Group

Artemis Bosveli

Artemis studied chemistry in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece). Before her graduation in 2017, she completed an internship at Bayer AG in Wuppertal (Germany) in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Organic Synthesis under the supervision of Dr. Hartmut Schirok. In the 2017-2019 period, she performed her M.Sc. degree in the ‘’Isolation and Synthesis of Natural Products with Biological Activity’’ program of the Chemistry Department at the University of Crete (Greece). During her master thesis she involved with materials chemistry under the supervision of Prof. Pantelis N. Trikalitis. In 2019, Artemis started her doctoral studies in the same department, under the supervision of Prof. Georgios Vassilikogiannakis, working on new photocatalytic methodologies. The main subject of her thesis was focused on the synthesis of heterocyclic N-containing compounds using sustainable processes. In September 2023, she joined the Gouverneur group as a postdoctoral researcher. In her free time, Artemis enjoys travelling, watching movies and meeting with friends.

Zijun Chen

Zijun Chen did her MChem at Merton College before joining the VG group; investigating the reconstruction of 31P spectroscopic imaging in vivo in her Part II project.  Her DPhil was focused on the copper-mediated radiosynthesis of ¹⁸F- and ¹²³I-radiolabelled PARP inhibitors. She enjoys powerlifting and running in her free time. 

Michael Doyle

Michael completed his graduate studies in September 2024 at the University of Alberta working under the supervision of Prof. Rylan Lundgren. During his PhD he worked on developing new methods for carbon isotope exchange in organic acids, with a focus on (ir)reversible carboxylation reactions under thermal and photocatalytic conditions. He also investigated the metal-catalyzed enantioselective allylic benzylation of tertiary electrophiles to prepare acyclic small molecule targets bearing stereogenic quaternary carbon centers. He briefly worked in the isotope chemistry lab at Sanofi Germany in the spring of 2023 under the supervision of Dr. Volker Derdau, preparing enantioenriched carbon-14 labeled amino acids in a single step from their native precursors. In October 2024, he joined the Gouverneur group as an NSERC postdoctoral fellow. Outside of the laboratory, Mike likes to spend time with his family (wife Leanne and kitten Ronald), watch American football, play golf, and is an aspiring scuba diver.

Joseph Ford

Joe grew up in Reading and graduated with First Class honours in Chemistry from the University of Oxford in 2019. During the summer of 2018 he worked in the lab of Prof. Tobias Ritter, Max Planck Institut für Kohlenforschung, on the late stage trifluoromethylation of arenes, followed by his Part II year in the Gouverneur Group, where he worked on organocatalytic nucleophilic fluorination. He joined the SBM CDT in September 2019 and completed a rotation in the Duarte group, before rejoining the Gouverneur group in July 2020. In his spare time, he enjoys travelling, going to the pub and trying to speak German.

Chris Goult

Chris is originally from Bradford and moved to the University of York for his MChem degree. During his final year project, he worked on the outer-sphere electrophilic fluorination of organometallic ruthenium complexes. After completing his undergraduate study, he completed his PhD working with Prof Jason Lynam and Dr John Slattery using solid-state NMR spectroscopy, in tandem with computational chemistry, to characterise and interpret metal-carbon bonding in organometallic species. After completing his PhD, he has undertaken post-doctoral studies with Prof Duncan Bruce on the direct preparation of cyclo-aurated liquid crystalline complexes using microwave activation. He then completed further post-doctoral studies with Dr Luke Wilkinson, working on the preparation of quadruply bonded dimolybdenum paddlewheel complexes and their functionalisation and assembly into conductive continuous materials. He joined the Gouverneur research group in January 2023. In my free time he enjoys walking, wildlife, and whisky. 

Thomas Hohmann

Thomas completed his undergraduate studies in Chemistry at Freie Universität Berlin, specialising in synthetic organic chemistry. Intrigued by the potential of fluorine chemistry, he pursued doctoral research at the same institution under the supervision of Prof. Beate Koksch starting in February 2020. During his PhD, he transitioned to peptide chemistry, working with highly fluorinated peptide models, and exploring fluorine-directed peptide-peptide interactions. In April 2024, Thomas joined the Gouverneur group as a postdoctoral researcher. Outside the laboratory, Thomas enjoys travelling, watching movies, diving into books, and German beer. 

