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Carlos A. Sanhueza

Assistant Professor - Medicinal Chemistry

Carlos grew up in Talcahuano (Chile). He earned his B.Sc. in Chemistry from the Universidad de Concepcion (Chile) in 2004.  Then he moved to the Universidad de La Laguna (Spain) to pursue his Ph.D. in the area of synthesis and conformational analysis of bioactive glycomimetics. In 2009 was appointed as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Alberta (Canada) where he worked in the chemo-enzymatic synthesis of carbohydrate-based neutralizing ligands for bacterial toxins. After completing his postdoctoral research, he joined The Scripps Research Institute (La Jolla) as a research associate and started working in the synthesis of glycomimetic-based drug delivery systems. After a year at TSRI, he moved to the Georgia Institute of Technology where he continued working in drug delivery systems and started a line centered in the synthesis of parasite-associated carbohydrate antigens. In 2018 he joined St. John's University as an Assistant Professor and continues working in the synthesis of carbohydrates and glycomimetics with biomedical applications. Carlos if fondly grateful of all his mentors: Prof. Miguel Zarraga Olavarria (undergraduate research); Prof. Jesus T. Vazquez and Prof. Rosa L. Dorta (Ph.D. mentors); Prof. David R. Bundle and Dr. Pavel Kitov (postdoctoral mentors) and Prof. M. G. Finn (postdoctoral mentor).

Students

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Dhwani Mehta

Ph.D. Student - Pharmaceutical Sciences - Medicinal Chemistry

Born and raised in Mumbai, India. She graduated in 2018 as Bachelor in Pharmacy from Dr. Bhanuber Nanavati College of Pharmacy - University of Mumbai and joined our group in September of the same year. In July 2020, Dhwani obtained her MSc degree at St. John's University.  She is currently working on the synthesis of analogs of the carbohydrate antigen aGal for improving the efficacy of vaccines, developing anti-parasitic vaccine candidates, and designing small-molecule based therapies for aGal syndrome (red meat allergy). In addition to her research, Dhwani also enjoys drawing, sketching, and dancing.

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Dipesh Budhathoki

Ph.D.  Pharmaceutical Sciences - Medicinal Chemistry

Dipesh was born and raised in Biratnagar, Nepal. He graduated as Bachelor of Pharmacy in 2014 from the Institute of Medicine - Tribhuvan University, Nepal. Then he moved to the US for completing his M.Sc. in Pharmaceutical Science at Idaho State University. In November 2018 he joined our group and started his Ph.D. centered in the synthesis of carbohydrate antigens associated with Leishmania spp. for the development of vaccine candidates and diagnostic tools. When not working in the lab, Dipesh enjoys playing guitar, trecking and listening to music. 

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Joseph Ocando

Ph.D. Pharmaceutical Sciences - Medicinal Chemistry

Born and raised in New York City. Joe holds a B.Sc. and M.Sc. Chemistry degrees from New York University and before joining St. John's University he worked in quality operations and technical services at Pfizer. His current research is centered in the development of electrochemical glycosylation methods. In his free time, Joe enjoys playing piano.

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Bhavesh Deore

Ph.D. Pharmaceutical Sciences - Medicinal Chemistry

Born and raised in Erandol, India. Bhavesh graduated in 2015 as Bachelor in Pharmacy from the Mumbai College of Pharmacy and in 2018 he graduated as M.S.c. in Pharmacy at the same institution. Before joining our group on September 2019, Bhavesh worked at Cipla tld. and IQVIA. His current research is centered on the synthesis of carbohydrate antigens associated to Schistosoma mansoni for diagnostics and vaccine candidate development. In addition to research, Bhavesh also loves traveling and dancing. 

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Amy Liu

Pharm. D. student

Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. Amy is a 4th-year Pharm.D. student at SJU who enjoys developing synthetic methods for the synthesis of rare bacterial monosaccharides. In addition to her academic activities, Amy also enjoys hiking and traveling. 

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William Hong

Pharm. D. student

From Queens, New York City, William joined our laboratory in May 2019. He is currently in his 4th year of Pharm.D. program at SJU and his research is focused in the synthesis of disaccharide models for conformational studies. In addition to his academic duties, William also enjoys Jazz, playing piano and powerlifting.

Former group members

Lan Pham, B.Sc. in Chemistry, St. John's University 2020.  Now Ph.D. Student (Chemistry) at the University of California - Riverside

Desiree Sukhram, B.Sc. in Biology, St. John's University 2020.

Christine Hodelin, B.Sc. in Biology, St. John's University 2020.

Priyanshi Chandiwala, B.Sc. in Biology, St. John's University 2020.

Valeria Miranda, B.Sc. in Biology, St. John's University 2020.

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