Scripps Research’s Skaggs Graduate School awards doctoral degrees to 34th graduating class

Scripps Research’s Skaggs Graduate School of Chemical and Biological Sciences awarded doctoral degrees to 49 graduate students during the institute’s 34^th commencement on May 15, 2026. The ceremony also featured the conferral of honorary degrees to two notable researchers who have left an indelible mark on their fields of study and the training of generations of scientists.

Opening the ceremony and welcoming the assembled graduates, faculty and supporters, Keary M. Engle, PhD, the John and Susan Diekman Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, framed the day’s celebration in the context of the Skaggs Graduate School’s recent top rankings by U.S. News & World Report.

“Rankings are not our goal, however they do reflect our mission, which is to recruit, train, mentor and launch the best young scientists in the world who will go on to shape a new era of science,” said Engle. “Collectively, we’re changing what is possible in science and medicine through a commitment to basic science research in an environment that encourages and accelerates translation. The students whose stories you’ll hear about today stood at the bench alongside us over the last several years working tirelessly toward this goal.”

After describing many of the skills that graduates were required to master and hurdles overcome on their path toward a doctoral degree, Engle concluded his remarks by encouraging the 49 new alumni to apply their talents toward making a positive impact in areas of great need.

“Right now, more than ever, the world needs people who are trained to ask hard questions, demand rigorous evidence and remain curious and optimistic,” said Engle. “As you leave here today, carry this with you. You are trained at one of the finest scientific institutions in the world. You’ll now join the ranks of hundreds of alumni who are leading drug discovery programs, founding biotech companies, shaping science policy, teaching at universities around the world, and so much more. The problems worth solving ahead of you won’t be easy, but you are not here because you’ve chosen an easy path. You’re here because you’re exactly the type of scientist the world needs to solve hard problems.”

Before introducing the ceremony’s keynote speaker, Scripps Research President and CEO Pete Schultz, PhD, the L.S. “Sam” Skaggs Presidential Chair, addressed the graduating students with several words of advice. Among his encouragements, he urged the graduates to use their training and talent to leave a positive impact on the world.

“I’ve been doing science for quite some time, and I never viewed it as a job. I actually view it as a privilege,” said Schultz. “Our privilege is to explore science and the world around us. But with that privilege comes a huge obligation to give back to the society that enables us to do what we love.” 

Prior to the introduction of the graduating students, Schultz welcomed the ceremony’s guest speaker, noted chemist Peter Dervan, PhD, an emeritus faculty member at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and pioneer in the field of chemical biology, who gave the keynote address. After Schultz’s introduction, Dervan shared his confidence in the assembled graduates.

“A commencement speaker often gives a few bits of wisdom collected along the way, but I don’t have to worry about this group, Pete, because I think they’ve figured it out,” said Dervan, turning to the graduates. “Work on important problems. Swing for the fences. Take risks, and as Pete said, failure is great. It teaches us, it makes us stronger, refines us. Be a nice person in the lab. Collaboration accelerates the journey. Be a learner, and then pay it forward; be a mentor to others. But, this is the most important one, and it’s going to be the most important one now—ethics are important. Integrity of self and data are sacred.”

After the conferral of the graduating students’ doctoral degrees, Schultz returned to the stage to grant two honorary degrees: one to Dervan and another to Scripps Research faculty member and noted structural biologist Professor Ian Wilson. Wilson has been an active participant in the institute’s graduate program since its inception in 1989, and worked closely with the institute’s then-president Richard Lerner, MD to design and launch the program. Wilson served as advisor and mentor to the first graduate student to receive a doctoral degree from Scripps Research.

“Ian has contributed enormously, not only to Scripps, but also to science and to medicine, and it’s a real pleasure to confer upon him an honorary degree,” said Schultz. 

With Friday’s commencement, the number of alumni of Scripps Research’s doctoral program increased to nearly 1,100. Many of this year’s graduates are extending their doctoral training into new research areas as postdoctoral scholars at universities while others are launching their careers with positions at pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Others will apply their knowledge and experience to different career paths entirely, including public policy, venture capital, patent law and education.

Profiles of many of this year’s graduates and a recording of the full ceremony can be viewed on the institute’s 2026 Graduation webpage, scripps.edu/graduation.

About the Skaggs Graduate School

Ranked among the top 10 doctoral programs of its kind in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, the Skaggs Graduate School of Chemical and Biological Sciences at Scripps Research offers rigorous training in chemistry, chemical biology, neuroscience, immunology, computational biology, and numerous other biomedical research disciplines. The program immerses students in intensive laboratory research while offering a customizable course curriculum that allows students to match individual research interests while exploring multidisciplinary topics at the interface of chemistry and biology.

