Former Members

Title	Current Position	History
M.S. and Ph.D. Student	Jennifer Y. Gerasimov Principal research engineer at Linkoping University	Jennifer received her Ph.D. degree from the Lai Lab in May 2013. She is currently a research engineer at Linkoping University in Sweden.Ph. D Thesis: “Design, characterization, and interrogation of surface-based electrochemical biosensors” (Spring 2013) M. S. Thesis: “Development of an electrochemical insulin sensor based on a high affinity DNA sequence found in the Insulin-linked polymorphic region” (Summer 2010)
Ph.D. Student	Socrates J. P. Cañete Senior scientist at Xylem, Inc.	Socrates received his Ph.D. degree from the Lai Lab in May 2013. He is currently a senior scientist at Xylem, Inc. in Yellow Springs, OH. Ph. D. Thesis: “Self-assembled monolayer tuning in electrochemical DNA sensor fabricated by “click” chemistry” (Spring 2013)
Ph.D. Student	Anita J. Zaitouna Research associate at Labcorp Drug Development	Anita received her Ph.D. degree from the Lai Lab in May 2015. She is currently a research associate at Labcorp Drug Development. Ph. D. Thesis: “Surface-based whole protein detection via electrochemical peptide-based sensors” (Spring 2015) Anita was featured in the Department of Chemistry recruiting video and the UNL media video. She is also featured on the Department of Chemistry website.
Ph.D. Student	Thomas G. Smith University of Minnesota NMR facility director	Thomas received his Ph.D. degree from the Lai Lab in Dec 2016. He was UIC Assistant Director at UNL for 6 years. He is currently the NMR Facility Director at the University of Minnesota. Ph. D. Thesis: “Electrochemical analysis of porphyrin paddlewheel frameworks, manganese oxide inverse-opal nanosheets, and tungsten trioxide electrodeposited onto graphene electrodes” (Fall 2016)
Ph.D. Student	Yao Wu Postdoc at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine	Yao received her Ph.D. degree from the Lai Lab in May 2017. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher in Netz Arroyo’s group at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Ph. D. Thesis: “Electrochemical methods for the analysis of DNA, metal ions and anti-cancer drugs” (Spring 2017)
Ph.D. Student	Arin L. Sutlief Research associate at Sweetwater Hemp Company	Arin received her Ph.D. degree from the Lai Lab in Dec 2017. She is currently a research associate at the Sweetwater Hemp Company in Pleasanton, NE. Ph. D. Thesis: “Electrochemical peptide-based biosensor for the detection of HIV p24” (Fall 2017)
Ph.D. Student	Hamid R. Lotfi Zadeh Zhad Analytical chemist at Cambrex	Hamid received his Ph.D. degree from the Lai Lab in May 2018. He is an R&D analytical chemist position at Cambrex. Ph.D. Thesis: “The role of metals in electrochemical sensors” (Spring 2018)
Ph.D. Student	Channing C. Stellato Assistant professor of chemistry and Dean of Academics at Little Priest Tribal College	Channing received her Ph.D. degree from the Lai Lab in May 2020. She is currently an assistant professor and also the Dean of Academics at Little Priest Tribal College in Winnebago, NE. Ph.D. Thesis: “Electrochemical peptide-based environmental sensors for the detection of uranium” (Spring 2020)
Ph.D. Student	Kenneth N. Hipp Assistant professor of chemistry at Nebraska Methodist College	Kenneth received his Ph.D. degree from the Lai Lab in Aug 2021. He is currently teaching chemistry at Nebraska Methodist College. Ph.D. Thesis: “Advancements in self-assembled monolayer-based sensing and surface modification technologies” (Summer 2021)
Ph.D. Student and Postdoc	Kayleigh A. McElveen Principal scientist at TAMKO Building Products	Kayleigh received her Ph.D. in May 2023 and was a Lai Lab postdoc on an NSRI/DTRA project from Aug 2023 to Apr 2024. She is currently a principal scientist at TAMKO Building Products. Ph.D. Thesis: “Design and fabrication of Fe(II) spin crossover molecular complexes for their applications in memory devices” (Spring 2023)
