Current Research Group

July 2025, in front of the Rideau Canal
Front row (left to right): Hang Pham, Cindy Klaus, Roberto Chica, Rui Guo, Niayesh Zarifi
Back row (left to right): Luiza Costa Borsa, Jean Roch Kouassi, Pavlo Ignatusha, Ben Smith, Juan Sebastian Alvarez

Graduate Students

 

Juan Sebastian Alvarez
M.Sc. candidate, University of Ottawa (2024/09-present)
B.A.Sc. Chemical Engineering, University of Calgary (2018-2022)
Hometown: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

NSERC CREATE Scholarship (2024-2026)

Research Project: De novo design of Michaelases

 

 

Rui Guo
Ph.D. candidate, University of Ottawa (2025/05-present)
M.Sc. Microbiology, Shandong University (2021-2024)
B.Sc. Bioengineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology (2017-2021)
Hometown: Zaozhuang, Shandong, China

Dr. Yu Scholarship for International Students (2025-2026)

Research Project: De novo design of aminotransferases

 

 

Jean Roch Kouassi
M.Sc. candidate, University of Ottawa (2024/01-present)
B.Sc. Biochemistry, University of Ottawa (2019-2023)
Hometown: Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire

NSERC CREATE Scholarship (2024-2026)

Research Project: Multistate CANVAS

 

 

Ben Smith
M.Sc. candidate, University of Ottawa (2024/05-present)
B.Sc. Biochemistry, University of Ottawa (2024)
Hometown: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

NSERC PGS-M Scholarship (2025-2026)
NSERC CREATE Scholarship (2024-2025)

Research Project: Integrating dynamics in de novo enzyme design

 

Postdoctoral Fellows

 

Amir Bunyat-zada
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Ottawa (2025/09-present)
Ph.D. Chemistry, Queen's University (2021-2025)
B.Sc. Chemistry, Queen's University (2017-2021)
Hometown: Baku, Azerbaijan

Research Project: De novo design of monooxygenases

 

 

Cindy Klaus
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Ottawa (2023/11-present)
Ph.D. Chemistry, Bielefeld University (2023)
M.Sc. Biology, ETH Zürich (2019)
B.Sc. Biology, ETH Zürich (2017)
Hometown: Zürich, Switzerland

SNSF Swiss Postdoctoral Fellowship (2025-2027)

Research Project: De novo design of enzymatic cycles

 

 

Hang Pham
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Ottawa (2022/07-present)
Ph.D. Biochemistry, Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (2022)
M.Sc. Biochemical Engineering, Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Toulouse (2014)
Hometown: Nha Trang, Vietnam

Research Project: Multistate enzyme design

Undergraduates

Luiza Costa Borsa
B.Sc. Biochemistry, University of Ottawa (2021-Present)
Hometown: Curitiba, Paraná, Brasil

Research Project: Directed evolution of a miniature GFP

 

 

Ahana Harsha B.Sc. Biology, University of Ottawa (2025-present) Hometown: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Research Project: Structural characterization of de novo enzymes

 

 

Johan Wehrstedt
B.Sc. Biochemistry, University of Ottawa (2022-present)
B.A.Sc Chemical Engineering, University of Ottawa (2022-present) Hometown: North Bay, Ontario, Canada

Research Project: Structural and functional characterization of computationally designed enzymes

 

 

Alumni

For a list of past members, click here.