Brian W. Michel
Principal Investigator
Brian Michel received his B.S. in Chemistry from Western Washington University in 2006. At WWU, Brian performed research under Prof. James Vyvyan working towards the total synthesis of Heliannuols C & E. Brian was then drawn to the snow and research at the University of Utah, where he completed his Ph.D. with Prof. Matthew Sigman. In the Sigman Lab, Brian developed a highly selective variant of the Wacker oxidation. During this time he gained an appreciation for using mechanistic insight to develop and optimize reactions. In 2011, Brian moved west to work with Prof. Chris Chang at the University of California, Berkeley, where he designed small molecule fluorescent probes for the detection of carbon monoxide in live cells and developed a passion for detecting biologically relevant analytes based on biocompatible reactivity.
Outside of the lab Brian enjoys snowboarding, golfing, and spending time with his wife and kids.
Postdoctoral Scholars
Adelaide Kerenick
Class of 2023
Adelaide will be a junior studying chemistry at DU this Fall. She is just getting her feet wet in lab!
Adelaide Kerenick
Class of 2023
Adelaide is a senior undergraduate student getting ready to graduate. She is heading to Penn State this Fall!
Ramandeep Kaur
Graduate Students
Nick Dacon
G3 - Chemistry
You!
Actively Recruiting New Graduate Students
Autumn Giger
G2 - Chemistry
Caleb Matteson
G1 - Biophysics
Mason Legg
G1 - Rotation Student
Undergraduate Students
Will Thrush
Class 2026
Will Gross
Class 2025
Sam Rommel
Class 2026
Caleb Smiles
SHINE @ DU 2024
Rotation Students
Group Alumni
Ryan Calkins
B.S. in Biology and Chemistry
University of Denver 2016
Current Position: Medical School at University of Colorado
Lusha Xu
M.S. Chemistry
University of Denver 2016
Current Position: Glycoscience
Westley Cruces
M.A. Chemistry
University of Denver 2019
Current Position: CSO Colorado Chromatography Labs
Max McCallum
B.S. Chemistry with distinction
University of Denver 2019
Current Position: Graduate Student UCLA
Samir Rezgui
B.S. Chemistry with distinction
University of Denver 2020
Current Position: NSF Graduate Research Fellow Cal Tech (Stoltz group)
Sacha Toussaint
B.S. Southern Utah University 2015
Morgan Brown
M.S. University of Denver 2022
Current Position: Project Manager at OtherLeft
Ruthie Cicotte
B.S. Southern Utah University 2020
M.A. University of Denver 2023
Nathan Wu
Undergraduate at McGill University, Class 2023
Haley Maki
B.S. Biochemistry with distinction
University of Denver 2023
Jaiden Voldrich
B.S. Chemistry with distinction
University of Denver 2024
Florence (Flo) Bachrach
B.S. Chemistry with distinction
University of Denver 2016
Current Position: Gilead Process
Ben Johnson
B.S. Chemistry
University of Denver 2017
Current Position: Masters in Anatomy Program at UNMC
Julia (Jae) Bautista
B.S. Chemistry
University of Denver 2018
Current Position: Research Assistant CU Anschutz
Brandon Coles-Taylor
B.A. Lawrence University 2015
PhD University of Denver 2019
Current Position: Fish & Richardson
Mitchell Ellinwood
B.S. University of Denver 2019
M.S. University of Denver 2020
Current Position: Graduate Student University of Utah (Looper Group)
Sara McCormack
B.S. Chemistry with distinction
University of Denver 2021
Current Position: Graduate Student University of Utah (Sigman Group)
Roman Shrestha
B.S. Chemistry with distinction
University of Denver 2022
Current Position: Graduate Student UC Irvine
Simran Gill
B.S. Chemistry with distinction
University of Denver 2023
Adelaide Kerenick
B.S. Chemistry with distinction
University of Denver 2023
Current Position: Graduate Student Penn State University
Jane Goldman
SHINE 2023
Group Photos
June 2023
Spring 2021
Fall 2018
Fall 2015