Anirban Mondal

Dr Anirban Mondal grew up in Kolkata, the city of joy in the eastern part of India. He then did his master's thesis at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, under the supervision of Prof. Debabrata Maiti and Rodney A. Fernandes. During his master's research, he studied "Directing group-assisted meta- and para-C-H functionalization of arenes by different template-based assembly" and "Total synthesis of the antitumor agent asteriscunolide." In 2016, he joined the group of Prof. Ben L. Feringa, 2016 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, at the University of Groningen for his doctoral research. His PhD thesis is specialized in various chirality transfer processes in the development of chemically driven molecular machines and asymmetric catalysis. After completing his PhD and a short stay in the Feringa group as guest researcher, he joined the Gouverneur group in 2022 as Postdoctoral Research Associate, in the field of asymmetric fluorination. In his spare time, he likes to meet with others, play cricket, and solve crystal structures.

Adeline Poh

Adeline completed her MChem degree at the University of Durham, working on responsive paramagnetic rare earth complexes for magnetic resonance spectroscopy under the supervision of Prof. David Parker. Adeline was presented with the A*STAR International Pre- Graduate Award and spent the summer of 2017 in Singapore on a project involving the synthesis of a potential PET tracer for the imaging of hepatocellular carcinoma under the guidance of Dr. Edward Robins. In January 2019, Adeline joined the Davis and Gouverneur groups as a DPhil student at Wolfson College. Outside the lab, she enjoys yoga, baking and travelling.

Thomas Schlatzer

Thomas completed his undergraduate studies in Chemistry at the Graz University of Technology (Austria). During this time, he gained experience in materials science working on bioactive polymers at PCCL as well as in synthetic organic chemistry in the course of his Master studies focused on water-soluble phosphorus ligands. In 2017, he started his doctoral studies under the supervision of Prof. Rolf Breinbauer working on the development of chemo- and regioselective S-allylations based on palladium-catalysis. In collaboration with Prof. Christian F. W. Becker (University of Vienna), this methodology was extended as a bioconjugation strategy for the labelling and post-translational modification of cysteines within peptides and proteins. Since April 2022, Thomas is working as a postdoctoral research associate in the Gouverneur Group at the University of Oxford. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, skiing and travelling.

Alan Wortman

Alan is originally from College Station, Texas. He began studying chemistry at Texas A&M University where he performed research under Prof. David Powers investigating hypervalent iodine species as catalytic intermediates for oxidative reactions. During his undergraduate studies, he also worked briefly in the lab of Prof. Tobias Ritter at the Max Planck Institut für Kohlenforschung developing new methods for trifluoromethylation using aryl thianthrenium salts.  After completing his B.S., he moved to the University of Michigan where he completed his Ph.D. studies with Prof. Corey Stephenson investigating the development of high-throughput technologies for enabling flow photochemistry. In September 2024, Alan joined the Gouverneur group as a postdoctoral researcher where he will be studying new methods for radiolabeling. Outside of the laboratory, Alan enjoys running, photography, and going to concerts.

Claire Dooley

Claire grew up in London and completed her MChem degree at the University of Leeds. During her final year in 2020 she worked on the design and synthesis of small molecule inhibitors of TRPC5 channel as therapeutics for cardiovascular diseases under the supervision of Dr Visuvanathar Sridharan and Dr Richard Foster. During her undergraduate degree Claire also completed an industrial placement at Reckitt Benckiser working as an analyst and formulation scientist for the Strepsils brand. Claire joined the Gouverneur group in October 2020- DPhil in organic chemistry in collaboration with Astrazeneca. Claires hobbies include travelling (pre-covid), going to the pub with friends, running and cooking. 

