Meet The Eddy Lab
Dr. Matthew Eddy
Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Affiliated Faculty of the National High Field Magnet Lab
Graduate Students
Kara Anazia
5th Year Student
Kara obtained her BA in chemistry from the University of Texas at Tyler in 2018. Kara carried out undergraduate research in the lab of Dr. Dustin Patterson’s where she studied applications of virus-like particles (VLPs) and protein cages in medicine. Currently she is interested in the application of NMR to study structures and dynamics of G protein-coupled receptors and their partner proteins. Kara enjoys music and loves to sing in her free time.
Naveen Thakur
5th Year Student
Naveen obtained his MS degree in Chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur in 2018. During his master's program training, Naveen focused on techniques in synthetic organic chemistry. Currently he is interested in investigating the role of membrane in conformational equilibria of GPCRs using solution NMR. In his free time, Naveen enjoys photography.
Beining (Kim) Jin
4th Year Student
Beining received her BA in Chemistry from Zhengzhou University, China, in 2018. As an undergraduate student, Beining worked on the synthesis of polymers and new methods to test approaches using alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and micro-RNA. Currently, she is interested in studying the structures and conformational dynamics of G protein-coupled receptors with NMR spectroscopy. Beining loves watching movies and listening to music in her free time.
Emma Mulry
4th Year Student
Emma obtained her BS in chemistry from Clemson University in 2019. During her undergraduate research, Emma worked with Dr. Leah Casabianca studying nanoparticle interactions with biological molecules using NMR. Currently she is interested in the application of NMR to study structures, dynamics, and functions of G protein-coupled receptors. Outside of the lab, Emma enjoys listening to music, traveling, and watching football.
Niloofar Gopal Pour
4th Year Student
Niloofar received her master's degree in Biotechnology from the University of Tehran in 2018. During her master's, she studied the structural and functional properties of a tuberculosis-related enzyme Pyrazinamidase. She is interested in understanding protein structure-function relationships and engineering biomolecular macromolecules to introduce new functions. Niloofar is applying these interests in her studies of human GPCRs and seeks to characterize the dynamics of GPCRs with NMR and single-molecule fluorescence. Niloofar is also an enthusiastic dancer, loves swimming and enjoys traveling all over the world.
Arka Prabha Ray
4th Year Student
Arka obtained his master's in Chemistry from IIT Kanpur, India in 2018. During his MS, he worked on establishing metallophillic interactions in porphyrin trimers. He also studied mechanisms of pHLIP insertion in membranes at CCMB, Hyderabad before joining the Eddy lab in 2019. Currently, he is interested in studying how the bulk properties of the membrane and lipid raft domains affect GPCR functioning and conformational equilibria. Outside the lab, Arka is a big Chelsea fan!
Anuradha Viraj Wijesekara (Viraj)
3rd Year Student
Viraj earned his B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, and his M.S. in Physical Chemistry from Iowa State University in 2020. During the master’s program, he used MAS Solid-State NMR spectroscopy to characterize solid pharmaceutical formulations. Currently, he is interested in studying the structure-function relationship of GPCRs in membrane mimetic systems. Viraj enjoys photography and cricket.
Enzo Petracco
3rd Year Student
Enzo graduated from a French food science engineering school (ENSCBP) specializing in chemistry and bioengineering. After this, he visited Dr. Ishino’s Lab at Kyushu University (Japan) working on the identification, heterologous expression and characterization of an EndoMS homolog protein from M.Kandleri. He further obtained a master's degree in Chemistry and biorefinery from the international program of the University of Lille (France). Through his master's degree, he did an internship in Dr. Allais' lab, URD-ABI, on the green synthesis of high-value compounds from bio-sourced molecules. Enzo was selected to be part of the Ph.D. program between URD-ABI (France) and the University of Florida (USA). Now he works in Dr. Eddy's Lab studying GPCRs through NMR spectroscopy for fragment-based drug design applications. Enzo is keen on Japan and its culture. He loves martial arts, football and esport.
Larissa O. Silva
2nd Year Student
Larissa received her bachelor's degrees in Chemistry and Economics from Williams College. During this time, she was a Gates Millennium Scholar and trained in several chemistry and biology research labs. Currently, she is training on an NIH T32 fellowship and is investigating the dynamic process of GPCR - G protein complex formation using PRE NMR experiments and single-molecule fluorescence experiments. Larissa enjoys reading, swimming in the Florida springs, and playing with her pet parrot Dexter and her dog Taika.
Nessa Pesaran Afsharian
2nd Year Student
Nessa obtained her master’s in biotechnology from University of Tehran, Iran in 2018. During her masters, she worked on engineering of immune system receptors using computational techniques such as MD simulation with the purpose of Cancer immunotherapy. She also worked on using biochemical, biophysical, and kinetic techniques to express, purify, characterize, and evaluate the kinetic activity of enzymes and non-enzymatic proteins before joining Eddy lab in 2022. Currently, she is interested in application of NMR and Single molecule fluorescence to study structure, function, and dynamics of GPCR and non-GPCR membrane proteins. Outside of lab, Nessa enjoys painting, and reading.
Sreyashi Das
1st Year Student
Sreyashi earned her M.Tech. degree in Bioengineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur in 2021. During her masters' program, Sreyashi worked on preparing hydrogel based transdermal therapeutic for the treatment of melanoma. Currently she is interested in studying the role of GPCR in cancer via using various biophysical techniques. In her free time, she enjoys reading books and practice mindfulness meditation techniques.
Undergraduate Researchers
Cate Richardson
Undergraduate Student
Cate is an undergraduate student at UF from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She is pursuing a major in biochemistry with a minor in theatre. She is training and collaborating with 5th-year graduate student Kara Anazia, studying the impact of disease-causing mutations on the function and structure of a human G protein. More specifically, they research the role Mg2+ plays in the process of G protein activation. Outside of the lab, Cate likes reading, painting, thrifting, and trying different coffee shops.
Gabriella Sprague (she/her)
Undergraduate Student
Gabi is an undergraduate student at UF pursuing a major in Chemistry. She is interested in utilizing NMR spectroscopy to investigate protein structure and function, as well as exploring the intersectionality of chemistry and biology. After graduation, Gabi plans to continue her education. Outside of the lab, Gabi loves to read, play guitar, find new music, and play tennis.