Emily Dykhuizen, PI
​[email protected]

Emily graduated from Reed College in 2001 with a BA in biochemistry and molecular biology. She moved to the midwest in 2002 to pursue a PhD in chemistry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison with Laura L. Kiessling on developing inhibitors to UDP-galactopyranose mutase, an essential enzyme in the synthesis of the arabinogalactan portion of mycobacterial cell wall. After graduation in 2008, she switched fields and began an American Cancer Society postdoctoral fellowship with Gerald Crabtree at Stanford University, where she worked to develop inhibitors of the BAF (SWI/SNF-like) chromatin remodeling complex. In addition, she started defining the mechanisms of BAF-mediated tumor suppression, and uncovered a novel role for BAF complexes in decatenation of DNA by topoisomerase IIa. She started her independent career at Purdue University in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry in 2013, where her lab continues to unravel roles for chromatin regulation in cancer, as well as develop therapies to target epigenetic processes. ​

Dr. Alisha Dhiman, Senior Research Associate
[email protected] 

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Alisha is from New Delhi, India. She got her Bachelor’s degree (2004) in Biochemistry from the University of Delhi, India and went on to earn a Master’s degree in Biotechnology (2007) from the University of Hyderabad, India. For her Master’s dissertation, she worked towards development of a chimeric recombinant chitinase enzyme so as to broaden its substrate specificity. Alisha pursued her PhD in Biotechnology (2015) with Prof. Rakesh Bhatnagar at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, India. Her doctoral work focused on understanding the role of two-component signal transduction systems in bacterial pathogenesis and adaptation, and exploring them as scaffolds for antimicrobial development. For her postdoctoral venture, she moved to the US and forayed into cancer research. She joined the Dykhuizen lab in August 2017 where she is working towards decoding the role of a commonly mutated gene PBRM1 in renal cancer, in order to understand its tumor suppressive function, clinical significance and potential therapeutic applications.


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Dr. Rinky Raghuvanshi, Post-doctoral Research Associate
​[email protected]
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Rinky Raghuvanshi is from Haryana, India. She got her Bachelor’s degree (2012) in Biotechnology and Master’s degree in Organic Chemistry (2014) from Kurukshetra University, India. After her master’s degree, she worked (2015-2016) as an assistant professor in chemistry department of Guru Nanak Khalsa College, India. In June, 2016 she joined Defence Research and Development Organisation, India, where she worked on high altitude medicinal plants. She pursued her PhD in Medicinal Chemistry with Dr. Sandip B. Bharate at CSIR- Indian Institute of Integrative medicine, India. During her PhD (2018-2022), she worked on developing new multitargeted preclinical leads for Alzheimer’s disease employing library screening and rational drug design approaches. She joined the Dykhuizen lab in Feb. 2023 and her work is focus on developing and synthesizing chemical tools and inhibitors for BAF complexes.

Dr. Masataka Nakano, Post-doctoral Research Associate
[email protected]

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Masataka Nakano, originally from Kanazawa, Japan, completed his Bachelor’s (2012), Master’s (2014), and PhD (2017) degrees in Pharmaceutical Sciences at Kanazawa University, under the guidance of Prof. Miki Nakajima. Following graduation, he served as an assistant professor in the same department, advancing research on post-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms—including microRNA, A-to-I RNA editing, and m6A modification—that impact drug metabolism. Around 2020, he expanded his research focus to chromatin remodeling. Masataka joined the Dykhuizen lab from April 2022 to March 2023 and rejoined in November 2024, now concentrating on the role of SWI/SNF complexes in prostate cancer progression.

Guanming (Ming) Jiao, PhD Candidate, MCMP
[email protected]

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Ming (Guanming) is from Zhengzhou, China. He got his Bachelor’s degree in bioengineering from Shanghai University in 2019.  During his undergraduate, he worked with Dr. Junjie Xiao in the aging and regeneration lab. The research was about colorectal cancer and cardiac diseases. He joined Dykhuizen lab in June 2020. He is currently working on the role of bromodomains in renal cancer. 


Dr. Brayden Paul Strohmier, PharmD, PhD Candidate, MCMP
[email protected]  

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Brayden hails from the small town of Brookville, IN.  He earned his PharmD degree in 2020 at Purdue University’s College of Pharmacy. During his PharmD education, he worked with Dr. Jean-Christophe Rochet on two projects: (1) analyzing neuroprotective gene expression changes from patients who had Parkinson’s disease and Lewy Body dementia and (2) investigating new ways to analyze rat behavioral changes in Parkinson’s disease. Later, Brayden found a passion in cancer research and joined the Dykhuizen lab in December 2020. He is currently working on the cellular effects of inhibiting BRD9 in prostate cancer cells and how those effects may change the resistance patterns of the prostate cancer to chemotherapeutics.

