Principle Investigator Robert J. Woods Complex Carbohydrate Research CenterPhone: 706-542-4454rwoods@ccrc.uga.edu Positions: Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, and Chemistry Bio: Robert J. Woods received his undergraduate training at Queen’s University, Canada, in Engineering Chemistry, followed by a Ph.D. in synthetic and theoretical carbohydrate chemistry at Queen’s. He is currently a Full Professor and at the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Georgia. Additionally, Dr Woods is the Associate Director of GlycoMIP: An NSF Materials Innovation Platform, and President of Lectenz® Bio, LLC. His group uses a range of approaches from computational chemistry and chemical synthesis, to molecular biology and biophysics to study carbohydrate-protein recognition in human diseases. The Woods group maintains an extensive set of carbohydrate-modeling tools on the GLYCAM-Web site (www.glycam.org). He is also the co-founder of Oak House Distillery (www.oakhousedistillery.com). Professional Staff Mark Baine mbaine(at)uga.edu Positions: Administrative Laboratory ManagerUGA Platform Coordinator, GlycoMIP Bio: Mark is originally from Athens, GA, and has been working with UGA since 2003 in various roles. Mark coordinates the administrative efforts of the Woods Research Group as well as provides direction support for Dr. Woods. In addition to his work with the Woods Group, Mr. Baine is the UGA Platform Coordinator for GlycoMIP - A National Science Foundation Materials Innovation Platform Interests: In his spare time, Mark enjoys DIY projects, spending hours researching random products he’ll never actually buy, and binging news and TV shows. Dan Wentworth danwenwtorthart@gmail.com Positions: Web DeveloperDepartment: CCRC Bio: Born in Massachusetts, and eventually settling in Athens in 2004, Dan has been programming since 2009, and working with scientific simulation teams since 2014. Dan has degrees in computer science and 3D Animation. Dan has been working on GLYCAM-Web since the summer of 2016. Interests: Science, nature, animation, programming, songwriting, art, mountain bikes, and video games. Projects: GLYCAM-Web Preston Sheppard prestonj@uga.edu Positions: Application ProgrammerDepartment: CCRC Bio: Interests: Projects: Charles Exum cexum@uga.edu Positions: Web DeveloperDepartment: CCRC Bio: Charles received a B.S. in Biology from the University of Georgia in 2014. He began his programming journey in 2016 and now aspires to complete his master’s in Computer Science. Interests: C programming; learning about compilers; learning new music theory; guitar; cooking Projects: GLYCAM-Web Andrew Coulter Andrew.coulter@uga.edu Position: Systems Administrator Department: CCRC Bio: Andrew received a B.S. degree in computer information systems at Dixie State University in 2016. Interests: Andrew enjoys gaming with his son and learning new technologies. Projects: Implementation of docker swarm services Rutuja Talekar rt04499@uga.edu Position: Graduate Research Assistant Department: CCRC Bio: Rutuja is a web developer at the woods lab. She is currently completing her masters in computer science from UGA and has her Bachelor's in Computer Engineering from Mumbai University. Rutuja's current focus is on implementing selenium and other end to end testing needs. Interests: Dancing, painting and any sort of creative work Projects: GLYCAM-Web Research Staff Lachele Foley lfoley@uga.edu Position: Associate Research Scientist Bio: Lachele has lived in Athens longer than in any other place, obtaining two degrees from UGA (MEd and Ph.D.) and then returning to work in the CCRC in 2005. Lachele manages the development of the GLYCAM-Web suite of online tools and provides supporting research for scientific projects in the Woods Group, GlycoMIP, and elsewhere, whenever there is time. Personal research pursuits tend toward