People – Derda Research Group

Principal Investigator

Ratmir Derda

Professor

Ratmir Derda received his B.Sci. in Physics from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, under the supervision of Laura L. Kiessling and a postdoctoral training at Harvard University working under the supervision of George M. Whitesides at the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology and Donald E. Ingber, at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering.

Notable Awards & Recognition

2022: X-Chem Research Excellence Award
2019: Edmonton Top 40 under 40
2019 Faculty of Science Research Award (from the University of Alberta)
2018: 2018 Science Commercialization Fellowship
2018: 2018 Melanie O’Neill Young Investigator Award in Biological Chemistry from Canadian Society of Chemistry (CSC)
2017: David Gin New Investigator Award in Carbohydrate Chemistry from American Chemical Society (ACS)
2017: Martha Cook Piper Research Prize from University of Alberta
2016: Rising Star in Chemical Biology from International Chemical Biology Society
2014: Young Investigator Award from Boulder Peptide Society
2014: University of Alberta Award for Outstanding Mentorship in Undergraduate Research & Creative Activities
2011: Canadian Rising Star in Global Health award from Grand Challenges Canada
2010: National Academies Keck Futures Initiative Award in Synthetic Biology
2009: Winner of the 50K DARPA seed funding for best proposal in InfoChemistry
2007:ACS Excellence in Graduate Polymer Science Research
1997: Gold Medal at the XXIX International Chemistry Olympiad
1994, ’95, ’96’ 97: 1st Diplomas at the All-Ukrainian Chemistry Olympiad

Current Lab Members

Graduate Students

Chuanhao Peng

B.Sc., Chemistry, University of Waterloo,2021.
Ph.D. student in Derda Lab since Sept. 2021

James Walker

Ph.D. student in Derda Lab since Sept. 2022

Danial Yazdan

B.Sc, Chemistry, University of British Colombia, 2021
Ph.D. student in Derda Lab since Sept. 2022

Danial is pursuing drug discovery with his topic of Antibody elution of small molecule drug candidates.

Foyet Qiu

B.Sc (Honours)., Nanoscience, University of Waterloo, 2021
M.Sc., Chemical Engineering, University of Toronto, 2023
Ph.D student in Derda lab & Macauley lab since 2023

Foyet completed my B.Sc. Honours in Nanoscience through a collaborative program between the University of Waterloo and Beijing Jiaotong University (China) in 2021. Then, she finished her master’s degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Toronto in 2023, where she worked in Dr. Levente L. Diosady’s lab researching the encapsulation of iron in acidic beverages using liposomes. She also assisted in Professor Naomi Matsuura’s lab with research on encapsulating cancer drugs using liposomes. Currently, She is continuing her Ph.D. studies, working in Dr. Macauley’s and Dr. Derda’s groups to explore how to use LNPs for DNA encoding.

Claire Yi-Ling Yang

Ph.D. student in Derda Lab since Jan. 2023

Md Ataul Karim Khan

Simatsidk Haregu Abebe

Postdoctoral Fellows

Kejia Yan

B.Sc., Engineering, Pharmaceutical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, 2017
M.Sc., Pharmaceutical Science and Life Science, Hoshi University, 2019
Ph.D., Chemistry, University of Alberta

Kejia Yan is developing chemical strategies for the synthesis of genetically-encoded libraries and uses them to answer fundamental questions in chemical reactivity.

Guilherme Meira Lima

M.Sc., University of São Paulo (USP), São Paulo, Brazil. Pharmaceutical Technology Program, 2019
B.Sc., University of São Paulo (USP), São Paulo, Brazil. Bachelor of Science: Pharmacy and Biochemistry, 2018
Ph.D. Chemistry, University of Alberta

Research Associates and Assistants

Eric Carpenter

B.S. with honors in physics, University of Alberta
Research Assistant in Derda Lab and Russ Greiner Lab since 2019

Eric employs Bioinformatics and Machine Learning technologies to understand and predict interactions between proteins and glycans.

