The Group
(left to right) Dr. Chae Jeon, Maria Soto Cuesta, Mary Ruth Shifflett, Dr. Sam Shepherd, Lawren Paris, Andy Swansiger, Lily Miller, Jim Prell, Austin Green, Jacob Koscho, Dr. Ken Newton (2024); missing: Kayd Meldrum
(left to right) Dr. Amber Rolland, Lejla Biberic, Matt Bingman, Lawren Paris, Sam Shepherd, Andy Swansiger, Jim Prell, Kayd Meldrum (2021)
(left to right) Jim Prell, Lejla Biberic, Dr. Amber Rolland, Dr. Sam Shepherd, Andy Swansiger, Dr. Micah Donor, Dr. Jesse Wilson, Dr. Sean Cleary, Zach Miller (2019)
Postdoctoral Scholars
Dr. Chae Jeon graduated from Grinnell College with a BA in Biological Chemistry in 2017. Chae continued her journey in chemistry and obtained a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry under Prof. Brandon Ruotolo at the University of Michigan in 2023. In the Prell lab, her research focuses on ion thermochemistry, specifically ion heating and cooling during CIU/CID of proteins and protein complexes. When she’s not in the lab, she likes to knit and practice yoga.
Graduate Students
Austin Green is a second-year graduate student with a BS in Physics from Utah State University. He develops experiments, simulations, and software (“IonSPA”) to measure thermochemistry of native biomolecular ion unfolding and dissociation in the gas phase with the goal of characterizing structure for analytes that are heterogeneous, difficult to crystallize, or weakly associated.
Kayd Meldrum is a fourth-year graduate student at UO with a BS in Biochemistry from Idaho State University. He develops Fourier and Gabor-Transform methods for native and intact-molecular ion mobility-mass spectrometry, especially as related to BioPharma and clinical applications. In his spare time, he likes to cook and play with dogs.
Dr. Sam Shepherd recently received her PhD. Sam graduated from Brandeis University in 2018 with a degree in chemistry and studio art. In the Prell group, she studies ion thermochemistry and nESI using quantitative Collision Induced Unfolding and Dissociation and modeling, to apply these methods to protein high-order structure and ligand binding. Outside the lab, Sam enjoys soccer, hiking, crochet, and painting. As of March 2024, she has moved to Prof. Kallol Gupta‘s group at Yale School of Medicine, where she will be a postdoctoral scholar.
Andy Swansiger is a sixth-year PhD student at UO. He graduated from the University of Washington in 2017. Andy’s research focuses on development of Fourier- and Gábor-Transform-based data analysis methods for interpreting highly congested mass spectra of heterogeneous samples, such as lipoprotein Nanodiscs, membrane protein-lipid complexes, PEGylated proteins, and copolymers. In his spare time, Andy is a member of University of Oregon Wushu.
Undergraduate Students
Jacob Koscho is a fourth-year undergraduate at the University of Oregon. His research focuses on protein quantitation using LC-MS and Gabor Transform-based analysis methods.
Lily Miller is a third-year undergraduate at the University of Oregon. Her research focuses on applications of the Prell Group’s iFAMS software to mass spectrometry-based tissue imaging (collaboration with the Laskin Group at Purdue University) and ion mobility-mass spectrometry data in clinical applications. Lily is an intern at e-MSion, a part of Agilent Technologies, during Summer 2023.
Lawren Paris is a fourth-year undergraduate in the Honors College at the University of Oregon. Her research projects investigates phase reconstruction in Fourier- and Gábor-Transform-based data analysis methods through development of the Prell Group’s iFAMS software.
Maria Soto Cuesta is a second-year undergraduate at the University of Oregon. Her research focuses on energy deposition into ions during Collision Induced Dissociation.
The Prell Lab loves to work with undergraduate scientists at UO interested in chemistry-oriented research careers! Contact Prof. Prell (jprell_AT_uoregon_DOT_edu) if interested.
Prell Group Alumni
Former Graduate Students
Dr. Sean P. Cleary (PhD 2020) is now a scientist at Battelle Corporation.
Prof. Micah T. Donor (PhD 2020) is now a professor at George Fox University.
Dr. Jesse W. Wilson (PhD 2020) is now at SystImmune, Inc.
Meghan Daniels (MA 2021) is a JD candidate at the University of Washington School of Law.
Dr. Amber D. Rolland (PhD 2022) is a postdoctoral scholar in the group of Prof. Albert Heck at the University of Utrecht in The Netherlands.
Former Undergraduate Researchers
Lejla Biberic is a PhD student at the University of Washington.
Dr. Simon Ewing received a PhD from the University of Chicago and currently works at Intel, Inc.
Tyler Gonzalez, a Prell Group REU student from New College of Florida, is now PhD student at the University of Wyoming.
Grant Klausen is now a PhD student at New York University.
Daniel Ko (M.S. 2018)
Zachary M. Miller is now PhD student at UC Berkeley.
Liz Resendiz, a Prell Group REU student, received a B.S. from UC Irvine in 2023.
Ashley Sercia
Avery Thompson
Isabella Young, a Prell Group REU student, is now a PhD student at UNC.
