhD Student

 

Coming Soon!

Sean is a new PhD student in the Sammis group. He recently completed his bachelor's in chemistry from the University of Toronto. Bio coming soon!

Our Post-Doctoral Researchers...

Korey Bedard - Post-Doc

Dr. Korey Bedard is a postdoctoral fellow who has been working in the Sammis Lab since late 2022. Korey completed a BSc. in biochemistry at Brock University in St. Catharines, ON. He would later obtain his PhDin synthetic organic chemistry at the same institution, under the supervision of Dr. Tomas Hudlicky. His PhD. research focused on the total synthesis of anti-cancer natural products and their unnatural analogues, as well as exploiting enzymatic transformations in total synthesis.

 

Since joining our lab, Korey has focused on synthesizing chemically modified fentanyl derivatives for use in calibrating and improving a fentanyl detection system. He has also collaborated with local biotech companies to assist with the synthesis of novel ionizable lipids and helper lipids for use in lipid nanoparticle (LNP) formulations.

 

Away from the lab, Korey is an avid hockey fan and stays busy playing ball and ice hockey, along with golf and baseball. He enjoys going out and exploring the Vancouver area - whether it's taking in the views while hiking or checking out local restaurants and breweries.

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Taniya Adak - Post-Doc

Taniya was born in Asansol, India. She completed her integrated M.Sc. Chemistry degree at Pondicherry University before coming to Vancouver, Canada to pursue her Ph.D. Chemistry at the University of British Columbia. Taniya’s Ph.D. specialized in bioorganic chemistry and enzymology under the supervision of Prof. Martin E. Tanner. During her Ph.D. she utilized her synthetic organic chemistry skills and expertise in protein sciences to identify and demonstrate for the first-time activity of a novel membrane-associated enzyme belonging to family of carbohydrate esterases.

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She joined the Sammis group in January 2023 as a MITACS elevate postdoctoral fellow working primarily for an early-stage gene therapy enabling lipid nanoparticle technology company NanoVation Therapeutics. Taniya focussed on process development for large-scale manufacturing of ionizable lipids and novel building blocks for the same.

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Outside of her work, she lets her curiosity to learn new things guide her weekend adventures. She likes to explore wild hiking trails and create dreamy art through photography and painting.

Our Undergraduate Students...

Dillon Thiesen - Fourth Year Honours Student

Dillon is a fourth year undergraduate in the Sammis group. Since joining the group in September 2023, he has been working on his Bachelor's Thesis project. He will be graduating from UBC in May 2024.

 

Dillon enjoys life on campus and spends time skateboarding and playing intramural sports with friends.

Robert Plavan - Fourth Year Directed Studies Student

Robert is a fourth year undergraduate in the Sammis group.

Coming Soon!

Our Visiting Students...

We currently have no visiting students or researchers.  Contact Glenn to apply!

Our Alumni and Past Members...

Past Post-Doctoral Researchers:

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  • Dr. Blessing Cao (2019)

  • Dr. Takahito Kasahara (2015)

    • Research Scientist Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.

  • Dr. Montserrat Rueda Becerril (2014)

    • Lecturer at The University of British Columbia​

  • Dr. Huimin (Robby) Zhai (2011)

    • Senior Research Scientist Eurofins Alphora, Alphora Research Inc.

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Graduated PhD Students:

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  • Dr. Trevor Bolduc (2023)

    • Assistant Professor of Teaching at UC Riverside

  • Dr. Cayo Lee (2022)

  • Dr. Kayi (Jia Yi) Mo (2021)

    • Research Scientist at Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc.

  • Dr. Paul Foth (2021)

    • Research Scientist at NuChem Therapeutics​​​​​

  • Dr. Maxim Epifanov (2020)

    • Research Scientist at NuChem Therapeutics

  • Dr. Wei Zhang (2019)

    • Research Scientist at Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc.

  • Dr. Claire Chatalova Sazepin (2015)

    • Senior Research Scientist at OmegaChem Inc.

  • Dr. Natalie Campbell (2014)

    • Intellectual Property Manager at Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc.

