Graduate Student

Alex is from Lowville, a small town in Northern New York. She earned her Associate of Science degree in Allied Health and Biological Science at SUNY Jefferson (Watertown, NY) in 2020, following with her Bachelor of Science degree in Organic Chemistry from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (Syracuse, NY) in 2022. There she worked with Dr. José-Luis Giner on NIH grant “Sterol Probes of Hedgehog Protein Processing”. She joined the Department of Chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania in the Fall of 2023.

Graduate Student

David grew up primarily in Ellicott City, MD. He completed dual degrees in chemistry and economics from the University of Maryland, College Park. While there, he worked in the group of Dr. Osvaldo Gutierrez on computing DFT energy barriers for organometallic reaction pathways. He spent the first 2.5 years of his PhD studies at Penn in the group of Dr. Marisa Kozlowski, developing a novel analytical platform with isotopically labeled substrates. During this period, he was awarded the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. In spring 2024, he moved into the Zahrt group to explore broader interests in automated organic synthesis. Outside the lab, he serves on the executive board of Penn Biotech Group and is passionate about the intersection of business & the life sciences.

Graduate Student

Deniel was born and raised in Moscow, Russia. After graduating from the IB program at Moscow School #45, he moved to Canada to study at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver. As an undergraduate, Deniel majored in Biochemistry and Chemistry, developing a great interest in computational chemistry. After graduating from UBC, he joined UPenn's Theoretical Chemistry PhD program under Andrew Zahrt, working at the intersection of theoretical chemistry, machine learning, and applied computational organic chemistry. In his free time, he loves "moving heavy circles around" and "kickboxing".

Undergraduate Student

Jimena is a freshman from Guadalajara, Mexico, studying Chemistry and Computer Science under the VIPER program. She joined the Zahrt lab in January 2024 with a particular interest in computational chemistry and its applications for renewable energy. In her free time, she loves playing tennis and playing the guitar.

Graduate Student

Jorge was born in Manizales (Caldas) and raised in Yumbo (Valle del Cauca), Colombia. He did his undergraduate studies in Chemistry (2015 - 2020) at Universidad del Valle in Cali, Colombia, under the supervision of Professor Manuel N. Chaur. Then, in the same research group, he did his master studies in Organic Chemistry (2020 - 2023). In January, 2024, he joined Zahrt's research group at the University of Pennsylvania as a Chemistry PhD student.

Undergraduate Student

Khaliun Dorjmenchim (C’25) is an undergraduate student studying biochemistry. Outside of the lab, Khaliun is a math tutor and advocate for the FGLI (first generation limited income) community. Born and raised in Utah, Khaliun also enjoys hiking, pickleball, and Jazz basketball.

Undergraduate Student

Kaveen is a third year undergraduate studying chemistry and economics at the University of Pennsylvania. A native of Northeast Philadelphia, Kaveen joined the Zahrt lab in May 2023. In his free time, he enjoys playing the saxophone, running, and playing basketball.

Graduate Student

Myaisha was born and raised in Elm City, NC, a small town in eastern North Carolina. In 2023, she graduated from High Point University with a B.S. in Biochemistry. She has previously worked on projects to optimize the organic synthesis of fluorogenic probes and zwitterionic sugars.

Undergraduate Researcher

Nirbaan is an incoming freshman at Penn who grew up in Plainsboro, New Jersey. He enjoys organic and biochemistry with a particular interest in biochemical mechanisms of action. Apart from biochemistry research, Nirbaan enjoys playing the double bass and electric bass. From playing these instruments in the jazz band to producing jazz-inspired instrumentals on Ableton DAW, he has developed a love for the genre. Nirbaan seeks to pursue his education and career in biochemistry research.

Graduate Student

Perc is from Nigeria and earned a dual degree in Chemistry and French from Lake Forest College, where she conducted research in both organic and analytical chemistry under Dr. Paul Gladen and Dr. Nilan Shah. After graduating in 2020, she worked as an Associate Analytical Chemist at PPL before joining Penn Chemistry in Fall 2022. In August 2024, Perc transferred from the Winkler Group, where she had worked for 1.5 years, to the Zahrt Group. Outside of research, Perc loves playing basketball, working out, and cooking.

Graduate Student

Scott is from Staten Island, New York. He graduated from Stony Brook University in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, working under the supervision of Dr. Robert Rizzo. That same year, he joined the Department of chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania. From 2021 to 2024, he worked under the supervision of Dr. Jeffery Saven on the computational design of homo-hexamer proteins. In March 2024, he started in the Zahrt Lab, where he pursues his interest in organic chemistry, automation, and machine learning.

Postdoctoral Researcher

I obtained my Ph.D. in Chemistry working with Prof Anna Krylov at University of Southern California. My thesis work involved theoretical modeling of x-ray spectroscopy in condensed phase. Prior to my graduate studies, I completed my Bachelor’s degree (Chemistry) from Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira, Howrah, and my Master’s degree (Chemistry) from IIT Kanpur, in India. In the Zahrt group, I am working on reaction discovery using machine learning.

Graduate Student

Vaishnavi Nagtode is from Mumbai, India. She received her Bachelor of Technology from the Institute of Chemical Technology in India, majoring in Oils, Oleochemicals, and Surfactants Technology. During her studies, she completed an internship at Diversey where she focused on the analytical techniques for quantifying residual oil on spa towels and its removal. While pursuing her undergraduate degree, she authored two papers: "Green Surfactants (Biosurfactants): A Petroleum-Free Substitute for Sustainability - Comparison, Applications, Market, and Future Prospects" and "Emerging applications of nanotechnology in cosmeceutical health science: Latest updates". Currently, she is working as a Master's thesis student in Prof. Zahrt's lab.

Senior Scientist

Vincent was born and raised near Charleston, SC. He moved upstate to attend Clemson University where he obtained a B.S. in Chemistry in 2012. Vincent then spent four years working at Milliken & Company doing both discovery and process R&D. In 2017, he joined Professor Scott Denmark’s group at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He completed his Organic Chemistry Ph.D. in 2023 with an emphasis on transition metal catalysis. Vincent is currently a visiting scholar in Professor Zahrt’s group. In his free time, he likes to read, hike, bike, and metal detect.

Chief of Staff

Principal Investigator

Andrew joined the faculty in the department of chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania in the Summer of 2023. Andrew was born and raised in Fremont, MI, a small rural town in west Michigan. He graduated from Aquinas College (Grand Rapids, MI) in 2014 with degrees in Biology and Chemistry. Later that year, he began his PhD research with Scott Denmark at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. After completing his PhD in 2020, Andrew joined the laboratory of Klavs Jensen at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.