Ella Ogilvy

Ella grew up in Glasgow and completed an MChem, graduating in 2021 from the University of Edinburgh. During her time in Edinburgh, she was a summer student in the group of Prof. Guy Lloyd-Jones working on the synthesis of fluorinated photo-switches. Her final year was spent at ETH Zürich under the supervision of Prof. Peter Chen working on experimental gas-phase and DFT methods to investigate Cu-catalysed C-H carboxylations using CO2. Prior to this, in 2018, she worked in the lab of Prof. Hermann Wegner at Justus-Liebig University, Giessen synthesising phthalazine derivatives for use in redox flow batteries. Ella joined the Gouverneur group in October 2021 to begin her DPhil in Organic Chemistry. When not in the lab, Ella enjoys playing in orchestras, baking, and hiking. 

Sebastiano Ortalli

Sebastiano completed his BSc in Pharmaceutical Chemistry at Queen Mary University of London in 2019. His Bachelor’s project was conducted under the supervision of Dr Lesley Howell and focused on the synthesis of positive allosteric modulators of the 5-HT_2C receptor as a potential therapy for obesity. Following graduation, he joined the research group of Prof Maria Luisa Gelmi at the University of Milan, where he worked on the synthesis of small peptide derivatives designed for electrospinning along with the stereoselective synthesis of dual α-hydroxy-b-amino acid derivatives. Sebatiano joined the Gouverneur group in October 2020 to begin his DPhil in Organic Chemistry. In his free time, Sebastiano enjoys traveling, hiking and playing the guitar.

Calum Patel

Calum is from Dudley, West Midlands and recently completed his Master’s degree in Chemistry at Imperial College London under the supervision of Prof. Anthony Barrett. After a summer research placement under the supervision of Prof. Jennifer Love at the University of British Columbia, Calum undertook a twelve-month internship at F. Hoffmann La Roche in Basel. Having experienced the synthetic challenges of late-stage fluorination in drug discovery at Roche, Calum has a keen interest in the development of novel fluorination methods. Calum joined the SBM CDT in September 2020 and completed a rotation in computational chemistry in the Duarte group, before joining the Gouverneur group in May 2021. Outside the lab you can find Calum at the gym, cooking for friends or enjoying a G&T. 

Gabija Poskaite

Gabija grew up in Vilnius, Lithuania and completed her MChem degree at the University of Southampton in 2021. During the summer of 2019 Gabija worked on synthesis of fluorinated carbohydrates under the supervision of Prof. Bruno Linclau, which led to her final year project on SRI-FESTA (selective-reverse INEPT fluorine-edited selective TOCSY acquisition) NMR utilisation for equilibrating mixtures of significant relevance in medicinal chemistry and chemical biology. She joined the Gouverneur group in October 2021. Gabija’s hobbies include exploring specialty coffee, playing board games and contract bridge.

Xiaoyun Wang

Xiaoyun (Claire) completed her BSc in Chemistry at Imperial College London. She did her BSc project under the supervision of Prof. Oscar Ces on Giant Unilamellar Vesicles. In October 2019, she joined the VG group to start her DPhil in Organic Chemistry. Claire enjoys music and plays the violin. She performs, teaches and plays the violin in orchestras.

Tom Watts

Tom completed an MSci in Chemistry (International Programme) at UCL, UK, spending his 3rd year at the University of Toronto with Prof Robert Batey on synthesis of allyic carbamates. He was awarded a EPSRC research bursary to undertake summer research with Dr Tom Sheppard (UCL). His MSci project focused on a range of noble metals and copper to directly arylate azulene and other derivatives. Tom was the runner up at the SCI Undergraduate Organic Symposium in June 2017. Tom likes to spend his time reading about/discussing international affairs and global relations with a focus on US and Middle Eastern politics. Alongside a passion for making and drinking cocktails he also enjoys playing badminton.

