Group photo of lab with two fingers up for "Fight On"

Principal Investigator

Professor Richard W. Roberts
Professor of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, and Molecular and Computational Biology

  • Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard Medical School Department of Genetics/MGH Department of Molecular Biology (1993-1997)
  • Ph.D. Biophysical Chemistry, Yale University (1993)
  • B.S. Chemistry, University of Kansas (1987)
  • Email: richrob@usc.edu

Research Faculty

Professor Terry Takahashi
Assistant Professor (Research) of Chemistry

  • Ph.D. Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, California Institute of Technology (2005)
  • M.S. Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, California Institute of Technology (2004)
  • B.A. Chemistry, Claremont McKenna College (1998)
  • Email: tttakahashi@usc.edu

Graduate Students

Chris Hughes
Ph.D. Candidate, Chemical Engineering

  • M.S. Chemical Engineering, University of Southern California (2018)
  • B.S. Chemical Engineering, University of Southern California (2016)
  • Research: Medicinal chemistry optimization of peptide inhibitors of huntingtin aggregation
  • Out of Lab: Enjoys coffee shops and seeing movies
  • Email: crhughes@usc.edu

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Tristan McPhail
Ph.D. Candidate, Chemical Engineering

  • M.S. Chemical Engineering, University of Southern California (2022)
  • B.S. Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology (2019)
  • Research: Selection of Huntington’s Disease diagnostics and bioassay development
  • Out of Lab: Enjoys traveling, hiking, reading, and spending time with her pets
  • Email: tmcphail@usc.eduE

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Bud Parks
Ph.D. Student, Chemical Engineering

  • B.E. Biological Engineering, Montana State University (2021)
  • Out of Lab: Likes to run, hike, roller-blade, and listen to audio-books
  • Email: ajparks@usc.edu

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Pearl Qi
Ph.D. Student, Chemical Engineering

  • B.S. Chemical Engineering, University of California Irvine (2023)
  • Out of Lab: Enjoys hiking, traveling, experiencing different cultures and food
  • Email: zhenzhuq@usc.edu

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Colin Leaf
Ph.D. Student, Chemistry

  • B.S. Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles (2021)
  • Out of Lab: Enjoys surfing
  • Email: cleaf@usc.edu

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Yutong Li
Ph.D. Student, Biomedical Engineering

  • M.S. Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University (2022)
  • B.S. Materials Science and Engineering, Guangdong Technion-Israel Institute of Technology (2021)
  • Out of Lab: Enjoys massage, hiking, and listening to live music
  • Email: yli75177@usc.edu