People

Dr. Moore’s collaborative research program focuses on making and studying new drug-like molecules that target an important, yet understudied, group of drug targets: transcription factors. Controlling and modulating gene expression with small molecules and peptides has the potential to pave the way for new therapeutics to treat important biomedical problems, like chronic wound healing and many types of cancer. As a result of this work, he was named the 2017 UIC Rising Star Researcher of the Year in the Basic Life Sciences. This success as an independent investigator is consonant with his training with two of the world’s most well-respected academic medicinal chemists: John Katzenellenbogen and Dennis Liotta. As a Ph.D. student with John Katzenellenbogen at UIUC, Dr. Moore gained experience with high-throughput screens and developing structure-activity relationships arising from small molecules identified from those screens. As a postdoctoral fellow with Dennis Liotta at Emory University, he developed an expertise in small molecule hit-to-lead optimization, with a particular emphasis on simultaneously enhancing potency, physicochemical and pharmaceutical properties of preclinical agents. Since arriving at UIC, he has established a productive research team to study several transcription factors, including estrogen receptor and NRF2.

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A’Lester is an IRACDA postdoc affiliated with our lab. He graduated with a PhD in chemistry in 2022 from the University of California Santa Cruz, where he studied plasmonic nanoparticles to detect protein and lipid biomarkers using surface-enhanced Raman scattering. He holds an MS in materials engineering from San Jose State University, and a BS in Chemistry from Stanford University. He joined us in 2022 and contributes to the apidaecin project.

Awards:

Keith is a postdoctoral scholar in the Moore Lab. He received his PharmD (2017) as well as his PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences (2022) from the University of Pittsburgh. His Ph.D. studies in the medicinal chemistry track were under the supervision of Dr. Donna Huryn. Broadly, he focused on small molecule therapies for acute kidney injury including the development of zinc binding group bioisosteres for a non-hydroxamate HDAC inhibitor. He joined the Moore Lab in 2023 and is working on the apidaecin antimicrobial project.

Sebastián is a postdoctoral researcher at the Moore group. He earned his BSc in chemistry from Universidad de Oriente, Venezuela. After completing his undergraduate studies, Sebastián gained work experience through various roles in food and pharmaceutical industry. He joined the University of Illinois Chicago to pursue a Ph.D. in Chemistry. During his doctoral studies, Sebastián became a member of Prof. Justin Mohr’s research group, where he focused in organic chemistry on the development of new C–C bonds at the gamma site of carbonyl compounds. Simultaneously, he contributed to the development of novel ligands for histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6), for immunotherapy in melanoma models under the supervision of Prof. Duncan Wardrop. He joined the Moore lab in October 2023 and is working on the development of small molecule inhibitors of Ebolavirus.

Honors/Awards:

2024, Scholarship to Residential School On Medicinal Chemistry And Biology In Drug Discovery (ResMed) at Drew University

Dongxu is a postdoctoral researcher in the Moore lab. She received her BSc in Applied Chemistry from Shenyang Pharmaceutical University in 2017. Following her undergraduate studies, she pursued her PhD at Seoul National University under the supervision of Dr. Jeewoo Lee from 2017 to 2024. Her PhD research focused on synthesizing small molecular inhibitors for the NLRP3 inflammasome. Additionally, she worked on developing small molecular agonists and antagonists for TRPV1. She joined the Moore Lab in 2024 and is currently working on the ER/SRC inhibitor project.

Destiny is a graduate of The Pennsylvania State University with a background in biochemistry. She works on synthesizing potential therapies for Ebola treatment. Her goal after obtaining a PhD is to become an entrepreneur and to own a successful skincare product line.

Honors/Awards

2024, American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education Pre-doctoral Fellowship

2024, International Conference for Antiviral Research Travel Award

2022, 2023, 2024 Advancing Science Conference Grant (NOBCChE)

2023, Colgate Smile with Science Symposium 3^rd Place Presentation Award

2023, Society of Cosmetic Chemists Annual Meeting 4^th Place Poster Award

2023, Society of Cosmetic Chemists Madam CJ Walker Scholarship Finalist

2023, Society of Cosmetic Chemists Midwest Chapter Gus Kass Scholarship

2023, University of Illinois Chicago Martin Luther King Jr Graduate Student Scholarship

2022, International Conference for Antiviral Research 1^st Place Poster Award

2022, Oscar Robert Oldberg Prize in Pharmaceutical Chemistry (UIC PSCI Department)

2021, Charles Wesley Petranek Memorial Scholarship (UIC PSCI Department)

2020, Van Doren Recruiting Scholarship (UIC PSCI Department)

2020, University of Illinois Chicago Access to Excellence Fellowship

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Tatum is an alumna of the University of Texas at Austin. She joined the lab in Spring 2021. Currently, she is working to improve the selectivity of estrogen receptor antagonists for the treatment of tamoxifen-resistant breast cancer.

Honors/Awards

2020, UIC Bridge to the Doctorate Fellow

Tyler is a graduate student in Pharmaceutical Sciences with a concentration in Chemistry in Drug Discovery. He received his B.S. in Biomolecular Science from the University of Michigan in 2019. His research focuses on developing new anti-influenza therapeutics by mediating viral entry.

