Dr. Michael Marty
Principal Investigator
Michael received his undergraduate degree from St. Olaf College with majors in chemistry and mathematics. He proceeded to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as a Springborn Graduate Fellow under Stephen Sligar. After completing his PhD in 2013, he performed postdoctoral research with Carol Robinson at the University of Oxford. He joined the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Arizona in 2016 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2021.
Since starting his faculty position, he has received the ASMS Research Award, the Bisgrove Scholar Award, the American Chemical Society Division of Analytical Chemistry Arthur F. Findeis Award for Achievements by a Young Analytical Scientist, the NSF CAREER award, and the NIH/NIGMS Early Stage Investigator MIRA award. Outside the lab, he loves to hike, play games, and waste hours in his music room.
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Dr. James Rorhbough
Staff Scientist/Lab Manager
James is a native of southern Arizona where he grew up and attended The University of Arizona for his undergraduate degree in Biochemistry. He was also a graduate of the AFROTC program at Arizona where he earned his commission as an officer in the United States Air Force. He served over 20 years on active duty as an Air Force Chemist and retired with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. During his time in the Air Force, James worked various assignments, most notably as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado as well as a Chemical and Biological weapons expert with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency in Albuquerque, New Mexico where he worked on field testing to reduce the threat of weapons of mass destruction. James earned an MS degree in Biochemistry from Utah State University where he studied the iron content of urban air particulates as an indicator of biological reactivity in the Aust Group Laboratory. He earned his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Arizona working on the development of potential vaccine candidates for Valley Fever using mass spectrometry and proteomic analysis in the Wysocki Group. James has worked in the Marty Lab since 2017 as lab manager and staff scientist working with Fast Photochemical Oxidation of Peptides as a tool for determining antimicrobial peptide structural information. His favorite part of working in the Marty Lab is mentoring students and helping them survive the trials of Graduate School. In his spare time, James is an avid mountain biker and loves hanging out with his wife and their dogs.
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Dr. James "Skippy" Sanders
Postdoctoral Researcher
Skippy grew up on the coast of Maine before moving to Silver City New Mexico where he earned his B.S. in Chemistry at Western New Mexico University (WNMU). An undergraduate research project spurred an interest in mass spectrometry instrumentation, which brought him to the University of Texas at Austin. There, he earned a Ph.D. in the lab of Dr. Jennifer Brodbelt, focusing on modifying mass spectrometry and ion mobility instruments to incorporate ultraviolet laser and facilitate top-down proteomics and native mass spectrometry research. He joined the Marty lab in the spring of 2022, where he now works to develop charge detection mass spectrometry for the characterization of very large (> 1 MDa) biomolecules such as lipoprotein particles as well as incorporate emerging mass spectrometry related technologies to support other research in the lab. Outside the lab he enjoys hiking with his dog, playing his mandolin, kayaking, and tinkering with old vehicles and electronics.
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Julia Townsend
Graduate Student
Julia grew up in New York and got her B.S. in biochemistry from SUNY Binghamton University in 2018. Julia then began her graduate research in the Marty lab the fall of 2018 and has worked on a range of native MS projects, focusing now on viroporin analysis. She received the 2022 Carl S. Marvel Graduate Fellowship and the 2022 ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry Graduate Fellowship. Outside of lab, Julia likes biking, rock climbing, hiking, and hanging out with her dog.
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Hiruni Jayasekera
Graduate Student
Hiruni is an analytical chemistry PhD candidate who joined the Marty lab in Fall 2019. She was born and raised in Sri Lanka. She earned her BSc honors in Chemistry from University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka where she worked on an environmental chemistry project for her undergraduate research. Motivated by her undergrad research, she proceeded to pursue her PhD in analytical chemistry at the University of Arizona. In the Marty lab, her research primarily focuses on developing methods to study membrane protein-lipid interactions using native mass spectrometry. Outside of the lab she enjoys her time outdoors hiking and camping with her husband, Vidula and little puppy, Becky. Moreover, she loves to play field hockey whenever she finds time and she also likes to work with student organizations to organize events and network with people.