Tareq Ahmed

Undergraduate Students

Lydia Lee

Victoria Hristova

3rd year undergraduate student pursuing B.Sc Honors in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at the University of Alberta
Undergraduate research assistant in Derda Lab since May 2024

Victoria is working with Dr. Ratmir Derda, and Dr. Warren Wakarchuk as a co-supervisor, to quantify rare glycosylation rates using biotin capture assay technique and genetically-encoded Liquid Glycan Array (LiGA). Previously, she researched adaptations in hair morphology for underwater air bubble respiration in Paracoenia flies with Dr. Felix Sperling in the winter of 2024. She is also the Co-President of the Canadian Organization for Rare Disorders Student Association (CORDSA) at the UofA and help raise awareness for rare diseases on campus.

Alumni

2024

Chinh Lan (Tracy) Lin

B.Sc., National Tsing Hua University (Hsinchu, Taiwan)
M.Sc., Organic Chemistry, National Tsing Hua University (Hsinchu, Taiwan)
Graduate student in Lowary and Derda Lab since Sep. 2018

Tracy is working on chemo-enzymetic synthesis of complex glycans and their application in genetically-encoded Liquid Glycan Array (LiGA) technology

Jared Zhang

Summer Undergraduate Fellow, 2021
Undergraduate research assistant in Derda Lab since 2021

Jared is working on predictive AI models of protein-carbohydrate interactions.

Ryan Qiu

Summer Undergraduate Fellow, 2021
Undergraduate research assistant in Derda Lab since 2021

Ryan is working in the area of immunooncology therapeutics and inhibitors of Siglec proteins

Linda Tran

Summer Undergraduate Fellow, 2022
Undergraduate research assistant in Derda Lab since 2022

Linda is working on glycosylating macrocyclic peptides

Alvin Wu

Summer Undergraduate Fellow, 2022
Undergraduate research assistant in Derda Lab since 2022

Alvin is working on web applications and data science regarding cheminformatics

2023

Arunika Ekanayake

PhD in Chemistry, University of Southern California
B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (First class honours), University of Colombo, Sri Lanka

Arunika is developing new genetically encoded chemical spaces and uses them to discover new classes reversible covalent inhibitors of proteins.

Mirat Sojitra

B.Sc., University of Alberta 2017
Graduate student in Derda Lab since Jan. 2018

Mirat is working on genetically-encoded chemical libraries, discovery of instructive biomaterials and Liquid Glycan Array (LiGA) technology

Ellen Hayhoe

Summer Undergraduate Fellow, 2021
Undergraduate research assistant in Derda Lab since 2020

Ellen is combining experimental and data science approaches to build the GlyNet Neural Net and Liquid Glycan Array (LiGA) technology

Elizabeth Volker

Summer Undergraduate Fellow, 2020
Undergraduate research assistant in Derda Lab since 2020

Elizabeth is using parallel phage culture and expansion to build the foundation of the Liquid Glycan Array (LiGA) technology

2022

Mike Downey

MS, University of Alberta
PhD, Charles University, Prague
PDF, Max Planck Institute, Seeberger Lab
Postdoctoral Fellow in Derda Lab since 2021

Mike is working in the area of immunology therapeutics and inhibitors of Siglec proteins.

Ganesh Sable

PhD, Sejong University, Seoul, Republic of Korea. (Advisor: Dongyeol Lim)
Research Assistant Professor, POSTECH (PI: Prof. Hyun Suk Lim)
Scientific Collaborator, EPFL (PI: Prof. Christian Heinis)
Postdoctoral Fellow in Derda Lab since 2020

Ganesh develops chemically modified peptide libraries with applications to the development of imaging agents and therapeutic candidates (collaboration with Frank Wuest and Todd McMullen)

Alexey Atrazhev

PhD in Chemistry, Moscow State University
B.S. in Chemistry, Moscow State University

Alexei is developing new classes of phage vectors to enable display, discovery and detection that is impossible with state-of-the-art display systems

2021

Revathi Reddy

B.Sc., Pharmaceutical Sciences, Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, India
Graduate student in Derda Lab since Sep. 2018

Revathi worked on genetically-encoded Liquid Glycan Array (LiGA) technology and its application in serological tests.