Mario is a graduate student in Pharmaceutical Sciences with a concentration in Chemistry in Drug Discovery. He received his B.S. in Chemistry from the University of California Santa Cruz in 2021. His research focuses on developing new antivirals against Nipah and Ebola.

John is a graduate student in Pharmaceutical Sciences with a concentration in Chemistry in Drug Discovery. He received his B.S. in Chemistry from Purdue University in 2021. His research focuses on developing new anti-influenza therapeutics by mediating viral entry.

Trevor is a Pharmaceutical Sciences graduate student in the Chemistry and Drug Discovery concentration. He completed his H.BSc in biochemistry at McGill University in 2019. He later completed his MSc at the University of Toronto in 2022 where he used molecular and structural biology techniques to study viral proteins. In the Moore lab, Trevor contributes to the Apidaecin project.

Adrian is an undergraduate student in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the university of Illinois Chicago. He is currently pursuing a B.S. in chemistry, and works on the apidaecin project.

Dr. Saad Alqarni, graduate research assistant (2020-2022; currently assistant professor at University of Ha’il, Saudi Arabia; LinkedIn)

Kirthi Bellamkonda, undergraduate research assistant (2014-2015; currently MD student at Yale University; formerly MSc student at Oxford University, UK; LinkedIn)

Karolina Blaszcuk, undergraduate lab assistant (2013-2014; currently Quality Engineer IV at Beacon Biosignals; LinkedIn)

Kenneth Booker, undergraduate research assistant (2017-2019; currently owner of Booker Brothers Mobile Auto Repair; LinkedIn)

Alexandra Castroverde, SURF fellow (2020; currently Post Baccalaureate Research Fellow at the NIH; LinkedIn)

Dr. Changfeng Cheng, graduate research assistant (2018-2023; currently Scientist III at Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals; LinkedIn)

Dr. Ewelina Choma, Riback Fellow (2016; currently clinical pharmacist at VA Greater Los Angeles; LinkedIn)

Dr. Brian David, graduate research assistant (2015-2020; currently Scientist I at Unnatural Products; LinkedIn)

Rohit De, ResearcHStart fellow (2016-2017; currently National Merit Scholar and undergraduate student at University of Texas at Dallas)

Dr. Lara Fakhouri, visiting assistant professor and sabbatical fellow (2019; currently assistant professor at Jordan University of Science and Technology; LinkedIn)

Jasmine Harris, ResearcHStart fellow (2017; currently undergraduate student at UIC)

Dr. Atul Jain, postdoc (2013-2016; currently Research Scientist at Novo Nordisk; LinkedIn)

Kyle Kremiller, rotation student (2019; currently MD/PhD student at UIC; LinkedIn)

Ipsita Krishnamurthy, Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow (2019; currently graduate student at Stanford University; LinkedIn)

Dr. Phillip Lazzara, postdoc (2017-2020; currently Sr. Scientist I at Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals; LinkedIn)

Victor Lewandowski, undergraduate research assistant (2019-2020; currently Tissue Recovery Technician at Gift of Hope Organ and Tissue Donor Network; LinkedIn)

Amy Lian; undergraduate research assistant (2019-2020)

Dr. Bingqing Liu; postdoc (2024-2025; currently research and development scientist at BISCO; LinkedIn)

Tahnee Muller, undergraduate research assistant (2016; currently undergraduate student at University of Chicago; LinkedIn)

Patrick Nwanah, undergraduate research assistant (2016; currently nursing student at UIC; LinkedIn)

Jennifer Obike, MARC/USTAR fellow (2021; currently graduate student at Vanderbilt University; LinkedIn)

Ishmael Ochir, undergraduate research assistant (2015; currently PharmD student at Roosevelt University; LinkedIn)

Dr. Benjamin Richardson, graduate research assistant (2014-2018; currently medical writer at AOIC, LLC; LinkedIn)

Zohra Sattar, ASPET Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow (2017; currently PhD student at Northwestern University; LinkedIn)

Andriana Scencirro, undergraduate lab assistant (2013; currently OB/GYN resident at Howard University;  LinkedIn)

Darshil Shah, research assistant (2013; currently PhD student at Long Island University; LinkedIn)

Dr. Zamia Siddiqui, graduate research assistant in joint PharmD/MS program (2015-2023; LinkedIn)

Dr. Kornelia Skowron, graduate research assistant (2018-2022; currently postdoctoral fellow at Washington University St. Louis; LinkedIn)

Dr. Thomas Speltz, graduate research assistant (2014-2018; currently Senior Scientist at Evozyyne, LLC; formerly postdoc at University of Chicago; LinkedIn)

Dr. Murugesh Venkatesh, postdoc (2022-2024; currently postdoc at Baylor College of Medicine; LinkedIn)

Dr. José Villegas, Bridge to Faculty Scholar (2020-2022; currently Assistant Professor at University of Illinois Chicago; LinkedIn)