OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
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Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Sciences
Dr. Johns earned her Ph.D. advised by Professor Tarek Sammakia at CU Boulder where she completed the total synthesis of (+)-dihydrocompactin via an intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction (IMDA) with remote asymmetric induction. She received an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellowship (Broadway on Beachside) for her research on antimycin A analogs for cancer under the direction of Professor Robert M. Williams at Colorado State University. After completing her postdoctoral training, she pursued a career in drug discovery research at Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis as a medicinal chemist. She rose to the rank of Sr. Scientist at Eli Lilly working on cancer drug discovery and was a member of the Fragment Based Drug Discovery team. She joined the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Oregon State University in 2014. Her research applies cutting-edge medicinal chemistry approaches to advance the discovery of therapeutics for infectious diseases, including Neglected Tropical Diseases.
Matthew is an undergraduate Chemistry major, with a Pre-med option at Oregon State University. Originally from Escalon California, he decided to move away from home to seek new opportunities which led toward an intrigue in chemistry. At Oregon State Matt is the President of the Chemistry Club on campus and maintains a job working roughly 20-30 hours a week. In the John's Lab Matt takes pride in refining commonly used lab skills and techniques such as but not limited to flash chromatography, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and preparing solvents in desired concentrations. Matt's goal for the John's lab is to be able to run independent experiments and be able to synthesize other Anti-Leishmanial analogs. Matt has aspirations to attend graduate school for organic chemistry to further broaden his knowledge and capabilities to someday become and research and development chemist.
Nik Garcia is a biochemistry and molecular biology student with a chemistry minor and pre-med option in Corvallis at Oregon State University. They earned both their associate's degree and EMT-basic licensure from Treasure Valley Community College in Ontario, Oregon. Nik is currently part of the OSU STEM Leaders program and has had the opportunity to work in the Johns Lab as a lab assistant. In the Johns lab, Nik contributed towards the research of synthesized organic compounds that are known to help ameliorate the harsh effects of Leishmaniasis.
Kendra Krebs is an undergraduate Microbiology major with a Chemistry minor and pre-med option at Oregon State University. She was born in Salem, Oregon and worked in the cosmetology industry until she chose to pursue her passion for science in 2013. In the Johns lab, Kendra is involved in the identification of AniA (a nitric oxide reductase) inhibitors using biophysical assays such as Biolayer Interferometry and STD-NMR to contribute to medicinal chemistry advances toward the discovery of new treatment options for gonorrhea. Kendra is currently serving as Co-President of the Pre-Student Osteopathic Medicine Association (Pre-SOMA) at Oregon State and was a recipient of the Summer Research Program scholarship through the Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine in 2018.
Makayla graduated with her bachelor's of science in chemistry degree in 2018 from Oregon State University. She was born and raised in Stayton, Oregon and transferred to Oregon State in 2017 to complete her degree. In the Johns lab, Makayla is involved in the research, synthesis and optimization of anti-Leishmanial benzothiophene analogs in order to improve efficacy and potency of compounds. Makayla is a member of the OSU Department of Chemistry softball team, she volunteers at the Samaritan Evergreen Hospice House, Santiam Hospital, and the Community Outreach medical clinic in Corvallis.
