Group Members
Professor Heather D. Maynard
Principal Investigator - maynard@chem.ucla.edu
Professor Heather Maynard is the Dr. Myung Ki Hong Professor in Polymer Science at UCLA. Maynard is a worldwide leader in the area of protein-polymer conjugates, which are important therapeutics for a variety of diseases. She develops new synthetic methods to make the materials, invents new polymers to improve properties such as stability, and demonstrates preclinical efficacy of her conjugates with an eye towards translation for human health. Maynard also works in the area of smart materials for precision medicine: materials that respond to disease states in the body. Maynard’s research and teaching have been recognized by numerous awards including the Macro UK Gold Medal for Outstanding Achievement, American Chemical Society Arthur Cope Scholar Award, Bioconjugate Chemistry Lectureship Award, Fulbright Specialist Award, Hanson-Dow Award for Excellence in Teaching, and the UCLA Student Development Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award. Maynard is both an American Chemical Society Polymer Chemistry and Polymer Materials: Science and Engineering Fellow. She is also an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), Leverhulme, Kavli Frontiers, and Royal Society of Chemistry Fellow and was a member of the United States Defense Science Study Group from 2016-2017. At UCLA Maynard serves as the Director of the National Institutes of Health funded Chemistry and Biology Interface Training Program, Co-Director of the National Science Foundation funded BioPACIFIC MIP, and as Associate Director of the California NanoSystems Institute. Maynard is also an Associate Editor of the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Maynard received her PhD from the California Institute of Technology and was an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral fellow at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH). Outside of the lab, Maynard enjoys running and lifting weights; reading science fiction books, especially space operas; and watching movies and baking shows.
Postdoctoral Researchers
Pedro Salas
Postdoctoral Researcher - qfb_pedrosalas@outlook.com
Pedro obtained a M.S. in polymer chemistry from the University National Autonomous of Mexico (UNAM) in 2015. Then, he moved to the University of Bordeaux at the Laboratory of organic polymers (LCPO) where he accomplished his PhD in 2021 under the supervision of Dr. Colin Bonduelle and Prof Pierre Verhaeghe, preparing antimicrobial polypeptoids as simplified analogues of antimicrobial peptides. In the same year he moved to UCLA, where he is working with Prof. Heather Maynard on polymer-protein conjugates for stabilization and self-immolation polymers. During his free time, he likes to swim, hike and watch TV shows eating pizza and popcorn.
Rajalakshmi Pallathery Sivasankaran
Postdoctoral Researcher - pspallathery@gmail.com
Rajalakshmi received B.Sc in Chemistry from Calicut University, India, in 2013 and M.Sc in Biotechnology from Cochin University of Science and Technology, India, in 2015. Then she moved to the Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad, India, to obtain her Ph.D. (Biomedical Engineering) in 2022 under Dr. Aravind Kumar Rengan. She worked on the synthesis of a hybrid nanosystem for cancer theranostic. In her free time, Rajalakshmi likes cooking and exploring new places.
Jungyoun James Cho
Postdoctoral Researcher – jcho@cnsi.ucla.edu
James received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Virginia in the spring of 2014 and an M.S. in Environmental Science and Engineering from POSTECH, South Korea (advised by Prof. Suk Bong Hong) in the spring of 2017. After receiving his M.S. degree, he served in the South Korean Marine Corps until the spring of 2019. After getting discharged, he moved to Sweden to obtain a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry at Stockholm University (advised by Prof. Xiaodong Zou). During his Ph.D. studies, James developed 3D electron diffraction (3D ED) and MicroED techniques to determine the structures of sub-micrometer sized crystals of various materials. Tired of the Swedish winter, James moved to SoCal to continue his postdoctoral studies at UCLA. James is developing 3D ED/MicroED and 4DSTEM techniques to gain structural insights of protein, polymer, and other soft materials. Outside the lab, he enjoys exploring the nature and reading the most boring books.
Graduate Students
Hayden Montgomery
Fifth-Year Graduate Student - hmontgomery@ucla.edu
Hayden received a B.S. in Biochemistry from UCLA in 2017 and performed research under Professor Hosea Nelson. She loved sunny LA so much that she decided to stay and work with Professor Maynard and Professor Spokoyny on developing transition-metal-mediated bioconjugation chemistry. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, baking, and spending time outside with her cats, Charlie and Asher.
