The Aldrich Research Group

Principal Investigator

Dr. Courtney C. Aldrich is a Professor of Medicinal Chemistry, Director of the high-throughput screening (HTS) core within The Institute of Therapeutics Discovery and Development (ITDD), and a graduate faculty member of several interdisciplinary programs across the University. He has mentored more than 50 graduate students and postdoctoral scholars since beginning his independent lab in 2005 and all have gone onto productive careers in industry (Beckman-Coulter, Bristol-Myers-Squibb, Promega, Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Nektar Pharmaceuticals, Pharmaron, Sai Life Sciences, UCB Pharma, Encapsula Nanosciences, Novartis, Patheon, Loxo Oncology at Lilly) and academia (University of Texas at Arlington, Stetson University, Soochow University, Central China Normal University, Gitam University). Outside of lab, Dr. Aldrich enjoys biking, studying German and Japanese, and maintaining his 900 L saltwater aquarium with corals and pufferfish.

Courtney Aldrich, Ph.D

Professor, Department of Medicinal Chemistry and College of Pharmacy Director of High Throughput Screen, Institute of Therapeutics Discovery & Development Founding Editor in Chief, American Chemical Society Infectious Diseases

Postdoctoral Fellows

Qiang Liu, Ph.D

Postdoctoral Researcher

Qiang is a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Aldrich's lab. Qiang received Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Chongqing University (Chongqing, China) in 2019. He is currently working on the discovery of antibiotics targeting biotin synthesis and ligation. Outside of the lab, Qiang enjoys watching soccer.

Marzena Brinkman, Ph.D

Postdoctoral Researcher

Lab Manager

Gorakhnath Jackak , Ph.D

Postdoctoral Researcher

Gorakhnath is a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Aldrich’s lab. He received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry (Natural product synthesis and medicinal chemistry) from CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory (Pune, India) in 2019. He is currently working on the development of quinolines targeting the cell membrane of Gram-positive bacteria and discovery of inhibitors targeting the CoA-biosyntheis in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Outside of research, Gorakhnath enjoys watching cricket and Bollywood movies.

Subhankar Panda, Ph.D

Postdoctoral Researcher

Subhankar is a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Aldrich's lab. Subhankar received Ph.D. in chemistry from IIT Guwahati (Assam, India) in 2018. He is currently working on the discovery of novel antibiotics targeting the inhibition of siderophores biosynthesis in Mtb. Outside of the lab, Subhankar enjoys playing and watching football as well as spending time in nature photography.

Sachin Sharma, Ph.D

Postdoctoral Researcher

Kateryna Kostenkova, Ph.D

Postdoctoral Researcher

Kate is a postdoctoral researcher in the Aldrich lab. Kate received her B.S. in Chemistry with a minor in Biology from Whitworth University (Spokane, WA) in 2018, and her PhD in Inorganic and Organic Chemistry from Colorado State University (Fort Collins, CO) in 2023. She is currently working on the synthesis of rifamycin analogs. Outside of research, Kate enjoys rock climbing, running, cooking and bread making.

Graduate Students

Tsung-Yun (Kent) Wong

PhD Student

Kent is a fourth-year graduate student in the Aldrich Lab. He received a master's degree in pharmaceutical science from National Taiwan University in 2016. He is currently working on synthesizing Zinc metallophore of Mtb, BioA inhibitors, and SECRA2 modulators. Outside of the lab, he enjoys playing video games such as SMITE.

Nathan Dillman

PhD Student

Nathan Dillman is a first-year graduate student pursuing his Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry in the Aldrich Lab. He received his Bachelor's of Science in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of South Carolina in 2023. Currently, Nathan is working on the development of different Rifamycin derivatives with the goal of developing better treatments for various mycobacteria-related infections. Outside of the lab, he is an avid reader and snowboarder. 

Tian Lan

PhD Student

Tian is currently a sixth-year grad student in the Aldrich Lab. He received his bachelor’s degree with honors in chemical biology at Sun Yat-sen University in 2018, where he worked on the synthesis and computational modeling studies of small-molecule antidiabetic agents. He then started his graduate study in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Minnesota and joined the Aldrich Group in early 2019. He is currently working on the structural re-engineering of rifamycin antibiotics against drug-resistant mycobacteria using both strategies of synthetic chemistry and biosynthetic pathway engineering. Outside the lab, he enjoys watching movies, reading and sleeping. He also loves music and is currently a huge fan of the genres of dream pop and city pop.

Moyosore Orimoloye

PhD Student

Moyosore is a 5th year PhD Candidate in the Aldrich Lab. He received his Bachelor's degree in Pharmacy at the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria in 2016. He is currently working on the synthesis of Mycobacterial Siderophores and analogs thereof. Outside of the lab, he enjoys playing and watching football, reading, and writing.

Lucy Evans

PharmD Student

Lucy is a PharmD student in the Aldrich Lab. She has a B.S. in Biology with a minor in chemistry from Metropolitan State University and is a PharmD candidate class of 2024 pursuing a research emphasis at the University of Minnesota School of Pharmacy. She is currently working on manuscript writing and data collection from research experiments involving synthesis, purification and reaction optimization of a novel compound for proof of concept in Mycobacterium tuberculosis research. Outside of the lab she enjoys volunteering at the Phillips Neighborhood Clinic, gardening and long distance running. 

Sang Vo

MD-PhD Student

Sang is a 3rd year student in the Medical Scientist Training Program and an entering 1st year student in the Medicinal Chemistry Ph.D program. He is interested in the Chemical Biology research field with a focus in drug discovery. Prior to arriving at the University of Minnesota, Sang earned his bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from the University of Massachusetts-Boston in 2020. He is currently working on synthesizing pyrazinamide analogs and evaluating them in vitro. He enjoys reading non-fiction literature, watching college football, and is a white belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Past Members

Graduate Students

Kathryn M. Nelson

Carter Eiden

Joseph Buonomo

Matthew Bockman

Evan Alexander

John Schultz

Scott Brody

Pooja Hegde

Malcolm Cole

Peng Ge

POSTDOC AND VISITING SCHOLARS

Surendra Dawadi

Ce Shi

William D. Fiers

Zheng Liu

Feng Liu

Neeraj K Mishra

Kaja Berg

Jian-Hua Liang

Tej Narayan Poudel

Undergraduate

Mitchell Fuller

Kathleen Wang

Travis A. Hammerstad

Joseph Ahenkorah

Eric Hess

Will Piatt