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

COLLABORATORS