Current group members
Brian S. J. Blagg, Ph.D.
Dr. Blagg received a B.A. in Chemistry and Environmental Studies from Sonoma State University in 1994. He then went on to earn a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Utah in the laboratory of Dale Poulter. Following the completion of his Ph.D., he was a NIH postdoctoral fellow at the Scripps Research Institute, wherein he studied in Dale Boger's laboratory until 2002. Dr. Blagg began his independent research career as a medicinal chemistry professor at The University of Kansas, where he remained until 2017. In 2017, Dr. Blagg became the director of the Warren Family Research Center for Drug Discovery and Development at the University of Notre Dame and the Charles Huisking Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry. His research focuses on the design, synthesis, and evaluation of HSP90 inhibitors. |
Visiting Collaborators
-There are currently no visiting collaborators at the Blagg Lab.
-There are currently no visiting collaborators at the Blagg Lab.
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Graduate Students
Brad Keegan
Brad received his B.S. in Biochemistry and M.S. in Biomedical Sciences with a thesis in Integrative Physiology and Pharmacology from Wake Forest University. Prior to joining the Blagg lab, Brad served as a co-founder and CSO of Encepheal Therapeutics. He is currently working on developing inhibitors of the Aha1-Hsp90 complex to prevent tau aggregation in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. |
Taylor Merfeld
Taylor has a B.A in Chemistry from the College of Saint Benedict, MN and has developed an expansive network from her research positions at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Oregon State University, University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez, and Nanomotif Inc. located in Minneapolis, MN. She joined the Blagg Lab to design, model, synthesize and evaluate Hsp90-isoform selective inhibitors. |
Michael Serwetnyk
Michael received his Bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Loyola University Chicago. In previous research he has performed molecular docking studies as well as investigated how histone modifications can lead to cancer development. Currently, his project focuses on the natural product Enniatin A, a cyclic hexadepsipeptide ionophore found in fungi, and the conformational studies of its synthesized analogues. |
Tyelor Reynolds
Tyelor received a B.S. in Chemistry with a concentration in Biochemistry from Oregon State University. His previous research involved using biological assays for the discovery of novel mitotic targeting agents. Tyelor is currently investigating isoform-selective Hsp90 inhibitors to disrupt Hsp90 protein-protein interactions with co-chaperone Cdc37 for anti-cancer purposes. |
Undergraduate Students
Matthew Kraft
Matt is a first-year undergraduate at Notre Dame who is originally from Haddon Heights, New Jersey. He is currently pursuing a major in Pre-Professional Studies and a minor in European Studies and hopes to attend medical or graduate school in the future. In the Blagg Lab, Matt works on chemical purification and cell culturing. |
Maggie Kurop
Maggie is from St. Louis, Missouri. She is a sophomore undergraduate pursuing a Science Pre-Professional and Psychology double major with plans to receive her MD after graduating from Notre Dame. On campus she is part of the Student Union Board, Notre Dame Love Your Melon chapter, and the Global Health Brigades. She currently works in chemical compound purification and synthesis for the Blagg lab. |
Jack Llewellyn
Jack is from Fairfield, Connecticut. He is a sophomore undergraduate pursuing a Science-Business and Economics double-major with a concentration in Financial Economics and Econometrics. He plans to enter investment banking upon graduation, focusing on the Healthcare Industry. On campus, Jack is engaged in the Investment Club, Student International Business Council, and the Wall Street Club. In Blagg Lab, he is responsible for chemical compound purification and synthesis. |
Maggie Rakonick
Maggie is from St. Louis, Missouri. She is currently a sophomore undergraduate majoring in Biochemistry. On campus, she works for RecSports and is a member of Transpose Dance Collective and Yearbook. In the Blagg Lab, she currently works in chemical compound synthesis and purification and hopes to continue in a similar area of study and lab work in graduate school after graduation. |
Postdocs
Kiran Chinthapally
Kiran was born in Thipparthi, Telangana, India. He received his M.Sc. degree from Osmania University, Hyderabad in 2009. He then moved to the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras for his PhD degree with Prof. Sundarababu baskaran, where he completed his degree in 2015. After a post-doctoral position at University of Oklahoma (2015-2018) with Dr. Indrajeet Sharma he joined the Blagg lab as a postdoctoral researcher in 2019. He is currently working on the synthesis of chemical probes to investigate Niemann-pick type C disease (NPC). |
Xiaozheng Dou
Xiaozheng was born and raised in Qingdao, China. He received a B.S. degree from Qingdao University in 2011, studied abroad at Missouri State University and earned an M.S. in organic chemistry in 2015. Xiaozheng also decided to pursue a Ph.D. degree with Adam Duerfeldt at the University of Oklahoma until 2020. He is currently working on the total synthesis and development of cruentaren A analogs for anti-cancer treatments. |
Dharma Nannapaneni
Dharma originated from Andhra Pradesh, India. He earned his Ph. D. in Organic Chemistry from University of Arkansas with Dr. Matt McIntosh. In September 2018, Dharma has joined as postdoctoral associate with Dr. Brian Blagg at Chemical Synthesis and Drug Discovery (CSDD) facility. His currently works on developing synthetic methodology to supports the novel therapeutics for the Niemann Pick-C disorder, combating infectious disease including leishmaniosis and Chagas disease research. |
Staff