PEOPLE
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
CURRENT GROUP MEMBERS
Jessica Childs-Disney
Research Assistant Professor
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
Wan Gi Byun
Education:
Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
Ph.D., Discovery of small-molecule modulators of protein-RNA interactions for treating cancer and COVID-19: 2022
Takahiro Ishii
Education:
Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Japan
Ph.D., Engineering: 2024
Sandra Kovachka
Education:
UCA University Cote d’Azur, Nice, France
Ph.D., Medicinal Chemistry: 2023
Chungen Li
Education:
Ph. D. Medicinal Chemistry, Sichuan University, China, 2022
Alvaro Simba
Education:
University Catholic of Valencia San Vicente Martir, Spain
Ph.D., Drug Discovery & RNA Characterization: 2024
Kisu Sung
Education:
Seoul National University, Seoul
Ph.D., Medicinal Chemistry: 2024
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
GRADUATE STUDENTS
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
Jingsong Shan
Graduate Student
The Scripps Research Institute
Skaggs Graduate School of Chemical and Biological Sciences
Education:
Duke University, Durham, U.S.A
B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies: 2023
Duke Kunshan University, Kunshan, China
B.S. in Molecular Bioscience: 2023
Veronika Rajchin
Graduate Student
The Scripps Research Institute
Skaggs Graduate School of Chemical and Biological Sciences
Education:
The City College of New York, USA
B.S. in Science: 2022
Noah Springer
Graduate Student
The Scripps Research Institute
Skaggs Graduate School of Chemical and Biological Sciences
Education:
University of Notre Dame, U.S.A
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
Xueyi (“Sherry”) Yang
Graduate Student
The Scripps Research Institute
Skaggs Graduate School of Chemical and Biological Sciences
Education:
Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, U.S.A
B.S., Biochemistry: 2020
Jielei Wang
Graduate Student
The Scripps Research Institute
Skaggs Graduate School of Chemical and Biological Sciences
Education:
Imperial College London, UK
MSci Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry: 2023
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
n/a
Post-Baccalaureate Students
n/a
INTERNS
Rishi Chhiber
Research Intern
Education:
B.S in Biological and Physical Sciences, FAU Jupiter
Expected May 2026
Ryleigh Newman
Research Intern
Education:
B.S in Biochemistry, Data Science & Analytics Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, FAU
Kevin Wu
Kenan Fellows High School intern
Education:
AICE Diploma & High School Diploma, Park Vista Community High School
Expected May 2026