Caleb Doyle

Caleb grew up in Liverpool and completed his MSci in Chemistry at the University of Nottingham, graduating in 2022. His final year project, under the supervision of Dr James Dowden, focused on developing a concise synthesis to a novel opioid scaffold. Caleb also completed a year-long industry placement at GW Pharmaceuticals in 2020/21, synthesising cannabinoids with potential anti-epileptic activity. He extended his placement to work in the botanical branch of GW, developing novel cannabis extraction techniques. Caleb joined the Gouverneur group in August 2022 to begin his DPhil in Organic Chemistry. In his free time, Caleb enjoys woodcarving, cooking, and repairing and restoring tools, antiques, and other curios.

Yongyi Guo

Yongyi completed her BEng in Applied Chemistry at Shanghai University in 2020. Her bachelor’s project was about the synthesis of perfluoroalkylated heterocyclic derivatives under the supervision of Prof. Weiguo Cao. During her master’s degree at the University of Edinburgh, she took the research project on the synthesis of hexafluoroisopropanol derivatives by Ruppert-Prakash reagent under the supervision of Dr Andrés García Domínguez and Prof. Guy Lloyd-Jones. Yongyi will join the VG group to begin her DPhil in Organic Chemistry in January 2022. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, travelling, hiking and reading.

Job Struijs

Job completed his bachelor's and master's degree at the Eindhoven University of Technology. Before starting his master thesis, Job completed a summer exchange programme working on the synthesis, chain-end modification, and characterization of well-defined poly(acrylic acid)s in the groups of Prof. Craig J. Hawker and Prof. Javier Read de Alaniz (UCSB) in collaboration with Dow Chemical. His master thesis research was competed in Prof. Emiel Hensen’s group, and concerned low-concentration and low-temperature CO2 hydrogenation on reducible oxide supports. Besides chemistry, he enjoys meeting friends, playing the saxophone, mountain biking and playing tennis or squash.

Nicolas Charalambous

After 2 years of military service, Nicolas completed his bachelor's degree in chemistry at the university of St Andrews. There, he joined the group of Prof. Rebecca Goss, working on a novel detection method of halogenated amino acids utilising fluorescent probes. Following work as a spectroscopist for a year, he undertook a traineeship at the German Oncology Centre in his native Cyprus, where he developed a keen interest in positron emission tomography and radiopharmaceutical chemistry. He returned to St Andrews for his master's degree under Prof. David O'Hagan, focusing on the development of novel ¹⁸F-fluorinated A_2A adenosine receptor agonists for PET imaging. In 2023 he joined the Gouverneur group as a DPhil student to further pursue his interest in radiolabelling. Outside the lab, Nicolas can be found at a tennis court or teaching a cooking class. 

Zian Wang

Zian grew up in China and completed his BA and MSc degrees at the University of Cambridge. During the summer of 2022, Zian worked on the photoredox synthesis of tetrahydro-naphthyridines under the supervision of Prof Matthew Gaunt. He remained in the same research group for his Master's project, working towards primary amine homologation via deaminative radical generation. Zian joined the Gouverneur group in October 2023 to begin his DPhil in Organic Chemistry. In his spare time, Zian enjoys orchestral music, travelling, and reading.

Robert Douglas 

Robert completed his MChem at the University of Manchester in 2024, undertaking his project with Dr Darren Willcox looking at iron phosphino-borane complexes, having previously undertaken a year in industry at Mitsubishi Chemical Group in Redcar, where he looked at new sustainable routes to the production of methyl methacrylate. He will be working on a joint project with the Aldridge group as part of the new IMAT CDT.

Theodore Jefferson 

Theodore (Teddy) grew up in the United States of America, where he completed his B.S. in Chemistry: Synthesis and Chemical Biology at the University of Texas at Austin. There, he held multiple teaching appointments and studied both transition metal catalysed organic methods under Prof. Kami Hull and physical organic chemistry under Prof. Eric Anslyn. His undergraduate dissertation focused on a copper catalysed three-component carboamination of vinylcyclopropanes, and he also helped develop a rhodium catalysed tandem reaction of diallyl ethers to yield α,β-disubstituted amides & esters. With his primary interest being the pharmaceutical applications of organic chemistry, Teddy is interested in leveraging physical organic analysis to develop novel fluorination methods. To that end, Teddy joined the Gouverneur group in October 2024 to pursue his DPhil (Ph.D.) in Organic Chemistry. When he isn't in the lab, you can find Teddy playing Chopin on the piano, having a cold brew or coffee liqueur (depending on the time of day!), and missing his corgi Mari back home. He is also the #1 Evelynn player in the North American superserver on League of Legends.

