Dr. Parastoo Azadi is a Senior Research Scientist at the University of Georgia, and Technical Director of Analytical Services at UGA’s Complex Carbohydrate Research Center. She is also Director of GlycoMIP – Analytical. She specializes in structural analysis of oligosaccharides and polysaccharides using mass spectrometry.
Ross Clark is recently retired from CP Kelco, where he was Distinguished Research Fellow for 40 years. He led a group that screened for new food hydrocolloids which ultimately led to the food approval of gellan gum. Besides enjoying retirement, Ross does occasional consulting work in food science, rheology and sensory evaluation.
Dr. Daniel Crawford is a University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemistry, and Director of the Molecular Sciences Software Institute (MolSSI) at Virginia Tech. His GlycoMIP research focuses on simulations of the spectroscopic properties of chiral molecules using advanced quantum chemical methods.
Dr. Sanket Deshmukh is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Virginia Tech. His GlycoMIP research focuses on the development of multi-scale modeling integrated machine learning approaches to design and study glycomaterials and their complex architectures.
Dr. Kevin Edgar is a Professor of Biomaterials in the Department of Sustainable Biomaterials at Virginia Tech. His GlycoMIP work focuses on design, synthesis, and characterization of polysaccharide derivatives, and probing structure-property-performance relationships, towards important and demanding biomedical applications.
Dr. Alan Esker is Professor and Department Chair in the Department of Chemistry at Virginia Tech. He is also Education and Outreach Director for GlycoMIP. Dr. Esker specializes in the physical characterization of polymers and biopolymers at surfaces and interfaces.
Dr. John Glushka is NMR facility manager at the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center at the University of Georgia.
Dr. Christian Heiss is a Senior Research Scientist at the University of Georgia, and Assistant Technical Director of Analytical Services at UGA’s Complex Carbohydrate Research Center. He is also the NMR specialist for GlycoMIP, with expertise is on the structural elucidation of polysaccharides and glycans using 1D and 2D-NMR.
Dr. Richard Helm is Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, and Chief Scientific Officer for Fralin Life Sciences Core Services at Virginia Tech. He is also the GlycoMIP Director of Synthesis Services. Dr. Helm specializes in applying mass spectrometry tools in the fields of metabolomics and proteomics.
Dr. Blake Johnson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Industrial Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech. His GlycoMIP research focuses on sensor-based characterization and automated characterization of glycomaterials.
Dr. Prasad Polavarapu is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Vanderbilt University. His research focuses on determining three-dimensional structures of chiral molecules using Chiroptical spectroscopy.
Dr. Maren Roman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sustainable Biomaterials at Virginia Tech and is the Director of GlycoMIP. Her research focuses on the molecular properties and potential applications of carbohydrate-based materials.
Dr. Peter H. Seeberger is Director at the Max-Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam (Germany) and Professor at Freie Universität Berlin as well as Universität Potsdam. He is interested in the chemistry and biology of carbohydrates.
Dr. Valerie Welborn is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Virginia Tech. Her research focuses on atomistic modeling of condensed phase systems with application to health and energy. More specifically, the Welborn group specializes in the development of physics-based methods to link structure to function in large and complex systems.
Dr. Robert Woods is a Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Chemistry, at the University of Georgia, and the Associate Director of GlycoMIP. Dr. Woods specializes in biomolecular simulations and biophysics of carbohydrates, glycoproteins, and carbohydrate-protein complexes. He leads the development of the GLYCAM/AMBER force field and the GLYCAM-Web suite of online modeling tools.
