ABOUT
Who we are | What we do | Who supports us | How you can help | Philanthropy
Who we are
Matthew David Disney
Institute Professor & Chair
Department of Chemistry
Graduate Program Faculty Member, Kellogg School of Science and Engineering
Disney@scripps.edu; mdisney@ufl.edu
Google Scholar
Positions
- Associate Editor, Journal of the American Chemical Society
- Scientific Advisory Board, The University at Albany The RNA Institute
- Founder and Chair of Scientific Advisory Board, Expansion Therapeutics
Education
- Grade 1-8, Saint Ursula School, Baltimore, Maryland
- Grade 9-12, Calvert Hall College, Towson, Maryland
- B.S., Chemistry, The University of Maryland, College Park, 1997
- M.S., Physical Chemistry, The University of Rochester, 1999
- Ph.D., Chemistry, The University of Rochester, 2003
- Post Doctoral Fellow: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and ETH Zürich – Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, 2002-2004
Awards and Honors
- Nobel Laureate Signature Award for Graduate Education in Chemistry (with Dr. Alicia Angelbello). American Chemical Society, 2021
- Research Program Award, National Institute of Neurological Disorder & Stroke (NINDS), 2020-2028
- The Raymond & Beverly Sackler International Prize in the Physical Sciences, Chemical Biology, 2019
- BioFlorida’s Weaver H. Gaines Entrepreneur of the Year Award, 2018
- The Barry Cohen Prize, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, 2018
- Scripps Florida Outstanding Mentor, 2017
- NIH Director’s Pionneer Award, 2016
- Tetrahedron Young Investigator Award in Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry, 2016
- Blavatnik Young Scientists Award Finalist, 2015
- David W. Robertson Award in Medicinal Chemistry. Awarded by the American Chemical Society’s Division of Medicinal Chemistry for having a primary role in the discovery of a novel therapeutic agents, targets, theoretical concepts in medicinal chemistry or drug discovery, and making a significant scientific discovery that enhances the field of medicinal chemistry. 2014
- Excellence Award in the field of Research in Science and Technology. India-US Chamber of Commerce, Inc., South Florida. 2013
- Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry. Awarded by the American Chemical Society’s Biological Chemistry Division for outstanding research in biological chemistry of unusual merit and independence of thought and originality. 2013
- The American Chemical Society Division of Carbohydrate Chemistry David Y. Gin Award. 2011
- University at Buffalo, Exceptional Scholar – Young Investigator Award. June 2011
- Camille & Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award. August 2010 – July 2015
- Research Corporation Cottrell Scholar Award. July 2008 – June 2011
- NYSTAR JD Watson Young Investigator Award. July 2007 – June 2009
- Camille & Henry Dreyfus New Faculty Award. September 2005 – August 2010
- Second Year Roche Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship; Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH, Zürich). June 2005 January 2005
- Roche Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship; Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH, Zürich). June 2003 – May 2004
- Arnold Weissberger Memorial Fellow; University of Rochester. 2001 – 2002
- Elon Huntington Hooker Memorial Fellow; University of Rochester. 2000 – 2001
- Sherman-Clark Memorial Fellow; University of Rochester. 1997 – 1999
- Eric A. Batista Award; University of Maryland, College Park. Award for most outstanding undergraduate research. 1997
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute Undergraduate Research Fellow; University of Maryland, College Park. 1995 – 1997
CURRENT GROUP MEMBERS
Jessica Childs-Disney
Senior Staff Scientist
Education:
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zürich, Switzerland
Post Doctoral, Carbohydrates: August ’03 – March ’05
University of Rochester, Rochester, NY
Ph,D., Biophysical Chemistry: May ’03
Chemistry, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY
M.S., Chemistry: May ’00
Messiah College, Grantham, PA
B.S., Chemistry: May ’98
Carole Platt
Laboratory Administrative Coordinator
Education:
Associate Degree in Science in Secretarial Science Jun ’96
High School, Antibes, France
French National Centre for Scientific Research: Administrative Assistant Nov ’96 – Oct ’15
Valbonne, Bordeaux and Nice, France
POSTDOCTORAL ASSOCIATES
Jiajun Dong
Education:
Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
Ph.D., Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology: 2023
Sandra Kovachka
Education:
UCA University Cote d’Azur, Nice, France
Ph.D., Medicinal Chemistry: 2023
Soma Roy
Education:
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
Ph.D., Organic Chemistry: 2019
Amirhossein Taghavi
Education:
Luxembourg University, Luxembourg
Ph.D., Physics and Material Science: 2018
Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
MS., Molecular Biophysics: 2005
Shahid Beheshti University , Tehran, Iran
MS., Biology: 2002
Patrick Zanon
Education:
Technical University of Munich, Germany
Dr. rer. nat., Chemoproteomics: 2021
M.Sc., Chemistry: 2017
B.Sc., Chemistry: 2014
GRADUATE STUDENTS
Cameron Dobrotka
Graduate Student
The Scripps Research Institute
Skaggs Graduate School of Chemical and Biological Sciences
Education:
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
Master’s of Science, Microbiology
Wittenberg University – Springfield, OH
B.S., Biology: 2020
Yilin Jia
Graduate Student
The Scripps Research Institute
Skaggs Graduate School of Chemical and Biological Sciences
Education:
China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China
B.S., Pharmaceutical Sciences: 2023
Samantha (“Sam”) Meyer
Graduate Student
The Scripps Research Institute
Skaggs Graduate School of Chemical and Biological Sciences
Education:
University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire
B.S., Biochemistry and Molecular Biology: 2019
Jingsong Shan
Graduate Student
The Scripps Research Institute
Skaggs Graduate School of Chemical and Biological Sciences
Education:
Duke University, Durham, U.S.
