Previous Members
- Dr. Balakishan Gorityala (2012-2016)
Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Gulshan Kumar completed his PhD under the supervision of Dr. Ravi Shankar at CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu, India, where he focused on organic synthesis and the medicinal chemistry of natural products, particularly the synthetic modification of Andrographolide for anticancer and antiviral properties. In the Schweizer Group, his research involves developing amphiphilic tobramycin and apramycin derivatives to enhance their synergy with β-lactam/β-lactamase inhibitor combinations against Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Mahesha Krishnappa obtained his PhD under the supervision of Dr. Rajeev Sakhuja at Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS Pilani), India. During the tenure of his PhD, he was actively involved in the synthesis and functionalization of the N-aryl-indazolone skeleton. In the Schweizer Group, his research involves developing amphiphilic gentamicin and sisomicin derivatives to enhance their synergy with β-lactam/β-lactamase inhibitor combinations against Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Debomita Bhattacharya received her PhD from the CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, India under the mentorship of Dr. Arindam Talukdar, where her research centered on structure-based drug design, specifically targeting the synthesis of inhibitors for epigenetic modulators. In the Schweizer Group, her work focuses on the development of novel unnatural aminoglycosides, aiming to discover potent antibacterial agents effective against Gram-negative bacteria.
PhD Candidate
Danzel Ramirez is a senior PhD candidate in the Schweizer Group. Her research involves the synthesis of polymyxin and aminoglycoside-based outer membrane permeabilizers, and the determination of synergistic adjuvant/antibiotic combinations active against clinically relevant multidrug-resistant Gram-negative pathogens.
PhD Candidate
Rajat Arora is an international PhD candidate from India. She completed her BSc in Chemistry from the University of Delhi and her MSc degree from NIT Hamirpur. She has previously worked in the field organometallic catalysis and organic synthesis. Her PhD research is based on the design and synthesis of cytotoxic compounds known as glycosylated antitumor ether lipids. In addition to carbohydrate synthesis, she conducts biological testing of samples against different epithelial cancer cell lines and patient samples.
PhD Student
Danyel Ramirez completed her BSc in Biochemistry and did her honours thesis under the supervision of Dr. Frank Schweizer at the University of Manitoba. Her undergraduate research involved the synthesis of proteolytically stable polybasic peptidomimetic outer membrane permeabilizers. Her PhD work involves the design and synthesis of noncytotoxic polymyxin derivatives as either standalone agents or as antibotic potentiators against multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria.
PhD Student
Christian Lozeau completed his BSc in Chemistry and did his honours thesis under the supervision of Dr. Bryan Hill and Dr. Eric Bushnell at Brandon University. He focused on molecular dynamics simulations and the synthesis of α,β-unsaturated sulfonamides as carbonic anhydrase inhibitors. In the Schweizer Group, his research involves the synthesis of amphiphilic nebramine analogs to restore the sensitivity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates to β-lactam antibiotics and β-lactam/β-lactamase inhibitor combinations, including P. aeruginosa that carry metallo-β-lactamases.