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. Rinky Raghuvanshi, Post-doctoral Research Associate
​[email protected]

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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Sukhman Kaur, PhD Student, PULSe
[email protected]

​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.

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Prince Boateng, PhD Student, Chemistry
[email protected]

Luisa Baracaldo Lancheros, PhD Student, BMCMP
[email protected]

  


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Current Undergraduate Researchers

Sophia Kroll
Rachel McGaha
Evan Mullarny

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Previous Members                                                   

Brett Andrew Anderson                Undergraduate                                 2023-2026               ​            
​Gabriella Grace Conjelko             Undergraduate                                 2023-2026                           Medical School at IU School of Medicine
​Alisha Dhiman                             Postdoc/Senior Scientist                  2017-2025                           Senior Scientist/Lab Manager at Purdue University with Dr. Michael Wendt
Ayush Goel                                  Visiting Research Scholar            08/2024-02/2026                     PhD Candidate at ITT Kanpur
​Brayden Strohmier                      Graduate Student                              2020-2026                           IU School of Medicine- Postdoc with Dr. Asmaa El-Kenawi 
Guanming (Ming) Jiao.               Graduate Student.                             2020-2026                           Dana Farber - Postdoc with Dr. Andrew Lane
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                           Assistant Professor of Biochemistry - Georgia Southern University
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                            Senior Scientist - WuXi AppTec
Aktan Alpsoy                               Graduate Student                             2015-2020                            Assistant Professor at Middle East Technical University 
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