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Oluwaseun Fapohunda
Graduate Student
Oluwaseun is a Biochemistry Ph.D. student in the Biological Chemistry Program (BCP). He earned his B.S. degree in Biochemistry in 2014 at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo state, Nigeria where he researched the use of natural products to manage type 2 diabetes. After that, he served his country at the National Youth Service Corps in Plateau state from 2014-2015 winning the State Governor’s award in 2015. He earned his MS in Biochemistry in 2017 at the University of Lagos, where he studied the mechanistic basis for the use of magnesium supplements in the management of type 2 diabetes. He moved to Tucson in the Fall of 2021 and began research in the Marty Lab in the Spring of 2022. His research focuses on using native mass spectrometry and lipoprotein nanodiscs to study viroporins. Oluwaseun wants to earn his Ph.D. in Biochemistry to further his career in the pharmaceutical industry to better contribute to drug discovery, design, and development.
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Tapasyatanu Dash
Graduate Student
Codenamed Dash, Tapasya shoots a laser at peptides embedded in nanodiscs trying to understand the interaction of the lipid membrane with this peptide. He hails from India, where he completed his bachelor’s and master’s degree at the Savitribai Phule Pune University. Dash joined the Marty lab in the spring of 2022 and is currently interested in exploring advanced footprinting techniques to investigate daptomycin. Dash is a vocal advocate of communication of science through better visual presentation and loves teaching others what he had trouble learning. Outside the lab, Dash spends his time pursuing the fine arts of photography, movie making, and painting and trying his best not to get in trouble for his terrible sense of humor.
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Annika Silverberg
Graduate Student
Annika is first year graduate student in the Chemistry PhD program, and she joined Dr. Marty's group in December 2022 as a part of Team Lipidomics. She received her undergraduate degrees in chemistry and psychology from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota while doing analytical research on herbicides using GC-MS. In her free time, she likes to read, spend time by the pool, go for hikes, and hangout with friends. Since she grew up in Minnesota, she has been enjoying the sunny Tucson weather and the beautiful mountains year round!
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Kimber Focke
Graduate Student
Kimber Focke—born and raised in Charlotte, NC—completed her B.S. in chemistry at UNC Charlotte, during which she developed an interest in scientific instrumentation while conducting undergraduate research in X-ray crystallography under Dr. Daniel S. Jones. After developing a strong passion for mass spectrometry and analytical separations during her undergraduate analytical courses, she returned to UNC Charlotte to earn her master's degree under the direction of Dr. Brian T. Cooper. Kimber is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry/BCP in the Marty Lab at the University of Arizona. Kimber is also an ardent music lover that enjoys playing guitar and listening to live music, and enjoys exploring nature, rehabilitating wild raptors, and picking up new skills and hobbies in her free time.
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Farhana Mohona
Graduate Student
Farhana came from Bangladesh and got a chance to pursue her PhD degree in biochemistry at University of Arizona. She completed her undergraduate in pharmacy from University of Dhaka in 2021. She has a passion for understanding broadly about the mechanism of drug and biochemical function it poses to combat disease conditions. Right now, she is working on revealing membrane protein and lipid interaction which plays various biochemical functions using mass spectroscopy. Other than enthusiasm towards academia, Farhana is a pluviophile, who enjoys traveling with friends and loves to cook her local foods. Also, she always participated in cultural events from childhood which gives her space to escape from monotonous life.
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Alumni
Dr. Melanie Odenkirk
Postdoctoral Researcher
Melanie spent the first half of her childhood in New Jersey and her second half in Virginia. She stayed in state to complete her B.S. in 2018 at James Madison University (JMU) where she found her passion for mass spectrometry conducting undergraduate research with Dr. Christine Hughey. Melanie then went on to North Carolina State University where she received her PhD in the lab of Dr. Erin Baker. She joined the Marty Lab as a postdoc in Summer of 2022 to 2023 and worked on lipidomics methods to study the composition of lipids bound to membrane proteins. Besides her passion for chemistry, Melanie is a music lover and was in marching band for six years where she played clarinet and conducted the band. She is also a dog person, an avid game player and loves to cook!