basic science with an emphasis on theory. Interests: Statistical descriptions of molecular systems, implicit solvation methods, theories of atomic and molecular structure, software and systems architecture and design, making complex topics understandable, Celtic studies, languages, historical linguistics, environmental design, homelessness, yoga, meditation, music, tolerance. Projects: GLYCAM-Web Publications: PMCID: PMC7526737, PMCID:PMC6583769 Amika Sood amika@uga.edu Position: Research Professional Department: Bio: Interests: Projects: Publications: PMCID: PMC7481795, PMCID: PMC7347485 Sawsan Mahmoud sm06308@uga.edu Position: Research Professional Department: CCRC Bio: Sawsan received her B. Pharm degree from Faculty of Pharmacy, Helwan University, Egypt in 2006. Her Master’s degree was in the pharmaceutical chemistry in 2012, focused on the design and synthesis of 5-deazaalloxazine analogs with anticancer activity based on computer aided drug design. In 2017, Sawsan received her Ph.D. degree in pharmaceutical chemistry. Her PhD projects included the design, synthesis, assessment of modified nucleosides and their prodrugs for treatment of hepatitis C virus. She joined the Woods group in the Summer 2022. Interests: Traveling and visiting new places, learning about new cultures, hiking, watching movies. Projects: Synthesis, Purification, Characterization, and Biophysical analysis of Glycomimetic analogs. Carbohydrate-binding proteins. BLI services. Oliver Grant olgrant@uga.edu Position: Research Scientist Department: CCRC Bio: Oliver is originally from Ireland and now lives in Belgium. In the group he does a mixture of programming and molecular modeling. Interests: History, language and etymology, modern board gaming, and some wargaming.Projects: Development of GLYCAM-Web and various collaborative research. Publications: PMID: 33073996, PMCID: PMC8201469, PMCID: PMC7760459, PMCID: PMC7302209, PMCID: PMC7481795, PMCID: PMC7386495, PMCID: PMC7347485, PMCID: PMC7335482, PMCID: PMC7601599, PMCID: PMC6397626 Graduate Students Paige LaMore pal33213@uga.edu Position: Graduate Student Department: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Bio: Interests: Projects: David Montgomery david.montgomery@uga.edu Position: Graduate Student Department: Institute of Bioinformatics (IOB) Bio: Dave received B.S. degrees in Biology and Bioinformatics from Rowan University in 2017. While there, he used homology modeling and molecular dynamics to study how biased agonists targeting the Dopamine D2 receptor trigger different response pathways. After graduating, he entered UGA through the ILS program and joined the Woods lab and IOB program in 2018. Since then, he has become a ¾ stack developer in the lab, won the IOB 5-minute thesis competition, collaborated with the Protein Data Bank (PDB) team at Rutgers, and helped researchers mine and analyze glycan structural data. Interests: In his spare time, Dave enjoys gardening, home improvement projects, trail running, playing fetch with his dog, and playing piano. Projects: GlyFinder & GlyProbity, GlycoMIP Cyber Resources Committee, PDB Carbohydrate Remediation, Software Development Yao Xiao yx55537@uga.edu Position: Graduate Student Department: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Bio: Yao received his Bachelor's degree in biochemistry & biotechnology from the University of Missour-St. Louis in 2016, and joined the Woods group at UGA for a Ph.D. degree in the same year. Interests: Piano, video games, and eating delicious food. Projects: Development of a molecular-mechanical model for the computation of CH-pi interaction, Development of a Web-based virtual screening tool to aid in the glycomimetic discovery Zhe Yang zy67785@uga.edu Position: Graduate Student Department: Chemistry Bio: Zhe was born and raised in the northeast part of China, and received her