Current Emerson Stokes Research Group
Joseph P Emerson
Joseph P Emerson
Associate Professor
Department of Chemistry
Mississippi State University
jemerson at chemistry.msstate.edu
662.325.4633
Sean L Stokes
Sean L Stokes
Associate Clinical Professor
Department of Chemistry
Mississippi State University
sstokes at chemistry.msstate.edu
662.325.0174
Post-doctoral Research Fellow
Dr. Selvam Raju
Dr. Raju had received his M.Sc. in Chemistry (2011) from National Institute of Technology (NITK), India. In 2012, he joined as a chemistry lecture in Thiyagarajar College, India. Afterward, he moved to CSIR-CECRI, India as a Project Assistant (2013). He completed his Ph.D. in chemistry (December-2018) from NCTU/NYCU, Taiwan (ROC), under the supervision of Prof. S.-C. Chuang's. Later, he pursued a research assistant professor (post-doctoral) in the same group for 2.5 years (January 2019−July 2021). Since September 2021, he has been working in the ESRG at Mississippi State University, USA as a post-doctoral associate. His current research interests are focused on transition metals catalyzed/mediated C-H activation reaction, cycloaddition reaction, super-acid catalyzed reaction, and supramolecular chemistry.
Dr. Mitu Sharma
Mitu Sharma obtained her M.Sc. in chemistry (2015) from Gauhati University, India. She completed her Ph.D. in chemistry (January 2021) from Tezpur University, India, under the supervision of Prof. Nashreen S. Islam and co-supervision of Prof. M. Palaniandavar of Bharathidasan University. Since September 2021, she has been working as a Post-doctoral Associate in the ERSG at Mississippi State University. Her current research interests are focused on the synthesis and characterization of ligand based transition metal complexes and exploration of their biological and catalytic activity.
Graduate Students
Katie Dove Power
Katie Dove Power joined the ESRG as an incoming PhD student in the Summer of 2022. Power received a BS degree in Biochemistry and double minored in Molecular Biology and Chemistry from Colorado State University in May 2022. Her initial project is involved in targeted halogenation of aromatic molecules using flavin-dependent halogenases.
Seyed Erfan Masaeli
Erfan Masaeli joined the Emerson Stokes Research Group (ESRG) during the Spring 2022 semester after a brief stint in an analytical laboratory in the Department. Masaeli earned both a BS and MS degree from Shahid Beheshti University in 2021. Erfan's project is focused on developing new Lewis Acid-based catalytic systems for novel organic transformations under sustainable conditions.
Mohsen Teimouri
Moshen Teimouri joined the ESRG during the Spring 2022 as a Ph.D. student. Teimouri earned both a BS and MS degree from Islamic Azad University and Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in 2012 and 2015 respectively. Moshen’s project is focused on developing new transition metal catalytic systems for novel organic transformations under sustainable conditions.
Md Sydur Rahman
Md Sydur Rahman joined the ESRG during Fall 2021 semester. He has earned both a B.Sc and M.S. degree from University of Chittagong in 2009 & 2010. Then he has earned M.Phil degree from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in 2016. Sydur’s project is focused on studying metal-substituted carbonic anhydrases for novel asymmetric organic transformations.
Bhupendra Adhikari
Bhupendra Adhikari joined the ESRG as a PhD student in the Fall of 2021. Bhupendra hails from Nepal, where he earned his BS and MS degrees in Chemistry from Thibhuvan University. Bhupendra's project is focused on understanding how inductive and resonance effects of NHC complexes impact their ability to catalyze C-N bond forming reactions.
Alex Cutright
Alex Cutright joined the ESRG as a PhD student in the Summer of 2021. Cutright earned his BS in Biochemistry from Monmouth College (IL) in May 2021. As part of the ESRG his research is focused on metal-dependent transcription factors from S. pneumoniae.
Kyle R Carter
Kyle Carter joined the ESRG as a PhD student in the Summer of 2021. Carter earned his BS in Chemistry from the University of Tennessee-Martin in May 2021. As part of the ESRG (and jointly mentored by D. Zhang) his research is focused on optical spectroscopy applied to biological molecules.
Undergraduate Students
Erin Matthews
Erin is a pre-Med Biochemistry majorat MSU. She plans to complete her degree in the Sping 2024 semester. Erin is currently working to isolate and characterized a recombinant zinc(II) dependent transcription factor from S. pneumoniae.
Alison Duckworth
Alison is a Chemistry major with interested in synthesis and catalysis. She started in the group in January 2022 and has contributed to several copper(II) based catalytic projects in the group.
Emily Rouse
Emily is a Chemistry major at Lebannon Valley College and is working in the lab as part of an NSF funded REU program in the Departmetn. She is working on developing new earth abundant transition metal complexes towards asymmetric catalytic processes.
Mac Aulds
Mac is a Biomedical Engineering major with goals of attending medical school. He is expecting to complete his degree in May 2023. Currently Mac is working on developing new carbonic anhydrase inhibitors and related biophysical measurements.