Charlie’s Instagram: @char.babe
Mikayla Tan
Fifth-Year Graduate Student - mikaylatan18@g.ucla.edu
Mikayla received a B.S. in Chemistry from Saint Mary’s College and is a second year graduate student on the chemical biology track. Her research revolves around nanotherapeutics. Particularly, Mikayla is working towards improving the therapeutic delivery of phenylalanine ammonia lyase—better known as PAL. Outside of the lab, she enjoys going on runs, exercising at the gym, relaxing at the beach, reading mystery/thriller books, and cooking.
Grace Kunkel
Fifth-Year Graduate Student - gkunkel19@chem.ucla.edu
Grace was born and raised in Rochester, NY before heading to Michigan to attend Hope College, where she earned a B.S. in Chemistry. While at Hope, she studied the bottom-up synthesis of thermoelectric nanoparticles under Professor Mary Elizabeth Anderson. Grace heard the siren call of the west coast, so she continued on her way to UCLA in 2019, where she works in the Maynard lab on optimizing polymers with protein and drug payloads. In her free time, Grace enjoys unironically singing songs from Disney Channel Original Movies and convincing people she was gluten free before she moved to LA.
Billy Treacy
Fifth-Year Graduate Student - jtreacy@chem.ucla.edu
Billy received a B.S. in Chemistry and a B.A. in Mathematics from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2019. There, he worked under Dr. Marcey Waters and Dr. Michel Gagné investigating how peptide catalysts can be developed by exploiting non-covalent interactions. In 2020, Billy joined both the Maynard and Houk groups where he studies bioconjugation techniques both computationally and experimentally. Outside the lab, he enjoys going to concerts, playing any and all sports, and exploring the LA food scene.
Haillie Lower
Fourth-Year Graduate Student - haillie.lower@chem.ucla.edu
Haillie received a B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Florida in 2020. While at UF, she played Division I soccer for the Gators and conducted polymer research under Professor Daniel Savin examining how incorporation of mechanophores into thiol-ene thermosets enhances their toughness. She joined the Maynard group in 2021 and currently works on polymer excipients for protein stabilization. Outside the lab, she enjoys playing soccer, rock climbing, crochet, and tennis.
Ellie Puente
Fourth-Year Graduate Student - elliegpuente@chem.ucla.edu
Ellie received a B.S. in Chemistry from UC Riverside in 2020. There, she worked under Dr. Quan Cheng developing high-throughput screening for Multiple Sclerosis biomarkers. Ellie is a first-year graduate student on the chemical biology track. She is interested in therapeutics using protein-polymer conjugation. Outside the lab, she enjoys running at Will Rogers State Beach, reading, cooking new recipes, and traveling.
Katherine Snell
Third-Year Graduate Student - katiesnell@g.ucla.edu
Katie received a B.A. in Biochemistry from Claremont McKenna College in the spring of 2020. While in Claremont, she ran Cross Country and Track as a mid-distance athlete and worked in Professor Babak Sanii's self-assembly lab fabricating and characterizing flexible PDMS filaments with foldamer and sensor applications. After college, Katie took a gap year to teach middle school Chemistry and Algebra 1 at BASIS Phoenix in Arizona. Missing the California coast and her chemistry studies, she returned and began her graduate career at UCLA in the fall of 2021. In the Maynard group, Katie is interested in stimuli-responsive materials and protein-polymer conjugation. Outside of the lab, she enjoys reading and writing poetry, working out, and going to the beach.
Felix Fu
Third-Year Graduate Student - felixfu@chem.ucla.edu
Felix received a B.S. in chemistry from University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 2020. While at UIUC, he conducted research under Professor Jianjun Cheng researching the synthesis and applications of therapeutic polypeptides. Felix joined the Maynard group in 2021, his research focuses on novel self-immolative linker and bioconjugates. Outside the lab, he enjoys watching Lakers games and playing video games.
Ryan Lai
First-Year Graduate Student - ryanlai@g.ucla.edu
Ryan grew up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and he received a B.S. in Chemistry from Penn State University in 2023. There, he worked with Professor Jonathan Kuo on the synthesis of aza-quaternary centers using a Bronsted basic auxiliary. In 2023, Ryan moved out west to UCLA and joined the Maynard group. He currently works on creating degradable polymers derived from natural biomaterials. Outside the lab, he enjoys playing basketball, volleyball, backpacking/camping, traveling, and exploring LA.
Undergraduate Students
Brock Hosier
Fourth-Year Undergraduate - bmhosier@g.ucla.edu
Brock is a third year undergraduate student studying chemistry at UCLA. He joined the Maynard Group in 2022 and currently works on developing self-immolative protein-polymer conjugates as a form of nanotherapeutics. Outside the lab, Brock enjoys going to the gym, watching movies, going to concerts, and keeping up with UCLA basketball.