  • Dr. Joe Leung (2014)

    • Chemical Account Manager at ThermoFisher Scientific

  • Dr. Montserrat Rueda-Becerril (2014)

    • Lecturer at The University of British Columbia

  • Dr. Jason Wickenden (2013)

    • Associate Professor of Teaching at The University of British Columbia

  • Dr. Hai Zhu (2013)

    • Research Scientist at Nanosyn Inc.​

  • Dr. Maria Zlotorzynska (2012)

    • Associate Director, Research Projects at Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University

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Graduated MSc Students:

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  • Meruyert Binayeva (2015)

    • PhD - City University of New York

    • Process Chemist - Continuity Pharma

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Graduated/Past Undergraduate Students:

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  • William Yang (2023) Chem 445 Research Learning Experience

    • MSc Student - Simon Fraser University (Prof. Britton)

  • Will Wang (2023) Chem 449 Honours Thesis

  • Kathleen Downey (2022) Chem 449 Honours Thesis

    • PhD Student - MIT (Prof. Movassaghi)

  • Alina Cook (2021) Chem 449 Honours Thesis

    • PhD Student - Stanford University (Prof. Burns)​

  • Hao Yu (2020) Chem 449 Honours Thesis

    • PhD Student - Caltech​ (Prof. Stoltz)

  • Joey Lai (2020) Chem 448 Directed Studies

    • PhD Candiate - UBC (Prof. Sammis)

  • Cindy Wang (2019) Chem 445 Research Learning Experience​​

    • Health Science Professional (Vancouver Coastal Health)​

  • Frances Gu (2019) Chem 449 Honours Thesis

    • PhD Candidate - University of Michigan​ (Prof. Sanford)

  • James Guthrie (2019) Research Assistant

    • PhD Student - University of Toronto (Prof. Taylor)

  • Katrina Lim (2019) Chem 445 Research Learning Experience​

    • MSc Student - Simon Fraser University (Prof. Vocadlo)​

  • Sahil Kanani (2018) Undergraduate Researcher

    • Chem 449 Honours Thesis (UBC, Algar Group)​

  • Cynthia Yang (2017)​​

    • MA - Liberty University

    • Counselor and Client Services Supervisor - Prestenwood Pregnancy Center

  • Sebastian De Vries (2017)​

  • Urmi Mody (2017)​

    • PhD Candiate - UBC (Prof. Wolf)

  • Benjamin R. Boswell (2016) Chem 449 Honours Thesis

    • PhD - Stanford University​

    • Senior Scientist - Exelixis

  • Chirag Apte (2016)

    • PhD - University of Toronto​ (Prof. Yudin)

    • Research Scientist - X-Chem Inc.

  • Josiah Newton (2016)​

  • Andy Yen (2014)

  • Jason Hudlicky (2013) Chem 449 Honours Thesis

    • PhD - Vanderbilt University​ (Prof. Sulikowski)

    • Research Scientist - Gilead Sciences

  • Julian G. West (2013) Chem 449 Honours Thesis

    • PhD - Princeton University (Prof. Sorensen)

    • Assistant Professor at Rice University

  • Kayli Johnson (2010) Chem 449 Honours Thesis

    • Associate Professor of Teaching at The University of British Columbia​

  • Kenneth Chan (2010)

  • Christine Dunbar (2009) Chem 449 Honours Thesis

    • Web Developer at The Coding Chemist - Freelance​

  • Colin Bridges (2009)​

  • (Madeleine) Zarya Cynader​ (2007)

  • Cam Reive

  • Jackie Luk​

  • Kye Seo Hwang​

  • Manu Jagdeo​

  • Sahel Jalali​​​

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Past Visiting Students:

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  • Carlota Bahri

    • Master's student - Sourbonne Université

  • Marie Favie

  • Marie-Claire Jiang

    • Étudiant doctorant - Institut Pasteur

  • Alice Brulet

  • Céline Bouchereau

  • Charlotte Barrillon

  • Florian Bahe

  • Guillaume Briand

  • Jack Hodgson

  • Josh Abernethy

  • Maximilian Wurzenberger

  • Maxwell Babiuk

  • Morgane Seradin

  • Orane Christin

  • Romain Meunier

  • Rudy Dubois

  • Yuri Shpinov

 

Our Graduate Students...

Meet Our Team...

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