The Matson Group

Current Postdocs and Graduate Students

Dr. Santu Sarkar (sasarkar21@vt.edu)

  • Current Postdoctoral scholar
  • Ph.D. in Polymer Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science Education & Research
  • M.S. in Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology
  • B.S. in Chemistry, The University of Burdwan

Current Research Objectives:  H2S-releasing small molecules and polymers


Dr. Rajnish Kumar (rajnish@vt.edu)

  • Current Postdoctoral scholar
  • Ph.D. in Chemical Sciences, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology
  • M.S. in Chemistry, Patna University
  • B.S. in Chemistry, Magadh University

Current Research Objectives:  H2S-releasing materials


Sarah Swilley-Sanchez (sarahswilley@vt.edu)

Education:

  • Pursuing Ph.D. in Chemistry
  • B.S. in Polymer Science, The University of Southern Mississippi

Current Research Objectives: Synthesis of H2S releasing macromolecular systems


Zhao Li (zhaoli92@vt.edu)

Education:

  • Pursuing Ph.D. in Chemistry
  • M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering, University of Florida
  • B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering, Shandong University

Current Research Objectives: Synthesis of peptide-based materials


Abby Chinn (abigailchinn@vt.edu)

Education:

  • Pursuing Ph.D. in Chemistry
  • B.S. in Chemistry, Murray State University

Current Research Objectives: Synthesis of polymers containing polysaccharides and/or polypeptides


Clark Vu

Education:

  • Pursuing Ph.D. in Macromolecular Science and Engineering
  • M.S. in Chemical Engineering, the University of Florida
  • B.S. in Chemistry Engineering, the University of Texas at Austin

Current Research Objectives: Synthesis of bottlebrush polymers for novel applications


Anna Steele (aqsteele@vt.edu)

Education:

  • Pursuing Ph.D. in Chemistry
  • B.S. in Chemistry Engineering, UMass Amherst

Current Research Objectives: Synthesis of sustainable, degradable polymers


Ishani Sarkar (ishani@vt.edu)

Education:

  • Pursuing Ph.D. in Chemistry
  • M.S. in Medicinal Chemistry, Pune University
  • B.S. in Chemistry, University of Calcutta

Current Research Objectives: H2S-releasing small molecules


Daniela Samaniego (samaniegod@vt.edu)

Education:

  • Pursuing Ph.D. in Chemistry
  • B.S. in Chemistry, Wofford College

Current Research Objectives: Bottlebrush block-copolymer self-assembly


Michael Tetteh (tettehm@vt.edu)

Education:

  • Pursuing Ph.D. in Chemistry
  • M.S in Chemistry, East Tennessee State University
  • B.S. in Biochemistry, University of Cape Coast

Current Research Objectives: Synthesis of peptide based materials


Current Matson Group Undergraduate Students

Lucas Aparicio


Former Matson Group Graduate Students and Postdocs

Dr. Samantha Scannelli
Ph.D. in Chemistry, 2023

Dr. Yumeng “Jackie” Zhu
Ph.D. in Chemistry, 2023

Tamalika Paul

Tamalika is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in biomedical and veterinary sciences with co-advisors Prof. Vlaisavljevich and Prof. Allen at Virginia Tech.

Dr. Sarah Blosch
Ph.D. in Macromolecular Science and Engineering, 2022

Sarah is a research investigator working at Dupont on high performance materials.

Dr. Mohammed Alaboalirat
Ph.D. in Macromolecular Science and Engineering, 2022

Mohammed is working at Saudi Aramco focusing on polymers for use in crude oil emulsions.

Dr. Anastasia Volokhova
Ph.D. in Chemistry, 2022

Anastasia is a packaging R&D engineer working on photoresistant lamination at Intel.

Dr. Kearsley Dillon
Ph.D. in Chemistry, 2021

Kearsley is a senior R&D chemist at Afton Chemical.

Dr. Ryan Carrazzone
Ph.D. in Macromolecular Science and Engineering, 2021

Ryan is currently working at Intel as a packaging R&D engineer.

Dr. Yin Wang
Postdoctoral scholar, 2017-2020

Yin is now an associate professor at the School of Pharmacy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, focusing on developing supramolecular smart materials for drug delivery. Yin’s website here.

Jeffrey Weaver
M.S. in Chemistry, 2020

Dr. Kuljeet Kaur
Ph.D. in Chemsitry, 2019

Kuljeet is a postdoctoral researcher at EPFL, Switzerland, working on surface-grafted polymers. Her work focuses on understanding the properties of polymer brushes under aqueous conditions.

Dr. Mingjun Zhou
Ph.D. in Chemistry, 2019

Mingjun is currently a assistant professor at Yantai University in China.

Dr. Yun Qian
Ph.D. in Macromolecular Science and Engineering, 2019

Yun is a process development scientist at Levena Biopharma focusing on antibody drug conjugation.

Dr. Chadwick Powell
Ph.D. in Chemistry, 2019

Chad is a research scientist at Solvay Specialty Polymers working on high performance materials.

Dr. Kyle Arrington
Ph.D. in Chemistry, 2018

Kyle works at Intel focused on thermal material challenges in semiconductor assembly.

Dr. Jeff Foster
Ph.D. in Chemistry, 2017

After completing his Ph.D., Jeff spent three years as a postdoctoral fellow and group leader with Prof. Rachel O’Reilly at the University of Birmingham in the UK. He now works at Sandia National Labs in organic materials science.

Dr. Scott Radzinski
Ph.D. in Chemistry, 2017

Scott is a Senior Polymer Chemist at Secant Group focusing on improving the synthesis and properties of novel biomaterials for implantable medical devices as well as working on enhancing cell care products using material science.

Jennifer Carter
M.S. in Macromolecular Science and Engineering, 2015