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The Team

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Brent S. Sumerlin

George Bergen Butler Professor
Department of Chemistry
University of Florida

Address:

Department of Chemistry

University of Florida

PO box 117200

Gainesville, FL 32611-7200

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(352) 392-0563

sumerlin@chem.ufl.edu

Postdoctoral Research Fellows

Sean Gitter

Education:

Postdoctoral Associate, Chemistry

University of Florida 

Advisor: Prof. Brent Sumerlin and Prof. Austin Evan

 

Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry
University of Wisconsin-Madison (2024)
Advisor: Prof. AJ Boydston

 

B.S. in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
Hope College (2018)
Advisor: Prof. Jason Gillmore

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Lily Diodati

Education:

Postdoctoral Associate, Chemistry

University of Florida 

Advisor: Prof. Brent Sumerlin 

 

Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry
University of Florida (2024)
Advisor: Prof. Brent S. Sumerlin

 

B.S. in Chemistry 
University of North Georgia (2018)
Advisor: Prof. Aimée Tomlinson

Visiting Scholars

Efkan Catiker

Education:

Ph. D. Polymer Chemistry (2008),

Abant Izzet Baysal University, Türkiye. 

Advisors: Dr. Olgun Guven and Dr. Ozdemir Ozarslan

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M.S. Polymer Chemistry (1999)

Abant Izzet Baysal University, Türkiye

Advisor: Dr. Ali Guner
 

B.S., Department of Chemistry (1997),

Hacettepe University, Türkiye 

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Graduate Students

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Sagnik Bhattacharya

Education:                   
Graduate Student, Chemistry,

University of Florida
Advisor: Prof. Brent Sumerlin
                  
Integrated MS, Chemistry

National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) (2025)

Advisor: Prof. Prasenjit Mal

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Lauren Bishop

Education:                   
Graduate Student, Chemistry,

University of Florida
Advisor: Prof. Brent Sumerlin
                  
B.S., Chemistry,

University of Massachusetts, Amherst (2020)

Advisor: Prof. Todd Emrick

Connor Brunson

Education:                   
Graduate Student, Chemistry,

University of Florida
Advisor: Prof. Brent Sumerlin
                  
B.S., Chemistry,
College of Charleston (2025)
Advisor: Prof. Brooke Van Horn

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Gerald (Jerry) Camarella

Education:                   
Graduate Student, Chemistry,

University of Florida
Advisor: Prof. Brent Sumerlin
                  
B.S., Chemistry,

Virginia Commonwealth University (2024)

Advisor: Prof. Maryanne Collinson

Won Joon Choi

Education:                   
Graduate Student, Chemistry,

University of Florida
Advisor: Prof. Brent Sumerlin
                  
B.S., Chemistry

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Advisor: Prof. Jeffery S. Moore​

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Noah Cyr

Education:                   
Graduate Student, Chemistry,

University of Florida
Advisor: Prof. Brent Sumerlin
                  
B.A., Chemistry,

Florida Gulf Coast University (2019)
Advisor: Dr. Daniel H. Paull

Cabell Eades

Education:                   
Graduate Student, Chemistry,

University of Florida
Advisor: Prof. Brent Sumerlin
 

B.S., Nanoscience, B.A. Chemistry,

Virginia Tech (2020)

Advisor: Prof. John B. Matson

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Graham Gilchrist

Education:                   
Graduate Student, Chemistry,
University of Florida
Advisor: Prof. Brent Sumerlin


B.S., Chemistry, Economics,

Wesleyan University (2023)
Advisor: Dr. Ben Elling

Seungyoon Han

Education:                   
Graduate Student, Chemistry,
University of Florida
Advisor: Prof. Brent Sumerlin


B.S., Materials Science and Engineering, Chemistry

Seoul National University (2024)

Advisor: Dr. Minsang Kwon, Dr. Seung-kyun Kang, Dr. Kyoung Taek Kim. 

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Rhys Hughes

Education:                   
Graduate Student, Chemistry,
University of Florida
Advisor: Prof. Brent Sumerlin


B.S., Chemistry,

Cardiff University (2020)
Advisor: Dr. Ben Ward

Serena Hyder

Education:                   
Graduate Student, Chemistry,
University of Florida
Advisor: Prof. Brent Sumerlin

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B. S. in Chemistry and Forensic Science,
University of Central Oklahoma (2022)
Advisor: Prof. Shawna Ellis

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Rohan Jena

Education:                   
Graduate Student, Chemistry,
University of Florida
Advisor: Prof. Brent Sumerlin


B.S.-M.S., Chemical Sciences,

Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (2024) 

Advisor: Prof. Alakesh Bisai​​

Blanch
Khouri Sader

Education:                   

