Principal Investigator
Hedieh Torabifard
Education
Post-doctoral Fellow, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor,MI 2017-2020
Ph.D. in Chemistry, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 2012-2017
M.Sc. in Chemistry, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran 2009-2011
B.Sc. in Chemistry, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran 2004-2008
Graduate Students
Tejas Shah
Tejas received his B.Sc. (Chemistry) and M.Sc. (Organic Chemistry) from India. He joined UT Dallas in 2019 with his research focused on the development of Biodegradable Polymeric materials for anticancer drug delivery. Shortly after working with experimental chemistry, he developed an interest to explore the possibility to amalgam his studies with computational chemistry and Molecular Dynamics (MD). In the Torabifard lab, Tejas’s research is focused on determining the properties and mechanisms of the Drug Delivery carrier. Tejas enjoys cooking, listening to music, and reading in his free time.
Sahar Heidari
Sahar received her BS in Chemistry and MS in Analytical Chemistry from Shiraz University, Iran where her research was in spectroscopy, bioanalytical chemistry, and protein interactions. In her Master’s project she became familiar with some computational methods, making her enthusiastic about this field. Currently her research is focused on developing polarizable force fields for fatty acid based Ionic Liquids.
Fernando Montalvillo Ortega
Fernando is from Valladolid, Spain and obtained his BS in Chemistry with a Biochemistry Track from The University of Texas Permian Basin in 2021. He has always wanted to be a researcher because he can put his effort and knowledge into helping people. He won the Best Freshwater Science Poster award for his research when he presented it at the annual Texas Academy of Science Conference. He enjoys spending time with his friends and travelling and loves soccer.
Rakhat Alakenova
Rakhat graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry from Kyrgyz National University in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. During her Master’s Degree in Physics at Kyrgyz Russian Slavic University, she analyzed humic acid’s adsorption and solvation properties in water-electrolyte systems. Then, she studied abroad and obtained a Master’s Degree in Chemistry from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poland, where she investigated the spectroscopic and photophysical properties of flavin derivatives. Afterward, for nine months, she was involved in a project in Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology in Spain. Currently, she is pursuing her Ph.D. studies at UTD and has joined the Torabifard research group. And she is so excited to work in a computational lab.
Daniel Relix
Daniel never thought he would find himself working in a computational lab. However, while pursuing his BS in Chemistry at UT Dallas, he became fascinated with the ways in which computational chemistry can be leveraged to solve complex chemical problems. Prior to his time at UT Dallas, Daniel had industry experience with pharmaceuticals which fostered an interest in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. Now, he is working to obtain his Ph.D. from UTD. In the Torabifard Lab, Daniel is working on the design of bio-based ionic liquids.
Undergraduate Students
Alexandra Goldman
Alex has been pursuing her Bachelor of Science in chemistry at UT Dallas since 2021. In the Torabifard lab, she is currently working on the BRAC1/BARD1-UbcH5C project.
Abigail Frank
Abigail is pursuing her B.S. in Biochemistry with an expected Minor in Mathematics at UT-Dallas. She is interested in analyzing how mathematics can be used to accurately describe physical and biological phenomenon through interdisciplinary approaches. Currently, Abigail is working on extending the Torabifard Lab’s insights into the CLC protein family by investigating the unique selectivity of the nitrate/proton antiporter AtCLCa and its relationship to both CLCF and CLC-ec1. Outside of the lab, she is a violinist with UT-Dallas’ orchestral ensemble Musica Nova and enjoys spending time with family and friends.
Past members and Visitors:
- Dr. Kira Mills (PhD, now at Samba Scientific)
- Dr. Dineli T.S. Ranathunga(Post-doc, now at Thermo Fisher Scientific)
- Abiola Akintayo (MSc student, now at PPD Thermo Fischer Scientific)
- Linh Pham (undergrad student)
- Zabin Momin (undergrad student)
- Andre Sae (undergrad student)
- Vijval Nataraja (undergrad student, Clark Scholar)
- Aru Chezhian (undergrad student)