Graduate students

Yoongyeong (Joy) Baek (Fall 2023 – present)

yb334@drexel.edu

Joy earned her B.S. degree in Chemistry from Drexel University in 2023. Her research focuses on elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying membrane-mediated α-synuclein fibril polymorphism and investigating how structural variations contribute to distinct pathological outcomes, using a combination of spectroscopic and microscopic techniques.

Teshani Liyanaarachchige (Spring 2025 – present)

tl3234@drexel.edu

Teshani earned her BS degree in Chemistry from the University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka, in 2022. Her primary research focuses on investigating how heterotypic molecular interactions among amyloid-forming proteins, including α-synuclein, amyloid-β (Aβ), and tau, modulate amyloid fibril structural polymorphisms and drive multiple-etiology dementia

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Undergraduate students

Tarek Olabi (Biological Sciences. Fall 2023 – present)

to384@drexel.edu

Tarek is an undergraduate student majoring in Biological Sciences. He investigates how free-lipids alter the aggregation kinetics of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides and how different forms of aggregates induce membrane damages using fluorescence-based spectroscopic techniques.

Anna Gazzerro (Maryanoff Scholar, Chemistry. Summer 2025 – present)

amg632@drexel.edu

Anna is an undergraduate student in the Department of Chemistry. Her research focuses on α-synuclein/Aβ40 co-fibrils, particularly optimization of proteinase K digestion conditions to assess the stability of heteromolecular fibril forms.

Amrinder Singh (Biological Sciences. Fall 2025 – present)

as5757@drexel.edu

Amrinder is an undergraduate student majoring in Biological Sciences. He is working with Yoongyeong (Joy) Baek to assess the membrane binding affinities of α-synuclein monomers to various cellular mimetic membranes and to examine the membrane associations of α-synuclein fibrils.

Emily Vu (Health Sciences/Biological Sciences. Fall 2025 – present)

ev399@drexel.edu

Emily is an undergraduate student majoring in Health Science/Biological Sciences. She is involved in optimizing the PK digestion of fibrils with Anna Gazzerro. She is also working with Teshani Liyanaarachchige to study membrane disruptions caused by distinct forms of fibrils.

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Alumni