bachelor’s degree in Applied Chemistry at Sichuan University in 2020. She’s currently a graduate student in the department of chemistry at UGA and joined the Woods lab in 2021. Interests: She enjoys watching anime, and movies and playing video games. She also enjoys exploring food, by going to restaurants, definitely not by cooking herself because of her terrible cooking skills. Projects: Antibody analysis, Thermodynamic integration Alyssa Wright Alyssa.Wright1@uga.edu Position: Graduate Student Department: Chemistry Bio: Interests: Projects: Alexander Lee alee@uga.edu Position: Graduate Research Assistant Department: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Bio: Alex received his Bachelor’s in Pharmaceutical Science from the University of Georgia in 2021. After graduating, he spent a year in UGA’s Post-Baccalaureate program researching Toxoplasmosis with the Moreno Group and joined the Woods Group through ILS in 2022. Interests: In his spare time, Alex enjoys playing first-person shooters in VR, spending hours on Reddit, and binging K-Dramas. Rajan Kandel rajan.kandel@uga.edu Department: Institute of Bioinformatics (IOB) Position: Graduate research assistant Bio: Rajan received a B.E. degree in industrial engineering from Tribhuvan University in 2021. He joined the Woods lab as a graduate student via the ILS program in 2022. Interests: Machine learning, gardening, playing badminton and soccer Undergraduate Students Eliza Gazaway egg08832@uga.edu Position: Undergraduate Student Department: Bio: Interests: Projects: Hurein Kaiser hbk44548@uga.edu Position: Work-study student Bio: Hurein was born in Bangladesh and raised in various parts of Bangladesh/America. She is currently pursuing her Bachelor in Computer Systems Engineering at the University of Georgia. Hurein's research interests include Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) that can interact with the physical world, and identify issues that need to be addressed in society with a focus on marginalized communities. Interests: Sports, hardware & news Projects: Hurein is currently working on the front-end development of the Woods Research Group’s public-facing website. In 2019 she started an independent exploration task to make a K-means clustering diagram utilizing R Studio. Amr Mohamed aam08331@uga.edu Position: Work-study student Bio: Amr was born in Canada and raised in various parts of Canada/America. He is currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in Computer Systems Engineering at the University of Georgia. Amr’s research interests currently include bioinformatics, hackable open-source smart watches, quantum computing, robotics, and artificial intelligence applications. Interests: Amr is a member of the Robotics Team and the Association for Computing Machinery at UGA. Amr enjoys spending time with friends, cooking, and watching TV in his spare time. Projects: Amr is currently working on the front-end development of the Woods Research Group’s public-facing website. Affiliate Members Xiaocong Wang wise@uga.edu Position: Consultant Bio: Xiao received his B.S. degree in Chemistry from University of Science and Technology of China in 2007. Xiao joined the Woods lab in 2009, and graduated in 2015. His research interests during his PhD included carbohydrate force field parameter development and protein-carbohydrate interactions. After graduation, he continued working in the lab for two years as a postdoc to finish his work for carbohydrate force field parameters. He now holds a faculty position in China and performs consulting services in his area of expertise. Interests: Watching movies, spending time with family, and traveling. Projects: Protein-carbohydrate interaction, lectin engineering, carbohydrate force field development. Publications: PMCID: PMC8224223, PMID: 30605318, PMCID: PMC9564326, PMCID: PMC7526737, PMCID: