Graduate Students:
Jiaming Hu, Ph.D. Candidate
Jiaming’s research focuses on utilizing artificial intelligence-driven techniques to discover novel drug candidates with large-scale data. One of Jiaming’s ongoing projects involves integrating multimodal data and developing a deep neural network model for classifying understudied kinase activity and predicting potential small molecule inhibitors, which holds great promise for advancing future disease therapies.
Rabia Khurshid, Ph.D. Candidate
Beronica A. Ocasio, Ph.D. Candidate
Maddison Rose Marshall, Ph.D. Candidate
I am a PhD student in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology department, with affiliation and collaborations within the University of Miami’s Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology department and Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. Dr. Stephen Schurer is my co-mentor, along with Dr. Daniel Pelaez; together, they oversee my research in both computational and wet-lab approaches. My graduate research project revolves around characterizing specific ligand interactions and kinase domain activation of Ephrin Receptors, the largest class of Receptor Tyrosine Kinases. Specifically, I study how dysregulation of this pathway is connected to the onset of optic neuropathies and how these receptors may be leveraged for therapeutic intervention. The ambiguity of these receptors in mammalian adulthood requires me to use a variety of methods to address our research questions, including computational structure modeling, in silico drug design, development of novel cellular-based screening platforms, in vivo models for optic neuropathies, and other experimental methods that seek to examine ligand binding and resulting phosphorylation states.
Catherine Glenny Pescov, Ph.D. Candidate
As a Pharmacology doctoral candidate, Catherine’s research focus centers on elucidating inhibitors for the BUB1B kinase, a pivotal molecular entity implicated in the pathogenesis of prostate cancer. Leveraging sophisticated machine learning techniques coupled with advanced protein modeling methodologies, my overarching objective is to identify novel therapeutic candidates targeting this kinase for clinical intervention. Additionally, Catherine is actively involved in the ongoing development and curation of two critical ontological frameworks within the biomedical domain: the Drug Target Ontology (DTO) and the BioAssay Ontology (BAO). These ontologies serve as essential resources for categorizing and organizing intricate biological and pharmacological information, facilitating streamlined data integration and knowledge dissemination across scientific communities. Further advancing her expertise, Catherine us slated to undertake an immersive internship experience at Eli Lilly in Indianapolis during the forthcoming fall of 2024. During this internship, Catherine will collaborate closely with the esteemed drug development team at Eli Lilly, gaining invaluable insights into the intricate process of translating cutting-edge scientific discoveries into clinically impactful therapeutic interventions.
Joseph Micahel Schulz, Ph.D. Candidate
Joseph is currently working on in silico methods to optimize the design of the linker domain connecting the warhead and ligase recruiter of PROTACs. Prior to joining the Schurer lab, Joseph did work on natural product synthesis at Rollins College, earning a degree in Chemistry, after which i followed that up with a master’s in neuroscience from UCF, where he had the opportunity to investigate new models for Alzheimer’s Disease using induced pluripotent stem cells (IPSCs). In addition, Joseph is a lead educator for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute where i have the opportunity to teach a class on nutrition to local communities in the Miami-Dade area, and a lead educator for Mindful Diabetes Inc, the only nonprofit focusing on preventing the progression of type 2 to type 3 diabetes. Through this platform, Joseph is able to educate people about the risks associated with lifestyle and ways we can proactively prevent cognitive decline in our daily lives by making simple changes. .
Post-Doctoral Associates:
Staff Scientists:
Dr. Saurabh Mehta, Ph.D., Associate Scientist
Dr. Mehta’s research interests include Synthetic Organic and Medicinal Chemistry, Natural Products, Cheminformatics, Chemical and Systems Biology, and Anticancer Drug Discovery. Dr. Mehta’s research work involves the design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of small molecule inhibitors for Protein Arginine Methyltransferases (PRMTs), particularly PRMT4, also known as Coactivator Associated Arginine Methyltransferase 1 (CARM1). Previously he was a tenured Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Chemistry, Delhi Technological University, Delhi, India (July 2010 – Jan. 2023), where he taught students from engineering and science backgrounds, and performed research on the development of new synthetic methods for medicinally important heterocyclic compounds. Dr. Mehta was a visiting researcher (2014-15) at the Center for Computational Science (CCS), University of Miami, where I obtained training in the areas of Structure Based Drug Design and contributed to the development of the Drug Target Ontology (DTO). Dr. Mehta obtained his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, USA (2004-2009). He previously obtained my M.Phil. (Industrial Methods of Chemical Analysis) from Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, India (2001) and also previously worked in the pharmaceutical industry for approximately 3 years.
Dr. Dušica Vidović, Ph.D., Lead Scientist
Dr. Dušica 
Vidović joined the Chemoinformatics team in September 2008. Previously, she was a Research Associate at The Scripps Research Institute and The Computer-Chemistry Centrum in the field of chemoinformatics. Dr. Vidović has experience in HTS data analysis, structure-based and ligand-based drug design, homology modeling, docking and scoring, virtual screening, pharmacophore modeling, lead optimization, ADMET modeling, QSAR/QSPR prediction, physicochemical properties prediction, topological indices. She received her PhD degree in chemistry from the University of Kragujevac (Kragujevac, Serbia). Fun Fact: Dusica can jump 6ft lengthwise.
Dr. Vasileios Stathias, Ph.D., Assistant Director
Dr. Stathias 
was born in Athens, Greece and his fascination with the study of genetics lead him to apply to the Miller School of Medicine for his graduate studies in Human Genetics. During this time, he incorporated both wet lab and computational work under the tutelage of Dr. Nagi Ayad and co-mentor Dr. Stephan Schürer. Vas was integral in developing a glioblastoma synergy assay using LINCS data to identify combination drug treatments to enhance activity and avoid resistance. He recently joined the Schürer lab for a post-doctoral fellowship where he is continuing this work to develop a platform for predicting synergy combinations in multiple cancer cell models. Vas enjoys being active and is a proud member of the Brickell run club.
Dr. Nicolette Christa Ross, Ph. D., Assit. Scientist
Dr. Feng Yangbo, Ph.D., Research Associate Professor
Former Members:
Afoma C. Umeano M.D./PhD Candidate
John T. Turner, PhD
Derek J Essegian, M.D./PhD
Tanya T. Kelley, PhD
Magdaela Przydział, PhD