Jeffrey (Ying Kit) Wong

B.Sc., University of Alberta (2016)
PhD Candidate in Derda Lab since Sept. 2016

Jeffrey worked on employing genetically-encoded chemical libraries to identify early drug leads that inhibit anti-tumor protein Nodal

Lena Sobze

Undergraduate research assistant in Derda Lab since 2019
GlycoNET Summer Undergraduate Fellow, 2020

Lena worked on synthesis of macrocyclic and bicycle peptides via late-stage functionalization of unprotected natural peptides.

Shaurya Seth

Undergraduate research assistant in Derda Lab since 2019
Undergraduate Research Initiative (URI) Summer Fellow, 2020

Shaurya (Shau) developed deep neural network to understand protein glycan interations. Shau’s awards include 2020 URI Fellowship from University of Alberta.

Sharyar Memon

Master of Engineering Program at the University of Alberta
B.S., University of Alberta, 2019

Sharyar employs Machine Learning technologies to analyze genetically-encoded discovery of ligands and chemical reactions

2020

Raja Mukherjee

PhD in Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
Postdoctoral Fellow, Chemistry Department in Boston College 2014-2016

developing new chemical strategies for the synthesis of genetically-encoded macrocycle and bicycle libraries.

Daniel Ferrer Vinals

B.Sc. in Biochemistry, University of Havana in 2008
Ph.D. candidate in Derda Lab since Sept. 2013

Daniel’s research focus involves the development of genetically encoded glycopeptide libraries displayed in M13 phages and the use of these libraries to develop ligands for Galectin-3 protein.

2019

Yuki Kamijo

M.Sc., Applied Biological Sciences, Gifu University, Gifu, Japan (2016)
B.Sc., Applied Biological Sciences, Gifu University, Gifu, Japan.
Graduate student in Derda Lab since Sept. 2016

Yuki is developing new microfluidics and microdroplet-based technology for selection of genetically-encoded libraries, to study nucleation of supercooled water. Yuki is also supervising high school students in project related to heterogeneous and light-directed water nucleation

Jasmine Maghera

Summer Research Fellow, 2017
Undergraduate research assistant 2017-2018
Glyconet Summer Fellow and AIHS Fellow, 2018

Jasmine was developing next generation glycan array technology called “liquid glycan array”.

2018

Nicholas Bennett

Ph.D., Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
Post-doctoral fellow in Derda Lab January, 2016-2017
Research Associate in Derda Lab 2017-2018

Nick was developing new technologies and platforms for genetic encoding and presentation of diverse molecular structures on phage. He is applying these technologies to identify ligands for immune lectin DC-SIGN

Jessica Wickware

High school (2012-2014) and Undergrad (2014-2018) Research Student in Derda Lab
Sanofi BioGenius Alberta Winner, 2014 (high school)
URI Fellow, 2015, AIHS Fellow, 2017 (undergrad)
Current: Chemistry PhD student, University of Pennsylvania

During her undergraduate degree at the University of Alberta 2014-2018 she worked on development of ice-nucleating substances and light-triggered ice nucleating peptides.

Yubin Hao

Research Assistant in Derda Lab 2014-2018
Current position: Research Assistant, University of Alberta

Yubin was developing synthetic materials that control differentiation of Cancer Stem Cells (CSC) and promote or suppress epithelial-to-mesenchymal transitions (EMT).

Jessica (Yun) Cao

Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Alberta
Research Assistant in Derda Lab since July 2017-2018
Current: Lead data scientist at 48Hour Discovery Inc.

Jessica was developing computational, data-mining and database tools to assist discoveries in genetically-encoded chemical libraries.

Carson Li

Research Assistant in Derda Lab 2015-2018
Current: Scientist at 48Hour Discovery Inc.

Carson’s project was development of strategies for delivery of drugs to and through the blood-brain barrier.

