Principle Investigator Robert J. Woods Complex Carbohydrate Research CenterPhone: 706-542-4454rwoods@ccrc.uga.edu Positions: Distinguished Research 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. In 2025, Dr. Woods was inducted as a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). This is a prestigious recognition awarded to accomplished academic inventors whose work has made a significant impact on innovation, patents, and commercialization. This honor reflects both outstanding achievement and the promise of continued contributions to society through invention. 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). Lab Coordinator Mark Baine mbaine@ccrc.uga.edu Positions: Administrative Laboratory ManagerUGA Platform Coordinator, GlycoMIP Background: 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 direct support to 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. Science Staff B. 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 Oliver C. Grant olgrant@uga.edu Position: Research Scientist 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, PMCID: PMC10784704, PMCID: PMC10688226 Sawsan Mahmoud sm06308@uga.edu Position: Research Professional Bio: Sawsan received her B.Pharm degree from the Faculty of Pharmacy in 2006 and her M.Sc. degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry in 2012, both from Helwan University, Egypt. She completed her Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry in 2017 through a joint Ph.D. program between Helwan University and Emory University, where her research focused on the synthesis and evaluation of modified nucleosides for the treatment of HCV. She joined the Woods group in 2022, where she works on the synthesis of glycomimetic analogs and investigates biomolecular interactions using biolayer interferometry. 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. Amika Sood amika@uga.edu Position: Research Professional Bio: Interests: Projects: Publications: PMCID: PMC7481795, PMCID: PMC7347485 Post-Doctoral Fellows Bilqees Sameem tbd@uga.edu Position: Post-Doctorate Bio: TBD Interests: TBD Projects: TBD Yao Xiao yx55537@uga.edu Position: Post-Doctorate Bio: Yao received his Bachelor's degree in biochemistry & biotechnology from the University of Missouri-St. Louis in 2016. He 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 Sam Holmes samuel.holmes@uga.edu Position: Post-Doctorate Bio: B.S. in Chemistry at James Madison University, Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry at Virginia Commonwealth University. Basically, I'm just chillin in cedar rapids. Interests: Hanging out with my girlfriend and my dog, listening to/making music, working out, watching tv, trying new foods, traveling, being outside. Projects:Exploring structure-function relationships of glycomaterials by NMR and molecular dynamics simulations, force field parameter development Graduate Students 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. 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 Eliza Gazaway egg08832@uga.edu Position: Graduate Student Department: Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Bio: Interests: Projects: Paige LaMore pal33213@uga.edu Position: Graduate Student Department: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Bio: Interests: Projects: Rajan Kandel rajan.kandel@uga.edu Department: Institute of Bioinformatics (IOB) Position: Graduate Research Assistant Bio: Rajan is a PhD candidate in bioinformatics. He earned a B.E. in industrial engineering from Tribhuvan University in 2021 and joined the Woods Lab as a graduate student through the ILS program in 2022. Interests: Bioinformatics, Molecular Modeling, Glyco-materials, Carbohydrate Structure Biology, Scientific Software Tool Development, Hiking, Soccer Projects: Molecular modeling of glycoproteins, Molecular characterization of polysaccharides, Assessment of Carbohydrate Structures. 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 Helia Yazdiani hy34459@uga.edu Position: Graduate Student Department: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Bio: Helia earned her B.Sc. in Cellular & Molecular Biology (Biochemistry) at Islamic Azad University of Mashhad, Iran, then remained at the same institution to complete an M.Sc. in Biophysics. Her thesis work resulted in two publications and laid the foundation for her doctoral interests. In Fall 2024, Helia received direct admission to the Woods Lab, where she is now pursuing her Ph.D. Interests: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Structural Biology, Molecular Modeling, Protein-ligand interaction, Bioinformatics, and drug discovery Projects: She is working on a drug-development project that targets protein inhibition by combining molecular docking, MD simulations, recombinant protein expression, inhibitor synthesis, and NMR-based binding validation. Publications: Google Scholar Consultants Tobias Grelsson tbd@uga.edu Position: Consultant Bio: TBD Interests: Singing the baritone parts for some of my favorite one-hit wonders including "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" and who can forget, "Chocolate Rain" Projects: Development of molecular modeling algorithms 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, PMID: 38837770, PMID: 38482666 Professional Staff Andrew Coulter andrew.coulter@uga.edu Position: Systems Administrator Department: CCRC Bio: Andrew received a B.S. degree in Computer Information Systems from Dixie State University in 2016. He joined the Woods