Skaggs Graduate School of Chemical and Biological Sciences 2026 Graduating Class

• Lauren Alysse Alexandrescu, PhD
  Advisors: Danielle Grotjahn, PhD and Gabriel Lander, PhD
  Dissertation: Macromolecular Machines In Motion: Insights from Long-Timescale Molecular Dynamics and Time-Resolved Cryo-EM
• Rubens Almeida Tavora, PhD
  Advisor: Susana Valente, PhD
  Dissertation: Efforts Towards the “Block-and-Lock” Strategy for Curing HIV
• Eric Michael Bilotta, PhD
  Advisor: Michael Erb, PhD
  Dissertation: Small Molecule Discovery to Modulate Transcriptional Co-Regulatory Proteins
• Sharidan Brown, PhD
  Advisor: Andrew Ward, PhD
  Dissertation: Identification and Characterization of Anti-Immune Complex Antibodies Elicited by HIV Env Immunogens
• Niccolò Bruciaferri, PhD
  Advisor: Stefano Forli
  Dissertation: Drug Discovery Towards Uncharted Targets: A Computational Framework
• Trever R. Carter, PhD
  Advisor: Michael Erb, PhD
  Dissertation: Chemical Reprogramming of Ligand Function: High-Throughput Diversification Toward Neopharmacology
• Ya-Ting Chang, PhD
  Advisor: Danielle Grotjahn, PhD
  Dissertation: Quantitative Cellular Cryo-ET Reveals Stress-Dependent Remodeling of Mitochondrial Protein Import and Defines New Membrane Microenvironments
• Chu-Ting Chang, PhD
  Advisor: Kirill Martemyanov, PhD
  Dissertation: Defining Extracellular Interactions of Metabotropic Glutamate Receptors
• Chia-Yu Chen, PhD
  Advisor: Jin-Quan Yu, PhD
  Dissertation: Proximity-Induced C(sp³)–H Activation Mediated by Hydrogen Bonding and Conformational Control
• Tzu-Yuan Chiu, PhD
  Advisor: Christopher Parker, PhD
  Dissertation: Chemoproteomic Development of Small Molecule Modulators of Inflammatory Cytokines
• Tiffany Chu, PhD
  Advisors: Luke Lairson, PhD and Ryan Shenvi, PhD
  Dissertation: I. Butenolide Heterodimers in Synthesis and cGAS-STING Pathway Inhibition; II. Target Identification of cGAS-STING Pathway Inhibitors Using Chemical Biology Approaches
• Christina Megan Clark, PhD
  Advisor: Michael Petrascheck, PhD
  Dissertation: Investigations into the Metabolic Side-Effects of Approved Drugs Using Caenorhabditis elegans as a Model
• Jessica N. Coppola, PhD
  Advisors: Dennis Burton, PhD and Joseph Jardine, PhD
  Dissertation: Optimizing Antibody-based Prophylaxis through Immune Synergy and Engineering
• Sarah R. Dallo, PhD
  Advisor: Luiz Pedro Sorio de Carvalho, PhD
  Dissertation: Ligand Engagement in Mycobacterial Enzymes that Inactivate Small Molecules
• Mario de Leon, PhD
  Advisor: John Yates III, PhD
  Dissertation: PicoPODS: High-throughput Single-Cell Encapsulation Technology for Proteomic Analysis
• R. Justice Fleischmann III, PhD
  Advisor: Travis Young, PhD
  Dissertation: Design, Engineering, and Advancements in T cell-Centric Cancer Immunotherapy
• Lucas Leo Fluegel, PhD
  Advisor: Ben Shen, PhD
  Dissertation: Exploring Natural Product Biosynthesis Across Scales: From One Biosynthetic Pathway to Many
• Kaushik Ram Ganapathy, PhD
  Advisors: Ali Torkamani, PhD and Chunlei Wu, PhD
  Dissertation: Computational Frameworks for Improved Interpretability of Allele Specific Expression Data
• Kefei Gao, PhD
  Advisor: Peng Wu, PhD
  Dissertation: Pro-Tumorigenic Immature and Transitional NK Cells Drive Tumor Progression in a TNF-α-Dependent Manner
• Patricia Ann Hahn, PhD
  Advisor: Mauricio Martins, PhD
  Dissertation: Immune Activation in HIV Pathogenesis and Cure: From Risk Factors to Barriers in Therapeutic Intervention
• Janet Joy, PhD
  Advisor: Andrew Su, PhD
  Dissertation: Integrative Approaches for Biomedical Discovery using Gene Expression Complementarity and Knowledge Augmented AI Models
• Robin Russo Kobylski, PhD
  Advisors: Kendall Nettles, PhD and Laura Solt, PhD
  Dissertation: Ligand Modulation of Steroid Receptor Signaling: Mechanisms of Allostery, Crosstalk, and Selectivity
• Kuang-Ting Kuo, PhD
  Advisor: Patrick Griffin, PhD
  Dissertation: Next Generation PPARγ Modulators: Therapeutic Potential and Structure-Function Insights in Metabolic Disorders
• Hao Li, PhD
  Advisor: Michael Farzan, PhD
  Dissertation: Enhancing the Immunogenicity of HIV-1 Envelope Glycoprotein Trimers via Cytoplasmic Modifications
• Zhongrui Li, PhD
