Members

Emily Dykhuizen, PI
edykhui@purdue.edu

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.

Shelley Woloshuk, Lab Manager
swoloshu@purdue.edu

Shelley Woloshuk is the Lab Manager for the Dykhuizen research group. She is responsible for organizing and maintaining supplies, overseeing regulatory and safety requirements along with other research duties.

Dr. Alisha Dhiman, Senior Research Associate
dhimana@purdue.edu

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 with Prof. Rakesh Bhatnagar (2015) 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 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 application.

Dr. Rinky Raghuvanshi, Post-doc

mnakano@purdue.edu

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 Dykhuizen lab in Feb, 2023 and her work is focus on developing and synthesizing chemical tools and inhibitors for BAF complexes.

Sandra Ordonez, PhD Candidate, MCMP
sordone@purdue.edu

Sandra is from Bogota, Colombia. She got her BSc degree (2017) in Pharmacy from Universidad Nacional de Colombia (the National University of Colombia), where she worked with Dr. Fabian Orozco (2015-2016) on the design and synthesis of spiro-isatinic compounds having HIF-2α as their target. In spring 2016, she did an internship on cancer research with Dr. Vincent Jo Davisson at Purdue University, focusing on the synthesis of peptoid derivatives intended to target PCNA. After her graduation, Sandra worked as a Patent Specialist at Cavelier Abogados, advising national and foreign clients in patents prosecution before the Colombian Patent Office. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Purdue University; and, with interest on chemical biology and cancer research, Sandra joined the Dykhuizen Lab in December 2018.

Surbhi Sood, PhD Candidate, PULSe
sood9@purdue.edu

Surbhi is from Shimla, India. She earned her Bachelor's degree in Biotechnology (2015) from SRM University. She went on to pursue a Master's in Human Disease Genetics from the Centre for Human Genetics, Bangalore. Currently, she is a Ph.D. candidate in the Purdue University Interdisciplinary Life Sciences (PULSe) Program and is part of the Chromatin and Regulation of Gene Expression training group. She joined the Dykhuizen Lab in May 2019. Her thesis work is focused on understanding the role of BAF subunits in promoting neuroendocrine differentiation in prostate cancer.

Guanming (Ming) Jiao, PhD Candidate, MCMP
gjiao@purdue.edu

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.

Brayden Paul Strohmier, PharmD, PhD Candidate, MCMP
bstrohmi@purdue.edu

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.

Sam King , Undergraduate Student, Pharmaceutical Sciences
King578@purdue.edu

Sam King is from Austin, Texas. He is currently a sophomore studying Pharmaceutical Sciences at Purdue University. He has been involved in the lab since the fall of 2021 and is exploring how various BAF subunits effect phenotypes in Neuroendocrine differentiated prostate cancer. Sam will graduate from Purdue in May of 2024.

Previous Members

Masataka Nakano Postdoctoral Researcher 2022-2023 Assistant professor in Kanazawa University
Mallory Kay Roach Undergraduate 2019-2022 Biological and Biomedical Sciences PhD student at UNC
William James Platt Undergraduate 2019-2022 Physician Assistant Student at Indiana University
Sijie Wang Graduate Student 2016-2022 Stanford University with Dr. Bogyo Lab
Aktan Alpsoy Graduate Student 2015-2020 CSHL-Postdoc with Dr. Chris Vakoc
Chad Maschinot Postdoctoral Researcher 2018-2020 Research scientist at Perfinity Biosciences
Elizabeth (Libby) Porter Graduate Student 2014-2019 UPenn-Postdoc with Dr. Benjamin Garcia
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 NIH - Postdoc with Dr. Keji Zhao
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

Lab Members

Emily Dykhuizen, PI​edykhui@purdue.edu

Shelley Woloshuk, Lab Manager​swoloshu@purdue.edu

Dr. Alisha Dhiman, Senior Research Associatedhimana@purdue.edu

Sandra Ordonez, PhD Candidate, MCMP​sordone@purdue.edu

Surbhi Sood, PhD Candidate, PULSesood9@purdue.edu

Guanming (Ming) Jiao, PhD Candidate, MCMPgjiao@purdue.edu

Brayden Paul Strohmier, PharmD, PhD Candidate, MCMPbstrohmi@purdue.edu