Vivian Traina Guzman

MS student 2015-2018

1. V. Triana, R. Derda*, “Tandem Wittig / Diels-Alder Diversification of Genetically Encoded Peptide Libraries“, Org. Biomol. Chem., 2017, 15, 7869-7877

2017

Samantha Kwok

Research Assistant in Derda Lab: Jan-Dec 2017
Current: Operations Manager at 48Hour Discovery Inc.

Samantha was working on translation and commercialization of the research from Derda lab. Samantha is a founding member of the 48Hour Discovery Inc.

Ali (Ying) Chou

M.Sc. Student in Derda Lab 2014-2016
Research Assistant in Derda Lab: Jan-Dec 2017
Current: Communications Manager, GlycoNet

Ali Chou was working on development of molecular diagnostics for detection of TB and TB-associated antibodies.

Susmita Sarkar

Research Associate in Derda Lab in 2017
Current: Research Associate in Macauley Lab

Susmita worked on developing genetically-encoded glycan array technology based on chemically modified bacteriophages (publication in preparation).

Susmita Sarkar

Postdoctoral Fellow in Derda Lab in 2017
Current: Biotechnology Startup

Andrei developed T7 Bacteriophages for detection of internalization events in mammalian cells.

Bifang He

Graduate student at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
China Scholarship Council Exchange student in Derda Lab since Sept. 2016
Current: Lecturer, Guizhou University, School of Medicine

Bifang developed computational / bioinformatic tools for next-generation sequencing data emanation from genetically-encoded selection experiments.

2016

J. Maxwell Douglas

URI Summer Research Fellow, 2014
Undergraduate research fellow 2014-2015

Current position: Specialization After Degree in Computer Science, U of Alberta.

Frédérique Deiss

Postdoctoral Fellow, 2012-2015
Rising Star in Global Health, 2014-2015

Current Position: Assistant Professor
Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

Wadim Matochko

PhD student, 2011-2015
Postdoctoral Fellow at Genentech Inc. (San Francisco, CA)
Current Position: Amgen Inc. Vancouver, BC

In 2010 he entered the Chemistry program at the University of Alberta under the supervision of Ratmir Derda. His research will focus on asymmetric cell division.

Edith Lin

Undergraduate student (2013-2015).
SENTINEL Summer Fellow, 2013. AIHS Fellow, 2014, 2015. Lloyd and Margaret Cooley Memorial Fellow, 2014

Bifang developed computational / bioinformatic tools for next-generation sequencing data emanation from genetically-encoded selection experiments.

Alieski Cruz Ramirez

ALAP Exchange Student in Derda Lab 2014-2015
B.Sc., University of Havana

Adhirath Sikand

MITACS Exchange Student in Derda Lab 2014-2015

Current Position: PhD Student, Department of Chemistry, University of Southen California, Los Angeles, CA (USA).

2014

Katrina Tjhung

Undergraduate student. AIHS Fellow, 2012, 2013, 2014. NSERC fellow, 2013
Current position: PGS-D NSERC Fellow, Ph.D. Student, Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Katrina completed degree in Pharmacology at the University of Alberta. She was a full-time member of the Derda research group from May 2011 to July 2014 working on genetic and chemical modification of filamentous M13 phage to make it a useful tool for chemical biology and development of low-cost diagnostics.

Shailesh Ambre

Postdoctoral Fellow, 2013
Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, National Cancer Institute at Frederick

Maribel Funes

Postdoctoral Fellow 2012-2013
Current Position: Assistant Professor at Fundação Universidade Federal de Rondônia

Lu Deng

Postdoctoral Fellow, 2013

Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, National Institute of Nanotechnology, University of Alberta

Jasmin Bal

Undergraduate student/AIHS Summer Fellow, 2013

Current position: MD student, University of Alberta

Jessica Tran

Undergraduate student/Chem 401-403 student, 2013
Current position: undergraduate student, University of Alberta

Jessica joined the Derda research group initially as a volunteer in early 2013 and continued onwards being a Chem 401 and Chem 403 student. Her project involved modifying bacteriophage in order to create libraries of protease resistance variants.