group in 2021 and currently serves as the Systems Administrator for the CCRC. Andrew manages server infrastructure, cluster computing resources, and internal services for the group. He has led the development and deployment of scalable containerized services using Docker Swarm and provides ongoing support for secure, high-performance computing environments. Interests: Andrew enjoys gaming with his son, exploring new technologies, and automating complex IT workflows. Projects: Implementation of Docker Swarm services, Linux systems administration, HPC cluster maintenance, web and database infrastructure support. Dan Wentworth danwentworthart@gmail.com Positions: Web Developer Department: 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 Grayson Miller grayman@uga.edu Positions: GEMS Backend Developer Department: CCRC Bio: Born and raised in El Paso, TX; Grayson has been programming since 2006 as a hobby, to discover and learn about reality. He has been working professionally with GLYCAM-Web since mid-2023. Interests: The brain, consciousness, lucid dreaming, classical NLP, swarm dynamics & agent systems, emergence. Projects: GEMS (GLYCAM-Web) Undergraduate Students Chase Bailey chase.bailey@uga.edu Positions: Directed Research Department: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Bio: Born and raised in Georgia, Chase decided to stay close to home and attend University of Georgia. Ever since a young age, has been interested in many different aspects of science, from biology to paleontology. Once reaching college, he decided to pursue a B.S in biochemistry. He joined the Woods lab in 2024 and expects to graduate in the Summer of 2025. Interests: He enjoys all forms of Star Wars, Marvel, and DC media, watching football all season long, and listening to music, specifically country. Projects: Molecular modeling and analysis of antibody binding to better understand and improve its binding affinity to sulfated glycans Juliana Hitch juliana.hitch@uga.edu Positions: Department: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Bio: Juliana is a second-year undergraduate student at UGA, majoring in Biology and minoring in Chemistry and Dance. She joined the Woods lab in Spring 2025, and she is excited to learn more about organic synthesis and drug discovery for Influenza. Following graduation, she plans to pursue an MD-PhD, with a focus on pediatric medicine. Interests: Science, dance, medical volunteering, Pilates, and babysitting. Projects: Synthesis, Purification, and Characterization of Glycomimetic analogs. ALUMNI 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 Renders, Marleen PhD, NUIGSeyfried, Nick D. PhD, OxfordSood, Amika, PhD, UGA Temple, Wolfram PhD, SalfordXue, Xingran PhD, UGAYang, Lori PhD, NUIG Post-Graduate Students Alumni Barnes, Jarrod – BCMB, M.S.Bunn, Haden – CHEMCharvatova, Olga – BCMB, M.S. Kim, Joo L. Esther – BCMB, M.SMakeneni, Spandana – BINF, Ph.D. Martin, Joanne – NUIG/CHEM, Ph.D Murphy, Valerie – NUIG/CHEM, Ph.DDing, Liren – CS, M.S.Elking, Denny – CHEM, Ph.D. Ford, Michael – BCMB, Ph.D.Oliver Grant – NUIG/CHEM Ph.D. Hadden, Jodi – CHEM, Ph.D. Hu, Huimin – CHEM, M.S.Ji, Ye – CHEM, PhD. - Publications: Kawatkar, Sameer – CHEM, Ph.D.Samli, Kausar – BCMB, Ph.D.Singh, Arunima – BINF, Ph.D. Nivedha, Anita – BINF, Ph.D. Sood, Amika – BINF, Ph.D. Smith, Hannah – NUIG/CHEM, Ph.D. Tessier, Matthew – CHEM, Ph.D. Thieker, David – BCMB, Ph.D. Walsh, Niall – NUIG/CHEM, Ph.D.Wittkopp-Tschampel, Sarah – CHEM, Ph.D.Wang, Xiaocong – CHEM, Ph.D.Yongye, Austin – CHEM, Ph.D. Zhang, Jie – CHEM Professional Staff Name Position Service Years Exum, Charles Web Developer Martin, Najee Asst. Systems Administrator Sheppard, Preston Application Programmer Post-Graduate Research Assistants Alumni Name Position Service Years Aggeles, James Christian CSCIAkella, Venkatasriam CSCICalvird, Audrey ILSChalmers, Gordon CSCI Davis, Robert CSCI Jaiswal, Ayush CSCIKhatamian, Alireza CSCI 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 Undergraduate Research Assistants Alumni Name Department / Affiliation Lab Dutta, Priti BCMB - CURO Brown, Izabelle BCMB - CURO Experimental Hill, Clare CHEM - CURO Experimental Kohler, Thomas CHEM Experimental Murphy, Nathalie CURO Felix, Thomas BCMB Qadri, Hussain BCMB Experimental Peddineni, Manasa CURO Computational Kalagara, Swetha BCMB Fitzgerald, Edward NUIG Parikh, Akshita BCMB Blackmon, Bret CHEM Stringfellow, Stephen BCMB Peng, Emily BCMB Smith, Hannah NUIG/UREKA Shin, Aimee BCMB Chamala, Raghuveer Reddy FINA Powers, Forrest BCMB Deal, Josh BCMB Cleveland, Curtis BCMB O’Brien, Deirdre NUIG/UREKA Gallagher, Thomas NUIG/UREKA Duffy, Fiona NUIG/UREKA Thompson, Stephen BCMB Nesbitt, Daniel BCMB O’Connell, Carol NUIG/UREKA Byrne, Noel NUIG/ UREKA Butler, Brittany BCMB Shaw, Rachana BCMB Kizzard, Thomas BCMB Ellis, Whitney BCMB Gamble, John BCMB Chang, Michael BCMB Sumner, Emily BCMB Blake, Nathan BCMB Brenner, Michael BCMB Thomas, Alicia BCMB Anderson, William Ray BCMB Tran, Doannie BCMB Sundara, Sompathana BCMB Barnes, Jarrod BCMB Cassidy, Juliana Strathclyde U. UK Yang, Abraham BCMB Turnipseed, Wendi BCMB Chappelle, Ryan BCMB Collins, Kevin BCMB BCMBBCMB BCMBBCMB BCMBBCMB Work-Study Students Name Position Service Years Soleyen, Helyne Website Design Amr, Mohamed Website Design Cook, Brittney Rios, Alexandra Ang, Yik Wei Santos, Matthew Alex Bare, John Enriquez, Ervin Acheampong, Afua Roh, Jaehyeok Templeton, J. Davis Miller, Brett Alexander Wah, Stefan Argo, Jackson Bellamy, John
