Principle Investigator

Joshua A. Baccile
Ph.D. in Chemical Biology, 2017
Assistant Professor of Chemistry

Josh grew up in Big Flats, New York, and attended SUNY Cortland for his B.S. in Chemistry working on the synthesis of photocleavable peptide conjugates under Prof. Frank Rossi. He then moved 30 minutes away to get his Ph.D. in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Cornell University. His graduate research focused on the discovery and characterization of novel biosynthetic pathways and metabolites from filamentous fungi. After his Ph.D, Josh went across the country to do postdoctoral research in Prof. David Tirrell’s lab at Caltech in the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. His postdoctoral research was focused on the development of artificial protein force sensors for hydrogels. In August of 2020 Josh moved to Knoxville, TN and started the lab in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Postdocs

Dillon McBee
B.S. in Biochemistry, 2020, Youngstown State Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, 2025, University of Tennessee – Knoxville
dmcbee1@vols.utk.edu

Graduate Students

Nick Trybala (6th Year GS)
B.S. in Chemistry, 2018, Tennessee Tech
ttrybala@vols.utk.edu

Anna-Kay West (6th Year GS)
M.S. in Organic Chemistry, 2020, Ball State
B.S. in Biochemistry, 2018, Ball State
awest60@vols.utk.edu

Zack Hulsey (5th year GS)
B.S. in Chemistry, 2021, Dalton State
zhulsey@vols.utk.edu

Tawakalitu Afolabi (5th year GS)
M.S. in Chemistry, 2021, University of Ibadan
B.S. in Chemistry, 2018, University of Ibadan
tafolab1@vols.utk.edu

Neil Truslow (4th year GS)
B.S. in Chemistry, 2022, Youngstown State
ntruslow@vols.utk.edu

Claudia Dolan (2nd year GS)
B.S. in Biology, 2024, University of Maine
cdolan3@vols.utk.edu

Miranda Phillips (1st year GS)
B.S. in Chemistry, 2025, University of Tennessee – Knoxville
xcn683@vols.utk.edu

Undergraduate Students

Allyson Taylor
Senior Chemistry Major

Delaney Bone
Senior Biochemistry Cell & Molecular Biology Major

Sophia Parcescu
Biochemistry Cell and Molecular Biology Major

Previous Graduate Students and Visiting Scientists

Frank M. Rossi
Visiting Scientist (1 year sabbatical)
Professor of Chemistry
SUNY Cortland

Nicklas Johansen (MS Graduate)
B.S. in Chemistry, 2023, Wingate University
M.S. in Chemistry, 2025, University of Tennessee – Knoxville

Vijani Wijayasekera (MS graduate)
B.S. in Chemistry, 2019, Institute of Chemistry Ceylon M.S. in Chemistry, 2024, University of Tennessee – Knoxville

Grace F. Neelankavil (MS graduate)
Integrated MS (BS-MS) in Chemistry, 2021
University of Hyderabad, India M.S. in Chemistry, 2025, University of Tennessee – Knoxville