Graduate Student, Chemistry,

University of Florida
Advisor: Prof. Brent Sumerlin
 

B.S., Biology                 

Nova Southeastern University (2021)
Advisor: Prof. Patricia Calvo

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Thi Le

Education:                   

Graduate Student, Chemistry,

University of Florida
Advisor: Prof. Brent Sumerlin
                  
M.S., Biotechnology

International University (IU)-VNU-HCM

Advisor: Prof. Khoi Tan Nguyen

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B.S., Chemistry

International University (IU)-VNU-HCM

Advisor: Prof. Khoi Tan Nguyen

Megan Lott

Education:                   

Graduate Student, Chemistry,

University of Florida
Advisor: Prof. Brent Sumerlin
                  
B.A., Sociology

University of Florida
Advisor: Dr. George Christo

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Tanmoy Maity

Education:                   

Graduate Student, Chemistry,

University of Florida
Advisor: Prof. Brent Sumerlin

 

Junior Research Fellow (Project),
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Kolkata
(2022-2023)
Advisor: Prof. Priyadarsi De


M.S., Chemistry,
Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore (2022)

Lauren Mann ​

Education:                   

Graduate Student, Chemistry,

University of Florida
Advisor: Prof. Brent Sumerlin

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B. Sc., Chemistry

University of North Florida (2020)

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Minu Mathew

Education:                   

Graduate Student, Chemistry,

University of Florida
Advisor: Prof. Brent Sumerlin
                  
M. Phil., Chemistry

Christ University, Bangalore, India

 

M. Sc., Chemistry

Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala, India

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B. Sc., Chemistry

Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala, India

Gunzi Otgonjargal

Education:                   

Graduate Student, Chemistry,

University of Florida
Advisor: Prof. Brent Sumerlin
                  
B.A., Chemistry,

Kalamazoo College (2023)

Advisor: Dr. Blakely Tresca

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Andrei Potapenko

Education:                   

Graduate Student, Chemistry,

University of Florida
Advisor: Prof. Brent Sumerlin

                  
B.S., Biochemistry, 

University of New Hampshire (2022)

Advisor: Prof. Krisztina Varga

Austin Reed

Education:                   

Graduate Student, Chemistry,

University of Florida
Advisor: Prof. Brent Sumerlin
                  
B.S., Chemistry,

Wright State University (2024)

Advisor: Prof. Eric Fossum

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Ashutosh Shirodkar

Education:                   

Graduate Student, Chemistry,

University of Florida
Advisor: Prof. Brent Sumerlin
                  
B.S., Chemistry,

Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Kolkata (2025)

Ariana Tamura

Education:                   

Graduate Student, Chemistry,

University of Florida
Advisor: Prof. Brent Sumerlin
                  

M.S., Chemistry

California State University, Polytechnic Ponoma

Advisor: Prof. Thomas Osberger

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B.S., Chemistry

University of California, Los Angeles

Advisor: Prof. Yi Tang

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Undergraduate Students

Lucas Aburaya

Education:                   

B.S. Candidate, Biochemistry,

University of Florida

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Leah Baker

Education:                   

B.S. Candidate, Applied Physiology & Kinesiology,

University of Florida

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Lily Carlson

Education:                   

B.S. Candidate,  Chemistry,

University of Florida

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Zane Jacob Carter

Education:                   

B.S. Candidate,  Materials Science and Engineering,

University of Florida

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Jake Chavis

Education:                   

B.S. Candidate,  Biochemistry,

University of Florida

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Ryan Clark

Education:                   

B.S. Candidate, Chemistry,

University of Florida

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Bryan Cowley

Education:                   

B.S. Candidate,  Chemistry,

University of Florida

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Diana Ishaev

Education:                   

B.S. Candidate, Biochemistry,

University of Florida

Payson Keown

Education:                   

B.S. Candidate, Biochemistry,

University of Florida

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 Nathan LaBranche

Education:                   

B.S. Candidate, Biochemistry,

University of Florida

Angelina LaVerdi

Education:                   

B.S. Candidate, Biochemistry,

University of Florida

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Florencia Merlino

Education:                   

B.S. Candidate, Biochemistry,

University of Florida

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Jacob Mirsky

Education:                   

B.S. Candidate, Biochemistry,

University of Florida

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Uri Ngwa

Education:                   

B.S. Candidate, Biochemistry,

University of Florida

Mansi Patel

Education:                   

B.S. Candidate, Chemistry,

University of Florida

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Sophia Santiago

Education:                   

B.S. Candidate, Chemistry,

University of Florida

Geoffrey G. Smith

Education:                   

B.S. Candidate, Biomedical Engineering,

University of Florida

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Kyle Stiles-Ryan

Education:                   

B.S. Candidate, Chemistry,

University of Florida

Yuquan Zhang

Education:                   

B.S. Candidate, Chemistry,

University of Florida

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