Santos Group, Summer 2025
Fifth-year Graduate Students
Buchbinder, Nicklas
Email: nwbuch01@vt.edu
Nick was born in south eastern Michigan but grew up in Columbus, Ohio. His undergraduate studies were completed at the University of Louisville, under the supervision of Prof. Sachin Handa. Nick’s research interests include borylation methodology and medicinal chemistry. In his free time, Nick enjoys looking for wildlife and watching hockey.
Gwinn, Reilly
Email: reillyg08@vt.edu
Bio: Lafayette College
Krinos, Emily
Email: ekrinos@vt.edu
Bio: Westminster College
Third-year Graduate Students
Dupuis, Matthew
Email: mpdupuis@vt.edu
Matthew Dupuis is a third-year PhD candidate. He completed his undergraduate studies at Mount Allison University in Canada, where he conducted research under the supervision of Dr. Stephen Westcott synthesizing a novel borylphosphine reagent. His current research at Virginia Tech focuses on developing novel antifungal and antibacterial compounds.
Hernandez, Mario
Email: hdezmario02@vt.edu
Mario was born in California but has lived in Dobson, North Carolina the vast majority of his life. He graduated from NC State University with a B.S. in Chemistry and a minor in biological sciences. His prior research experience involves working in Prof. Yi Xiao’s lab working on dye aptamers. In the Santos lab, he is on the Spns2 project developing various heterocycles for the treatment of acute kidney injury. Outside of lab, you’ll find him sleeping, driving around aimlessly, or yelling at his TV watching F1 and college sports!
Khoi, Mai
Email: khoimai@vt.edu
Bio: University of Science, Vietnam
Rodgers, Justin
Email: justinrodgers@vt.edu
Bio: Newberry College
Second-year Graduate Students
Fields, Rei
Email: reifields@vt.edu
Rei was born in Yokohama, Japan and moved with her family to Des Moines, Iowa in 2005. She received a B.A. in chemistry and B.S. in psychology from Iowa State University in 2024. During her undergraduate career, she worked under Dr. Brett VanVeller on the incorporation of thioamides and thioimidates in peptide synthesis. During her time in graduate school, Rei became an advisor for the Virginia Tech chapter (Eta Epsilon) of Gamma Phi Beta. When she is not in lab, she is with her dog, Tofu.
First-year Graduate Students
Curley, Carolyn
Email: curleyc@vt.edu
Carolyn earned her B.Sc. in Biochemistry from the University of New England, where she conducted research under Dr. Amy M. Deveau on the synthesis of antimicrobial compounds. After graduation, she worked in the laboratory of Dr. Eva Rose M. Balog, developing recombinant analyte-responsive polymers. She later gained industry experience in antibody purification and bioconjugation for molecular diagnostics before pursuing a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry. Carolyn grew up in New England and enjoys outdoor activities, playing ice hockey, and reading in her free time.
Doan, Quoc Hoai Nam
Email: namdoan@vt.edu
Nam completed his undergraduate and master’s degrees in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), where he gained research experience in developing anticancer and antimicrobial agents. He started his PhD journey at Virginia Tech working on the Spns2 inhibitor project.
Paul, Mackenzie
Email: mackenziep@vt.edu
Kenzie was born in Orlando, FL but grew up in Overland Park, KS. She studied chemistry with a minor in mathematics at Winthrop University, located just south of Charlotte, NC. Kenzie researched under Dr. Aaron Hartel doing pedagogy and methodology research. Her research interests include medicinal chemistry and chemical biology. Kenzie enjoys a good trip to TJMaxx and trying different flavors of coffee.
Postdoctoral Research Associates
Hagen, James Tyler
Email: jtylerhagen@vt.edu
Bio: East Carolina University
Research Scientists
Ramkrishna, Laha
Email: ramkrishna@vt.edu
Bio: Rutgers University
Undergraduate Researchers
Burgoa, David
Email: dburgoa1335@vt.edu
David is a Junior at Virginia Tech majoring in Medicinal Chemistry and Biochemistry with a minor in Japanese Studies. He joined the lab as an undergraduate researcher in January of 2025 and plans to continue pursuing research past graduation. He also likes to play guitar and does fencing on campus.
Hawkins, Deija
Email: deijah@vt.edu
Matamoros, Roman
Email: romanm06@vt.edu
Roman Matamoros is a second-year undergraduate researcher at Virginia Tech. He is majoring in Biochemistry and has a minor in Public Health. With Matthew Dupuis as his mentor, his research primarily aims to discover novel antifungal compounds.
Campbell, Keegan
Email: keeganese@vt.edu
My name is Keegan Campbell, I’m a junior pursuing a dual degree in biochemistry and medicinal chemistry. I specialize in organic synthesis and drug discovery while wanting to explore rare disease research in graduate school.