Columbus Layton

Columbus did his MChem at Oxford as an undergraduate at Jesus College. He completed his Part II in 2024 in the Gouverneur group. He returned to the group later that year to begin his DPhil, still working on sustainable chemistry, moving down the road to Magdalen College. In his free time, he can be found by the river, (still) rowing for Jesus College Boat Club. He also enjoys dancing salsa, cooking, and baking desserts for his friends. 

Maddison Lovell

Maddison is from Bath, Somerset and received her MChem degree from the University of St Andrews. This included an external placement year at GSK, Stevenage, working as a synthetic chemist in the chemical modalities department. Maddison was supervised by Prof. Allan Watson for her final year masters project, working on the development of an asymmetric photocatalytic cross coupling using styrene boronic acids. After this, Maddison stayed in the Watson group for a summer placement, working on Chan-Lam couplings of benzoxaboroles. Maddison joined the SBM CDT in 2023, and completed her first rotation in the Willis group. In her spare time, Maddison enjoys going to the gym, cooking and spending time with friends.

Adam Sikorjak

Melina Tschopp

Melina grew up in Zug, a small canton in Switzerland, and completed both her Bachelor’s and Master’s in chemistry at the University of Bern in the group of Prof. Eva Hevia. During her time there, she investigated the catalytic deuterium incorporation into small molecules using organosodium reagents. She then joined the IMAT CDT in 2024. Outside of the lab, Melina enjoys iceskating and spending time with friends and family.

Arnau R. Sugranyes

Arnau is originally from Tarragona, a coastal city in southern Catalonia. He obtained his bachelors degree in chemistry from Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Tarragona), where he graduated at the top of his class in 2020. In his final year, he studied at the University of Edinburgh for one semester and he later joined the Lloyd-Jones group to study the mechanism of a C–H silylation reaction by R₃SiCF₃ reagents as part of his final year project. In 2020, he joined the Echavarren group at ICIQ to carry out his master thesis on the generation of Rh(II)-alkynylcarbenes by aromative decarbenation. He stayed in the group to pursue his doctoral studies, working on the development and mechanistic study of Au(I)-catalyzed reactions. In June 2024, he joined the Gouverneur group as a visiting PhD student. In his free time, Arnau enjoys reading, watching TV shows and attending classical music concerts and opera performances. He is also currently learning Chinese and how to play the piano.

Benjamin Cave Calland

Ben is currently an MChem student at St. John's college, he joined the Gouverneur Group in September 2024 for his Part II year. He currently lives in Bath but grew up in Malaga, Spain. Recently, he spent the summer in Fribourg, Switzerland doing a research internship on healable polymers. In his free time, he enjoys playing the clarinet and drums.

Sam Fineman

Sam grew up in Tunbridge Wells and is currently an MChem student at Christ Church. During his degree, he has undertaken research projects with AstraZeneca and the UK National Crystallography Service in Southampton. Outside of the lab, Sam is a keen rugby player, musician and runs the university Movember campaign.

Nicholas Hadjipaschalis

Nicholas grew up in Cyprus and is an MChem student at Balliol College. He joined the Gouverneur Group for his Part II in September 2024. Outside the lab he enjoys walking around Oxford with his camera, bird watching and punting with friends.

Worawit (Boll) Tangamornchaipattana

Boll comes from Bangkok, Thailand and is currently an MChem student at Merton College. During his degree, he has done two summer research internships in the Gouverneur (2023) and Aldridge (2024) groups. He spends his leisure time playing badminton, hitting the gym, practicing playing the guitar and learning languages.