Ph.D. Student and Postdoc	Cody M. Schultz Chemistry lecturer at Crowder College	Cody received his Ph.D. in Aug 2023 and was a Lai Lab postdoc on an NSRI/DTRA project from Aug 2023 to Apr 2024. He is currently a chemistry lecturer at Crowder College. Ph.D. Thesis: “Characterization and design of electrochemical-based biosensors from metal ions to proteins” (Summer 2023)
M.S. Student	Cody S. Schaefer Research scientist at Agrium, Inc.	After receiving his MS degree from the Lai Lab in 2011, Cody is now working at Agrium, Inc. in Fairbury, NE. M. S. Thesis: “Design and characterization of a “click” chemistry-based electrochemical aptasensor for detection of vascular endothelial growth factor” (Spring 2011)
M.S. Student	Miles D. Mayer Adjunct professor of chemistry at Doane University	Miles received his MS degree in Summer 2016. He is currently an Adjunct Professor of Chemistry at Doane University. M. S. Thesis: “Effect of the redox label location on the performance of an electrochemical aptamer-based tumor necrosis factor alpha sensor” (Summer 2016)
M.S. Student	Korinne E. Erickson QC chemist at Highland Laboratories	Korinne received her MS degree in Fall 2021. She is currently a QC chemist at Highland Laboratories in Mount Angel, OR. M. S. Thesis: “Use of thiolated tetra-thymine and tetra-adenine as antifouling diluents in electrochemical peptide-based sensors” (Fall 2021)
M.S. Student	Binny Tamang Lincoln, NE	Binny received her MS degree in Summer 2024. She is currently in Lincoln, NE.
Ph.D. Student	Keegan McGill High school teacher	Keegan worked in the Lai Lab for 9 months on a U(VI) sensor project. He later obtained his high school teaching certificate from the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
REU Student	Joshua Blood Pharmacy manager at Vital Care Pharmacy Norfolk	After graduating from Hastings College in 2011, Josh attended the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Pharmacy. He graduated in 2015 and is currently the pharmacy manager at Vital Care Pharmacy Norfolk.
REU Student	Yamil M. Rodriguez Pharmacist	Yamil worked in the Lai Lab as an NSF REU (Chem) student in 2015. He graduated from the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez in Spring 2018 and completed his Pharm. D. at the University of Puerto Rico Pharmacy School in 2022. He is currently a pharmacist.
REU Student	Carlo Castillo Researcher at NIH NIAID	After working in the Lai Lab as an NSF REU (Chem) student in 2016, Carlo graduated with his B.S. degree from The Ohio State University in 2017, and he is currently a research fellow at NIH NIAID.
REU Student	Luisa A. Mayorga Senior consultant at Avanade	Luisa worked in the Lai Lab as an NSF REU (Chem) student in 2017, and she later graduated with her B.S. degree in Biochemistry in 2018 from St. Edward’s University. She received her M.S. degree from the University of Notre Dame (ESTEEM Program) in 2019 and is currently working at Avanade.
REU Student	Hailey Pruitt Undergraduate student at University of North Georgia-Gainesville	Hailey worked in the Lai Lab as an NSF REU (Chem) student in 2024. She is currently an undergraduate student at the University of North Georgia-Gainesville, and she plans to graduate with her BS degree in Chemistry in 2026.
REU Student	Margaret A. Elpers Graduate student at Cornell University	After working in the Lai Lab as an NSF REU (Nanohybrids) student in 2018, Maggie returned to Clemson University to continue her studies in Bioengineering. She graduated in Spring 2020 and joined the Ph.D. program in Biomedical Engineering at Cornell in Fall 2020. She is also a recipient of the 2020 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.
REU Student	Allison Esselman Graduate student at Vanderbilt University	After working in the Lai Lab as an NSF REU (Chem) student in 2019, Allison returned to Truman State University to continue her studies in Chemistry. She graduated in Spring 2021 and is currently a graduate student at Vanderbilt University.
REU Student	Avery McLain Post-bacc student at University of Chicago	After working in the Lai Lab as an NSF REU (MRSEC) student in 2019, Avery graduated from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in Spring 2020. She is currently enrolled in the Post-Baccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) at the University of Chicago.