B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies: 2023
Duke Kunshan University, Kunshan, China
B.S. in Molecular Bioscience: 2023
Noah Springer
Graduate Student
The Scripps Research Institute
Skaggs Graduate School of Chemical and Biological Sciences
Education:
The Scripps Research Institute, Jupiter, FL
University of Notre Dame
B.S., Biochemistry: 2021
Xiaoxuan (“Lexie”) Su
Graduate Student
The Scripps Research Institute
Skaggs Graduate School of Chemical and Biological Sciences
Education:
Peking University, Beijing, China
M.S., Medicinal Chemistry: 2022
Peking University, Beijing, China
B.S., Pharmaceutical Sciences: 2020
Yuquan (“Hamish”) Tong
Graduate Student
The Scripps Research Institute
Skaggs Graduate School of Chemical and Biological Sciences
Education:
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL
B.S., Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: 2019
Xueyi (“Sherry”) Yang
Graduate Student
The Scripps Research Institute
Skaggs Graduate School of Chemical and Biological Sciences
Education:
Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA
B.S., Biochemistry: 2020
Tenghui Wang
Graduate Student
The Scripps Research Institute
Skaggs Graduate School of Chemical and Biological Sciences
Education:
Peking University, Beijing, China
B.S., Chemical Biology: 2020
RESEARCH TECHNICIANS
Zainab Al Shakarchi
Research Assistant II
Education:
Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL
Masters, Biology: 2021
Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL
B.S., Biology: 2019
Beatrice Pforr
Research Technician
Education:
Northeastern University, Boston
MA Bachelor of Science Degree in Bioengineering: 2022
Nicolas Torrents
Research Assistant II
Education:
St. John’s University, Queens, NY
Masters., Medicinal Chemistry: 2020
Hofstra University, Long Island, NY
B.S., Biochemistry: 2015
POST BACC STUDENTS
Mason Martin
Post-Bacc Fellow
Education:
University of Central Florida
Bachelor of Science (B.S)- Biomedical Sciences
INTERNS
Elizabeth (“Liz”) Lekah
Research Intern
Department of Chemistry
Education:
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
Major To-Be-Determined: 2024
COLLABORATORS
Taro Asaba
Eisai Co., Ltd.
Emarging Modality Generation
Discovery Evidence Generation Function, DHBL
Ryuichi Sekioka
Senior Researcher, Platform Sciences & Modalities
Discovery Intelligence, Applied Research & Operations
Astellas Pharma Inc.
Wataru Itano
Professional Scientific Collaborator
Current Position:
Neurology Tsukuba Research Department
Discovery, Medicine Creation, Neurology Business Group
Eisai Co., Ltd.
Education:
University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Ph.D., Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences: 2009
M.S., Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences: 2006
ALUMNI
Jessica (“Jess”) Bush
Graduate Student
The Scripps Research Institute
Skaggs Graduate School of Chemical and Biological Sciences
Education:
Albion College, Albion, MI
B.A., Biology & Biochemistry: 2018
Shruti Choudhary
Postdoctoral Associate
Current Position: Senior Research Scientific, Small Molecule Screening Center, UMass Chan Medical School
Education:
Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA
Ph.D., Medicinal Chemistry: 2017
University of Delhi, New Delhi, India
B.S., Pharmacy: 2009
Quentin Gibaut
Graduate Student
The Scripps Research Institute
Skaggs Graduate School of Chemical and Biological Sciences
Education:
University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK
M.Sc., Chemistry and Biochemistry: 2020
Sigma Clermont, Clermont-Ferrand, France
M.Sc. (Diplôme d’Ingénieur), Chemistry: 2020
IUT Lyon 1, Université Claude Bernard, Lyon, France
A.S. (D.U.T.), Chemistry: 2017
Yeongju Lee
Postdoctoral Associate
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Pusan National University (South Korea)
Education:
Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH)
Ph.D., Chemistry: 2019
B.S., Chemistry: 2014
Ni Li
Research Assistant IV
Education:
B.S., Chemistry; Ningbo University; 2005
M.S., Molecular Biology and Biochemistry; Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences: 2008
Martina Pedrini
Visiting Scholar
Education:
Currently visiting Ph.D. Candidate
Ph.D. Candidate, University of Milan, Italy
Blessy Suresh
Graduate Student
The Scripps Research Institute
Skaggs Graduate School of Chemical and Biological Sciences
Education:
National Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
Five-year M.S., Chemistry: 2017
Xiyuan Yao
Postdoctoral Associate
Education:
Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC
Ph.D., Chemistry: 2020
Tianjin Medical Unviersity, Tianjin, China
B.S., Pharmaceutical Sciences: 2014
Phillip Yesley
Lab Assistant I
Education:
The University Of Groningen, The Netherlands
B.S., Chemistry: 2018
Masters Chemistry: In-progress
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