  Advisor: Chi-Huey Wong, PhD
  Dissertation: 2-Deoxyglycosylations with Controllable Reactivity and Stereoselectivity
• Daniel Maria Lima Vilela Bader, PhD
  Advisors: William Schief, PhD and Andrew Ward, PhD
  Dissertation: An HIV Vaccine Design Strategy for Priming Class-Specific Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies Targeting the CD4-binding Site
• Xiaohe Lin, PhD
  Advisor: Ian Wilson, DPhil., DSc., FRS, FRSE
  Dissertation: Structural and Computational Strategies for Vaccine Immunogen Validation and Monoclonal Antibody Discovery Against HIV and Influenza
• Garrett L. Lindsey, PhD
  Advisor: Benjamin Cravatt, PhD
  Dissertation: Remodeling Transcriptomes with Covalent Small Molecules Targeting the RNA-Binding Protein NONO
• Matthew David Mann, PhD
  Advisor: Patrick Griffin, PhD
  Dissertation: Integrative Structural and Functional Analysis to Dissect Progesterone Receptor Regulation and Chromatin Engagement in Breast Cancer
• Abeera Mehmood, PhD
  Advisors: Howard Hang, PhD and Alejandra Mendoza, PhD
  Dissertation: T-bet Expressing B cells are Key Determinants of Protective Immunity Against Norovirus Infection
• Kenna Kelley Nagy, PhD
  Advisor: Luc Teyton, MD, PhD
  Dissertation: Therapeutic Anti-Glycan Antibodies for Antibiotic Resistant Staphylococcus aureus
• Changran Niu, PhD
  Advisor: Baoji Xu, PhD
  Dissertation: Regulation of Protein Synthesis in Glial Cells and its Role in Sexual Dimorphism of Autism
• Sarah May Norman, PhD
  Advisor: Jeffery Kelly, PhD
  Dissertation: Electrophiles as Tools for Protein Targeting: Applications in Inverse Drug Discovery and ¹⁹F NMR Studies
• Yuxin Ouyang, PhD
  Advisor: Jin-Quan Yu, PhD
  Dissertation: Enantioselective C–H Functionalization of Native Amides: Construction and Diversification of Chiral Methyl Stereocenters
• Ryan Andrew Pak, PhD
  Advisor: Ardem Patapoutian, PhD
  Dissertation: An Unexpected Journey: CRISPRa Screening for Novel Sensory Receptors Reveals Complex Tannins Inhibit PIEZO2
• D. Quang Phan, PhD
  Advisor: Jin-Quan Yu, PhD
  Dissertation: Enantioselective C(sp³)–H Functionalizations of Native Amides and Free Carboxylic Acids
• Grace Ann Pixton, PhD
  Advisors: William Schief, PhD and Dennis Burton, PhD
  Dissertation: Initiating Glycan-Promiscuous Broadly Neutralizing Antibody Precursors to Advance the Development of a Protective HIV Vaccine
• Tianbo Qi, PhD
  Advisor: Li Ye, PhD
  Dissertation: Top-Down Regulation of Feeding Microstructure
• Abigail Emma Reeves, PhD
  Advisor: Mia Huang, PhD
  Dissertation: Capturing the Dynamic Placental Proteome and Galectin-3 Interactome Using Proximity Labeling
• Alex Lynne Rerick, PhD
  Advisor: Phil Baran, PhD
  Dissertation: Radical Strategies to Enable the Convergent Syntheses of Cyclodammaranes and Serratenes
• Yanmeng Nina Shi, PhD
  Advisor: Xiaohua Wu, PhD
  Dissertation: Mechanism and Regulation of Alternative DNA Double-Strand Break Repair
• Juntao Sun, PhD
  Advisor: Keary Engle, PhD
  Dissertation: Generation and Functionalization of C(sp²)–Palladium and Copper Intermediates: Catalysis and Organometallic Study
• Ishan Taneja, PhD
  Advisor: Stefano Forli, PhD
  Dissertation: Computational Methods for Sampling Alternative Protein Conformations and Modeling Desolvation Upon Protein-Ligand Binding
• Eileen Tang, PhD
  Advisor: Luke Lairson, PhD
  Dissertation: Chemical Biology Approaches to Target Tumor Cells Through Drug Combination and Cancer Immunotherapy-Based Systems
• Ana P. Verduzco Espinoza, PhD
  Advisor: Hollis Cline, PhD
  Dissertation: On the Impact of APOE4 and Inflammation in Microglia-Neuron Signaling
• Nicholas William Villarino, PhD
  Advisor: Ardem Patapoutian, PhD
  Dissertation: FM 1-43-Guided Identification of the First Natural and Synthetic PIEZO2 Modulators
• Xinpei Yue, PhD
  Advisor: Baoji Xu, PhD
  Dissertation: Neural Circuits of BDNF-Expressing Paraventricular Hypothalamic Neurons in the Regulation of Energy Balance
• Zijun Zhang, PhD
  Advisor: Jin-Quan Yu, PhD
  Dissertation: Cu-catalyzed Redox-Neutral Transformations Based on Radical Relays of Amidyl Radicals Generated from N-methoxyamides
• Chuanping Zhao, PhD
  Advisor: Kirill Martemyanov, PhD
  Dissertation: Defining the GPCR Landscape of Photoreceptors