Principle Investigator

Professor: James L. Edwards

Jim was born and raised on Pigeon Hill in Aurora, IL.  He graduated from Saint Louis University 1999 with his Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry and his Masters of Science in 2001.  His Ph.D. was earned at the University of Michigan where he developed novel separation and MS based techniques for analyzing small molecules. He has worked at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Center for Diabetic Complications at the University of Michigan as well as the University of Maryland.  

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Graduate Students

Mahmoud Mostafa

Mahmoud is from Alexandria, Egypt, he got his B.S. in chemistry and a M.S. in materials science from Alexandria University. He had been working for 10 years in Dubai utilizing various instrumentation technologies. He joined the Edwards lab in 2019 for a collaborative research project developing a supercritical fluid nanospray system. He is also working on quantitative lipidomics and phosphate chemistry.

Julius Agongo

Julius is from Bolgatanga, Ghana. He got his B.S. chemistry from the University of Energy and Natural Resources, Ghana. He joined the Edwards lab in 2019 and he is working on chemical tagging of small metabolites to improve LC-MS sensitivity. He is also working on metabolomic discovery.

Briana Tengan

Briana is from Nandom, Ghana, earned her B.S. in chemistry from the University of Energy and Natural Resources and her MPhil in analytical chemistry from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana. She joined the Edwards lab in 2022 and she is working on chemical tagging to improve MS sensitivity.

Fadi Alhalabi

Fadi was raised in Valley Park, MO. Earning his B.S. in Forensic Science from Maryville University, the next step was grad school where he joined the Edwards lab in 2024. He is continuing the work on the supercritical fluid nanospray system along with single-islet metabolomics.

Isaac Tweneboah

Isaac hails from Ghana. He obtained his B.S. in chemistry from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana. He joined the Edwards lab in 2023 and he is working on the discovery of novel metabolites and their biological importance using mass spectrometry.

Lydia Dada

Oluwatoyin Lydia Dada, from Ogun State, Nigeria, holds a Bachelor's degree in Science and Education from Tai Solarin University of Education (2017). Following six years of teaching experience at secondary and tertiary institutions, she joined the Edwards Lab in 2023. Her research focuses on developing innovative tags for identifying functional groups to uncover hidden metabolites.

Colin Nicks

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Undergraduate Students

Sam Mendoza

Liam McManus

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Former Members

  • Michael Armbruster, Ph.D. 2023. Postdoc at the University of Michigan, MI.

  • Rhea Caldwell, BS 2023. Graduate student at the University of Minnesota, MN.

  • Daniel Gibson, Masters 2022, Scientist II at Millipore Sigma, St. Louis, MO

  • John Coulton, Ph.D. 2021. Postdoc at Washington University in St. Louis, MO

  • Katherine Sanders, Ph.D. 2020. Senior Scientist at Millipore Sigma, St. Louis, MO

  • Anna Greenwood, BS 2019. Medical student at University of Iowa, IA

  • Anjam Sadik, MS 2019. Graduate Student at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY

  • Tianjiao Huang, Ph.D. 2018. Postdoc at NIH in Bethesda, MD

  • Laura Filla, Ph.D. 2016. Senior Analytical Chemist at Mallinckrodt in St. Louis, MO

  • Rob Filla, B.S. 2016. Field Service Engineer, Thermo in St. Louis, MO

  • Xiaofeng Zhao, MS 2016. Sr Research Associate I at Gilead Sciences in San Francisco, CA

  • Anna Forzano, MS 2015. Postdoc at Virginia Commonwealth University, VA

  • Caroline Esch, MS 2014. Chemist III at Holly Frontier in Cheyenne, WY