REU Student	Stephen Lee Research scientist at Siemens Healthineers	Stephen was an NSF REU student in the Lai Lab in 2011. He received the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship in 2014. He received his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Stony Brook University in 2017 and is currently a research scientist at Siemens Healthineers.
UG Student	Adam McQuistan Solution lead & engineer at Mutual of Omaha	Adam received his bachelor’s degree from UNL in December 2012. He is currently a Solution Lead & Engineer at Mutual of Omaha.
UG Student	Gabriela Guerrero Florida	Gabriela worked in the Lai Lab as a visiting undergraduate student (CAPES program) in 2013. She received her MS degree in Biomedical Engineering from RWTH Aachen University in 2017. She is currently residing in Florida.
UG Student	Bryce Walker Pharmacist at Kohll’s Pharmacy	After receiving his BA degree in Chemistry from UNL in May 2013, Bryce attended the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Pharmacy. He received his Doctor of Pharmacy in May 2017 and is currently a pharmacist at Kohll’s Pharmacy.
UG Student	Kate Dvorak Medical scribe at Lincoln Pediatric Group	After working in the Lai Lab as a UCARE student from 2019 – 2021, Kate obtained her B.S. degree in Biochemistry in August 2021. She is currently a medical scribe at Lincoln Pediatric Group.
UG Student	Lee E. Korshoj Postdoc at UNMC	Lee received his BS degree in Chemical Engineering from UNL in 2014 and his Ph.D. in Biological Engineering from the University of Colorado-Boulder in 2020. He was also a recipient of the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Currently, he is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
UG Student	Clark Rowse Graduate student at UNL	Clark worked in the Lai Lab for 1 year as a UNL UCARE student. He graduated with his BS degree in Chemistry in Spring 2019 and worked at Celerion, Inc. for 3 years. He is currently a graduate student in the Department of Chemistry at UNL.
HS Teacher	Emily Dein Beatrice High School teacher	Emily worked in the Lai Lab as a MRSEC RET summer researcher in 2018 and 2019. She is currently a science instructor at Beatrice High School.
HS Student	Sarah Melton Graduate student at Columbia University	Sarah worked in the Lai Lab as a NE NCMN summer research student in 2018. She graduated from high school in May 2019 and completed her BS degree in Chemistry from the University of Chicago in 2023. She is currently a graduate student at Columbia University.
HS Student	Katrina Schwensen Undergraduate student at Vanderbilt University	Katrina worked in the Lai Lab as a NE NCMN summer research student in 2019. She graduated from Lincoln Southwest High School in May 2020 and is currently attending Vanderbilt University.
HS Student	Savannah L. Baker Graduate student at University of South Carolina	Savannah worked in the Lai Lab as a NE EPSCoR summer research student in 2016. She graduated from high school in 2017 and Northwest Missouri State University in 2021. She is currently an MS student in the Hazards and Vulnerability Resilience Institute at the University of South Carolina.
Postdoc	Weiwei Yang Associate professor at Harbin Institute of Technology, China	Weiwei worked in the Lai Lab for 3+ years as a postdoctoral researcher, and she is currently an Associate Professor at the Harbin Institute of Technology in China.
Postdoc	Sean Ehsan Salamifar Principal scientist at Bachem	Sean worked in the Lai Lab for 3.5 years as a postdoctoral researcher and at Streck, Inc. for 8 years. He is currently a principal scientist at Bachem Americas, Inc.
CSC Visiting Scholar	Lan Xu Associate professor at Southwest University, China	After working in the Lai Lab for 1 year as a China Scholarship Council awardee, Lan is now back to her own university – Southwest University, China.
CSC Visiting Scholar	Shuang Zhao Associate professor at Northeastern University, China	After working in the Lai Lab as a China Scholarship Council awardee (twice!), Shuang is now back to her own university – Northeastern University, China.
CSC Visiting Scholar	Zhi-gang “Andy” Yu Associate professor at Yangtze Normal University, China	After working in the Lai Lab from 2012 – 2013 and from 2015 – 2016 as a China Scholarship Council awardee, Andy is now back to his own university – Yangtze Normal University in Chongqing, China.