Team

Nick Pederson

Laboratory Specialist

Nick grew up in Hawaii where he spent his free time at the beach or open water swimming. He then moved to the Pacific Northwest where he attended Western Washington University. During his undergraduate degree, he developed an interest in the molecular basis of life. This sparked his curiosity towards biochemistry research where he investigated protein interactions. While living in Washington he determined that he wants to live by the mountains, and this is one of the reasons he relocated to Salt Lake City. Currently, he works with the Diehl Group investigating post translational modifications of DNA histones and the enzymes responsible for these modifications. Nick also loves the outdoors and spends his winters alpine skiing and summers long-distance backpacking.

Faheem

Graduate Student (Biological Chemistry Program)

Faheem grew up in Chennai, India, where he received his bachelor’s degree in pharmaceutical sciences. He then received his master’s degree in pharmaceutical chemistry from BITS Pilani, India. During his time at BITS Pilani, Faheem worked in the lab of Dr. Murugesan, where he designed and synthesized novel beta-carboline analogs as potential antileishmanial agents. He then joined as a research fellow in a covid-19 project, wherein he worked with a multi-disciplinary team to repurpose approved drugs for COVID-19. After moving to the University of Utah for his doctoral studies, he became fascinated with chemical biology and thus decided to work with Dr. Katharine Diehl. He currently uses chemical biology tools to study histone post-translational modifications. During his free time, Faheem loves to spend time outdoors, playing soccer, running, and hiking.

Francesca Levitas

Undergraduate Researcher

Zora

Organic Matter Field Analysis Specialist

Zora began collaborating with Prof. Diehl during the latter’s postdoctoral research at Princeton in 2016, though her primary focus has actually been to expand on Prof. Diehl’s PhD work in chemosensing. Specifically, Zora has been implementing an expansive program of practical sampling while refining a high-throughput analytic workflow that can be utilized in the field.

This involves pre-screening of an aerosolized fraction of the analyte by a highly parallelized array of receptors that each convert binding affinity into a contribution to a complex “fingerprint” pattern of electrical signals in a dedicated processing unit. If this pre-analysis detects, at a low threshold, any organic analyte component that could be viably used in an exothermic reaction, the entire sample is immediately ingested into a multi-stage, deconstructive analysis and utilization cycle lasting 12-24 hours. By 2019, this workflow had achieved unprecedented volumes of analyte intake, exceeding previously-understood theoretical limits for such a compact system.

Current research directions include application of the sampling process to the unique natural and artificial organics of the Salt Lake Valley as well as a meta-investigation into why the exterior dimensions of the analytic machinery appear to have expanded beyond their original design specifications.