GROUP PHOTOS
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Brett VanVeller
- CIHR Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 2014
- Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2011
- B.Sc., McMaster University, 2006
- ORCID 0000-0002-3792-0308
Honors and Awards
- 2023 ISU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Frontier Science Award
- 2021 NIH Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (MIRA)
- 2019 National Science Foundation CAREER Award
- 2018 Cottrell Scholar Award, Research Corporation for Science Advancement
- 2017 The Cassling Family Faculty Award for Early Achievement in Teaching
- 2017 College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Early Achievement in Teaching Award
- 2016 Department of Chemistry, Wilkinson Teaching Award in Graduate Education
- 2016 Pfizer Global ASPIRE Research Award
- 2015 Thieme Chemistry Journal Award
- 2013 Baxter Young Investigator Award
- 2013 63rd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting Invited Young Researcher
- 2013 Canadian Institutes of Health Research Postdoctoral Fellowship
- 2010 David A. Johnson Graduate Fellowship
- 2008 Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada Predoctoral Scholarship
- 2007 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Dept of Chemistry Award for Outstanding Teaching
- 2007 David A. Johnson Award
- 2007 Macromolecular Science & Engineering Division of the Chem. Inst. of Canada Undergrad. Research Thesis Award
- 2006 The Society of Chemical Industry Merit Award
- 2006 The Provost’s Honour Roll Medal
- 2006 The Robert S. Haines Memorial Scholarship
- 2005 The Canadian Society for Chemistry Prize
- 2005 The J. L. W. Gill Prize
- 2005 The Donald G. McNabb Scholarship
- 2004 National Science and Engineering Research Council Undergraduate Student Research Award
- 2004 Reactive Intermediates Student Exchange Award
- 2004 The Chemical Institute of Canada Prize
- 2004 The University Senate Scholarship
- 2002 The McMaster Honour Award
Bio
Brett was born in Ontario, Canada and received his B.Sc. in chemistry from McMaster University in 2006. During his time at McMaster, he performed undergraduate research with Professor Mónica Barra at the University of Waterloo and with Professor Alex Adronov at McMaster University. He began his graduate studies with Professor Timothy M. Swager at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2006 as an NSERC graduate fellow. At MIT he developed new syntheses of conjugated polymers for applications in biosensing and conductive materials. After receiving his Ph.D. in 2011, he moved to the University of Wisconsin–Madison as a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Postdoctoral Fellow working with Professor Ronald T. Raines. At UW–Madison he studied secondary molecular orbital interactions that contribute to the stability of proteins, as well as boronic acids and thiol reducing agents for protein chemistry applications. Brett joined the faculty at Iowa State University in August 2014 as an Assistant Professor and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2020.
GRADUATE STUDENTS
Mohaddeseh Abbasi
- B.S., Isfahan University of Technology
- M.S., Isfahan University of Technology
- abbasi [at] iastate DOT edu
Jacob Byerly-Duke
- B.S., Grinnell College
- bduke [at] iastate DOT edu
Udayan Chaudhury
- B.S., West Bengal State University
- M.S., Central University of Gujarat
- udayanc [at] iastate DOT edu
Aaron Donovan
- B.S., University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point
- adono [at] iastate DOT edu
Rida Ibrahim
- B.S., Kinnaird College
- M.S., Lahore University of Management Sciences
- rida [at] iastate DOT edu
Amber Iqbal
- B.S., University of Sargodha
- M.S., Lahore University of Management Sciences
- amberiqb [at] iastate DOT edu
Avery Lewis
- B.S., Concordia University
- avelr7 [at] iastate DOT edu
Emily O'Brien
- B.S., Central College
- obriene [at] iastate DOT edu
Katharina Tucker
- B.S., Colorado Mesa University
- krt [at] iastate DOT edu
Brendan Wall
- B.S., Illinois State University
- bwall [at] iastate DOT edu
XiFeng Wang
- B.S., Shandong University of Science and Technology
- M.S., Central China Normal University
- xifengw [at] iastate DOT edu
POSTDOCS AND SCIENTISTS
Selin Kınalı-Demirci
Research Scientist
- Ph.D., Gazi University
- selinkd [at] iastate DOT edu
Serkan Demirci
Visiting Scientist
- Ph.D., Gazi University
- sdemirci [at] iastate DOT edu
Krishna K. Sharma
Senior Research Scientist II
- B.S., Gautam Buddha Technical University
- M.S., Nat. Inst. of Pharmceutical Ed. and Res. (NIPER), SAS NAGAR
- Ph.D., Nat. Inst. of Pharmceutical Ed. and Res. (NIPER), SAS NAGAR
- kksharma [at] iastate DOT edu
UNDERGRADUATES
Nick Grande
LAB ALUMNI
GRADUATE STUDENTS
Sean Norris (2023)
Ph.D.
Pioneer Astronautics, Space Cowboy Chemist
Luis Camacho III (2022)
Ph.D.
Eurofins Scientific Inc.
Caroline Warner (2021)
Ph.D.
University of Arizona, Postdoctoral Fellow
Bryan Lampkin (2020)
Ph.D.
Tufts University, Postdoctoral Fellow
Yen Nguyen (2019)
Ph.D.
Cheeky Scientist, Inc.
Andrea Thooft (2018)
Ph.D.
Concordia University, College of Pharmacy
Paige Bouc (2018)
M.S.
LI-COR Biosciences
Fudan Zheng (2016)
M.S.
Purdue University, School of Pharmacy
POSTDOCS AND VISITING SCIENTISTS
Dr. Selin Demirci (2017)
Professor, Amasya University, Turkey
Dr. Serkan Demirci (2016)
Professor, Amasya University, Turkey
Dr. Xiangwei Du (2016)
Research Associate, ISU Veterinary Medicine
UNDERGRADUATES
Rei Fields (2024)
Virginia Tech, PhD student
Reece Gardner (2023)
University of Wisconsin–Madison, PhD student
Jackson Orr (2022)
University of Minnesota, PhD student
Danniel Arriaga (2020)
Texas A&M, PhD student
Zachary Robole (2019)
Medtronic Medical Technologies
Jacquelyn Mareau (2017)
University of Iowa, College of Pharmacy
Carson Powell (2017)
Continuing studies
Kyle Cassaidy (2017)
University of Chicago, PhD student
Britteny Ross (2016)
University of Chicago, NSF Graduate Research Fellow