Jude Tetteh Quarshie, PhD Student, MCMP
[email protected]

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Jude is from Accra, Ghana. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Medical Laboratory Technology from KNUST, Ghana. He then pursued a Master's degree in Molecular Biology at the University of Ghana where he explored the effect of cryptolepine (a plant-derived compound) on canonical WNT signaling in colorectal cancer. He joined the Dykhuizen Lab in December 2023 with an interest in chemical biology and cancer research.

Sukhman Kaur, PhD Student, PULSe
[email protected]

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​Sukhman is from Panjab, India. She earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Biotechnology from Panjab University, Chandigarh, India. She is a PhD student in Purdue University Interdisciplinary Life Sciences (PULSe) Program and joined the Dykhuizen lab in April 2024. In the lab, she is working on trying to understand the role of mSWI/SNF complex during neuroendocrine differentiation in prostate cancer.

Ayush Goel, SERB-Overseas Visiting Doctoral Fellow (ANRF), PhD Candidate, IIT Kanpur, India
[email protected]

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Ayush is from Uttar Pradesh, India. He received his Bachelor’s degree (2018) in Zoology (Hons.) from the University of Delhi, India and a Master’s degree in Genetics (2020) from the University of Delhi, India. He worked as a Summer Visiting Fellow during his Master’s at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram with Prof. Satish Khurana to study the effects of pSRC and pFAK inhibitors on expression of SDF-1α in cultured mice ST-2 cells. His Master’s dissertation work focused on studying dMyc-mediated molecular pathways that play a role in mitigating neurotoxicity in Drosophila Parkinson’s disease model. Ayush is currently pursuing his PhD with Prof. Bushra Ateeq and Prof. Hamim Zafar in the Molecular Oncology Lab at Biological Sciences and Bioengineering department, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India. His doctoral work focuses on molecular characterization of the role of CDK12 in prostate cancer. He has joined the Dykhuizen lab in August 2024 as a SERB-Overseas Visiting Doctoral Fellow where he is working towards exploring genetic vulnerabilities to design effective therapeutic approaches against CDK12-mutant prostate cancer.

Current Undergraduate Researchers

Brett Andrew Anderson
​Gabriella Grace Conjelko

Previous Members                                                   

Shelley Woloshuk                        Lab Manager                                    2019-2024                           Retired
Surbhi Sood                                 Graduate Student                              2019-2024                           NIEHS- Postdoc with Dr. Wade
Shabana Noreen                           Visiting Research Scholar            03/2024-09/2024                     PhD Candidate at University of Campania
Shenell Brown                              Post-bacculaureate                           2023-2024                           PhD Student at UIC Medicinal Chemistry 
Sam King                                      Undergraduate                                 2020-2024                           MD/PhD program at OHSU
Sandra Ordonez                            Graduate Student                             2018-2024                           Stanford University-Postdoc with Dr. Dassama
Mallory Kay Roach                      Undergraduate                                 2019-2022                            PhD Student at UNC Biological and Biomedical Sciences 
​William James Platt                      Undergraduate                                 2019-2022                            Physician Assistant Student at Indiana University
Sijie Wang                                    Graduate Student                             2016-2022                            Stanford University- Postdoc in Dr. Bogyo
Aktan Alpsoy                               Graduate Student                             2015-2020                            Institute of Cancer Research, London- Postdoc with Dr. Kristian Helin
Chad Maschinot                           Postdoctoral Researcher                  2018-2020                            Research Scientist at Perfinity Biosciences
Elizabeth (Libby) Porter              Graduate Student                             2014-2019                            Stanford University- Postdoc with Dr. Casey Gifford
Jane Stewart                                 Lab Manager                                   2013-2018                             Retired
Katelyn Connelly                         Graduate Student                             2013-2018                            NIH- Postdoc with Dr. Laufey ​Amundadottir
Ben Carter                                    Postdoctoral Researcher                  2017-2018                            Clinical Assistant Professor in Biochemistry, Purdue University
Basudev Chowdhury                    Postdoctoral Researcher                  2015-2017                            Dana Farber- Postdoc with Dr. James Griffin
Christina Marian                          Postdoctoral Researcher                  2013-2014                            Technical Content Specialist at Five Prime Content Strategy   
Rob Wilson                                  Undergraduate                                 2014-2015                             MIT- Graduate Student with Dr. Angela Koehler