Joshua Payette

 Joshua Payette


Joshua Payette was born in Memphis, Tennessee and graduated from Wheaton College, Illinois in 2005 with a B.S. in Chemistry. In 2005 he joined the research group of Professor Hisashi Yamamoto at The University of Chicago. In 2010 he earned a PhD for his studies in chiral oxazaborolidinium catalyzed cycloaddition reactions. As a postdoctoral research associate in Professor Mohammad Movassaghi 's group at MIT, he is currently pursuing the total synthesis of alkaloid natural products.

Ryan Looper

 Ryan Looper


Ryan Looper was born in Banbury, England in 1976. He returned to the U.S. to attend Western Washington University where he earned a B.S. degree in Chemistry in 1998 and an M.S. degree in 1999 under the guidance of J. R. Vyvyan. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in 2004 at Colorado State University in the laboratories of R. M. Williams. After an NIH post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard University with S. L. Schreiber, he began his independent career at the University of Utah in 2007. He is primarily interested in the synthesis of complex natural products with biomedical significance.

Travis Haussener

 Travis Haussener


Travis Haussener was born in Elmira, NY in 1987. He attended The Pennsylvania State University where he earned a B.S. degree in chemistry in 2009. He is currently working on his Ph. D. at The University of Utah under the direction of Ryan Looper. Travis is interested in the total synthesis of Pactamycin. In his spare time he enjoys climbing, backcountry skiing, and running ultramarathons.

Ki Hyeok Kwon

Ki Hyeok Kwon


Ki Hyeok Kwon was born in 1976 in Seoul, Korea. He studied chemical engineering at the University of Seoul, where he received his B.S. degree in 2002 and M.S. degree in 2005 under the supervision of Prof. Do. W. Lee. After received his degree, he moved to Marquette University where he earned his Ph. D. degree in 2011 for the catalytic coupling reaction involving C-H bond activation under the guidance Dr. Chae S. Yi. He is now pursuing post-doctoral research in the group of Prof. Ryan Looper at the University of Utah. His research focuses on the synthesis and methodology development of complex molecules with biological activity.