PMC5115177, PMID: 32941021, PMCID: PMC9048215, PMID: 34905361, PMCID: PMC8791032 Postdoctoral Alumni Cooney, Mike PhD, PrincetonDeMarco, Mari L., PhD, WUSL - Publications: PMC3252744 PMC2824572 PMC2733776 PMC4203483 PMC3256582Dyekjaer, Jane PhD, DTUWeisser, Nina PhD, NUIG - Publications: PMC3365708Fadda, Elisa PhD, NUIG - Publications: PMC3841175 PMC3854502 PMC3854501 PMC4239032 E. and Wo PMC3110490 PMC3936463 Gonzales, Jorge Ph.D., UCL UKJi, Ye “Mia”, PhD, UGA - Publications: PMC6442460 PMC6442460 PMC5715462 PMC4141161Ito, Keigo PhD, UGA - Publications: PMC7217288 PMC5319886 PMC4167674 PMC3854502Kadirvelraj, Renu PhD, IIT - Publications: PMC3110490 PMC2626182 Kirschner, Karl PhD, UGA - Publications: PMC4423547 PMC4276422 PMC58501Makeneni, Spandana PhD UGA - Publications: PMC6050261 PMC6067002 PMC5140039 PMC4210171 PMC4286510 PMC4141161 PMC3936473Pathiaseril, Ahamed PhD, UGA - Publications: Renders, Marleen PhD, NUIGSeyfried, Nick D. PhD, Oxford - Publications: Sood, Amika, PhD, UGA - Publications: Temple, Wolfram PhD, SalfordXue, Xingran PhD, UGA - Publications: Yang, Lori PhD, NUIG Post-Graduate Students Alumni Barnes, Jarrod – BCMB, M.S.Bunn, Haden – CHEMCharvatova, Olga – BCMB, M.S. - Publications: Kim, Joo L. Esther – BCMB, M.SMakeneni, Spandana – BINF, Ph.D. - Publications: Martin, Joanne – NUIG/CHEM, Ph.D - Publications: Murphy, Valerie – NUIG/CHEM, Ph.DDing, Liren – CS, M.S.Elking, Denny – CHEM, Ph.D. - Publications: Ford, Michael – BCMB, Ph.D.Oliver Grant – NUIG/CHEM Ph.D. - Publications: Hadden, Jodi – CHEM, Ph.D. - Publications: Hu, Huimin – CHEM, M.S.Ji, Ye – CHEM, PhD. - Publications: Kawatkar, Sameer – CHEM, Ph.D. - Publications: Samli, Kausar – BCMB, Ph.D.Singh, Arunima – BINF, Ph.D. - Publications: Nivedha, Anita – BINF, Ph.D. - Publications: Sood, Amika – BINF, Ph.D. - Publications: Smith, Hannah – NUIG/CHEM, Ph.D. - Publications: Tessier, Matthew – CHEM, Ph.D. - Publications: Thieker, David – BCMB, Ph.D. - Publications: Walsh, Niall – NUIG/CHEM, Ph.D.Wittkopp-Tschampel, Sarah – CHEM, Ph.D.Wang, Xiaocong – CHEM, Ph.D. - Publications: Yongye, Austin – CHEM, Ph.D. - Publications: Zhang, Jie – CHEM Post-Graduate Research Assistants Alumni Aggeles, James Christian CSCIAkella, Venkatasriam CSCICalvird, Audrey ILSChalmers, Gordon CSCI - Publications: Davis, Robert CSCI - Publications: Jaiswal, Ayush CSCIKhatamian, Alireza CSCI - Publications: Li, Qi CSCI, M.S.Man Chon U, CSCI, Ph.D.Mehta, Raj Jayesh CSCIPatel, Chatali CSCIRahbarinia, Delaram CSCI , M.S.Wang, Yiping CSCI, Ph.D.Xue, Xingran CSCI - Publications: Undergraduate Research Assistants Alumni Dutta, Priti, BCMB - CUROBrown, Izabelle - CUROHill, Clare, CHEM - CUROKohler, Thomas, CHEMMurphy, Nathalie - CUROFelix, Thomas, BCMB - Publications: Qadri, HussainPeddineni, Manasa - CUROKalagara, SwethaFitzgerald, Edward NUIGParikh, Akshita BCMBBlackmon, Bret CHEMStringfellow, Stephen BCMBPeng, Emily BCMBSmith, Hannah NUIG/UREKA- Publications: Shin, Aimee BCMBChamala, Raghuveer Reddy, FINAPowers, Forrest BCMBDeal, Josh BCMBCleveland, Curtis BCMBO’Brien, Deirdre NUIG/UREKAGallagher, Thomas NUIG/UREKADuffy, Fiona NUIG/UREKAThompson, Stephen CHEMNesbitt, Daniel BCMBO’Connell, Carol NUIG/UREKAByrne, Noel NUIG/ UREKAButler, Brittany BCMBShaw, Rachana BCMBKizzard, ThomasEllis, Whitney BCMBGamble, John BCMBChang, Michael BCMBSumner, Emily BCMBBlake, Nathan BCMBBrenner, Michael BCMBThomas, Alicia BCMBAnderson, William Ray BCMBTran, Doannie BCMBSundara, Sompathana BCMB - Publications: Barnes, Jarrod BCMBCassidy, Juliana Strathclyde, U. UKYang, Abraham BCMBTurnipseed, Wendi BCMBChappelle, Ryan BCMBCollins, Kevin BCMB Undergraduate Work-Study Alumni Cook, BrittneyRios, AlexandraAcheampong, AfuaSoleyen, HelyneAng, Yik Wei Templeton, J. DavisEnriquez, ErvinBare, JohnMiller, Brett AlexanderSantos, Matthew Alex Wah, Stefan Roh, JaehyeokArgo, Jackson Bellamy, John
