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. There she worked on developing inhibitors to UDP-galactopyranose mutase, an essential enzyme in the synthesis of the arabinogalactan portion of mycobacterial cell wall, verifying it as a therapeutic target to treat tuberculosis. 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.

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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.​

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Sijie Wang, PhD Candidate, MCMP
wang3289@purdue.edu

Sijie is from Shanghai, China. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in pharmaceutical engineering from East China University of Science and Technology in 2014, and a Master degree in chemical engineering from University of Southern California in May 2016. He joined Dykhuizen lab in December 2016. He is currently focusing on the targeting mechanism of Cbx7/8 proteins, as well as screening for potential ligands of Cbx7/8 via DNA encoded chemical library.

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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.

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Surbhi Sood, PhD Student, 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.

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Guanming Jiao, PhD Student, 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 is 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. 

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Brayden Paul Strohmier, PharmD, PhD Student, 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.

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Previous Members

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