Current Group

Marie Curie Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Dr Nishanth Ramdas

Nishanth Ramdas is the recipient of Marie Curie postdoctoral fellowship for 2022-2023 and joined the lab in September 2023. He is from Sangareddy, a town in south India near Hyderabad. After receiving his doctorate from Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) in 2021, he joined Dr. Reddy’s Institute of Life sciences as a Postdoctoral Fellow and worked there for one year. Later, he joined Aragen Life Sciences-Hyderabad and worked for one year. His work is focussed on the total synthesis of biologically active natural products. Outside of the lab, he loves to travel and sing.

Walter Benjamin POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOW

Dr Marvin Fresia

Marvin Fresia has been awarded the Walter Benjamin fellowship from the German Research Foundation and joined the lab in July 2024. He obtained his doctorate from the Technical University of Braunschweig (Germany) under the supervision of Prof Dr Thomas Lindel, working on the total syntheses of terpene alkaloids sharing a cyclopenta[f]indole core. He is currently working on alkenyl oxonium ions. Outside of the lab, he enjoys exploring the UK, reading and video games.

5th year DPhil - SBM CDT

Harry Hicks

Originally from Devon, Harry graduated in 2018 with First Class BA MSc degrees in Natural Sciences, specialising in Chemistry, from Girton College, University of Cambridge. After graduating, he spent a year working at Charles River Laboratories as a Medicinal Chemist, focusing on the synthesis and development of novel drug candidates. Harry is currently enrolled in the SBM CDT DPhil programme with rotations in the Burton and Ed Anderson groups. Outside the lab, Harry is a keen footballer but also enjoys running cycling and hiking. When inside he enjoys cooking and subsequently eating.

4th year DPhil - SBM CDT

Diana Berheci

Diana is the recipient of a Magdalen College Graduate Scholarship. Having grown up in a small Romanian town, Diana completed her MSci in Chemistry at Imperial College London. Her final year project, under the supervision of Prof Chris Braddock, explored some novel Ru-catalysed olefin metathesis processes. Previously, Diana undertook a summer placement in Prof Don Craig’s group in 2019. She joined the Burton group through the SBM CDT (2020 cohort) and is now exploring aspects of oxonium ion chemistry. In her spare time, Diana enjoys travelling, ice-skating, and most importantly…good coffee!

4th year DPhil - SBM CDT

Edvinas Alisauskas

Originally from Vilnius, Lithuania, Edvinas completed his MChem degree at the University of Oxford, Merton College. During his Part II year, he joined Prof Darren Dixon’s group to work on novel methods for the photocatalytic generation and downstream reactivity of alpha-amino radical species. Previously, Edvinas did a 3-month medicinal chemistry internship at Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Outside the lab, he enjoys cooking, travelling and trying new wines. Edvinas is jointly supervised by Profs M. Smith and J. Burton.

3rd year DPhil

Simone Gardner

Simone is originally from Marsciano, Italy; he completed his MChem at the University of St Andrews in Scotland working on the total synthesis of double-C glycosides under the supervision of Prof. Rebecca Goss. He also carried out an industrial placement at GSK Stevenage during 2020. Outside the lab, Simone enjoys reading and swimming.

3rd year DPhil

Zechen Jason Duan

Originally from Suzhou, China, Zechen obtained his First Class Bachelor Degree in Applied Chemistry from University of Reading. He completed his final year project under the supervision of Dr Chris D. Smith, focusing on the synthesis of indole derivatives by flow-photochemical heterocyclic metamorphosis. In Oxford, Zechen became a member of St Hugh's College and joined the Burton group, where he is exploring complex oxonium ion chemistry. Outside the lab, Zechen is a big fan of tennis and photography, you can find him either on tennis courts or walking on the street with his camera

3rd year DPhil - SBM CDT

Dima Petropavlovskikh

Dima is the recipient of a Hill Foundation Scholarship. Originally from a small town in Russia, he graduated from Lomonosov Moscow State University with First Class MSc in Chemistry degree. During his final year project, Dima worked on the synthesis of new Z-selective ruthenium metathesis catalysts with unsymmetrical fluorinated NHC ligands. After graduation, he took part in a project on using C-H activation for the design of CF3-containing amino acids with different heterocyclic cores. Apart from chemistry, Dima enjoys travelling, reading, taking photographs and spending time with friends.

3rd Year DPhil - SBM CDT

Samuel Holmes

Sam is from Leeds in beautiful Yorkshire. He studied for his MSci at University of Cambridge, undertaking his final project with Prof. Jonathan Nitschke on the synthesis of metal-organic cages containing silver(I). In the Burton group, he is now working on developing the chemistry of triaryl oxonium ions, in collaboration with Prof. Martin Smith. Sam is very passionate about teaching, and is currently working on several outreach programs such as the Chemistry Race in Oxford. Sam enjoys spending time in the countryside, playing badminton and the piano, a little rowing, and baking.

2nd Year DPhil

Dylan Leupi

Dylan was born and raised in Singapore to Swiss and Filipino parents. He completed his BSc in Biochemistry (minor in Bioengineering) at the University of Notre Dame. During his BSc, Dylan worked in Dr. Richard Taylor’s lab on the partial synthesis of GEX1A. In Oxford, Dylan is in Wolfson college and is exploring the total synthesis of medicinally relevant Lathyrane natural products. Outside of the lab, Dylan’s hobbies include trying out new restaurants and cafes, traveling, working out, reading Sci-Fi/Fantasy books and playing tennis with Jason.

2nd Year DPhil - SBM CDT

George White

George grew up in Walsall, a town on the outskirts of Birmingham. He completed his MChem degree in Chemistry at the University of St Andrews, and carried out his final year research project under the supervison of Prof. Andrew Smith on the development of enantioselective isothiourea-catalysed [2+2]-cycloadditions. Upon joining the SBM CDT programme, he completed rotations in the Burton and Willis groups, before re-joining the Burton group to explore the total synthesis of complex natural products. Outside of the lab, George enjoys travelling, playing golf and badminton.

2nd Year DPhil - SBM CDT

Stanley Oppong

Stan originated from Liberia, West Africa, where he obtained his bachelor’s degree (Honours) in Chemistry from the University of Liberia. He later obtained an MPharm in Advanced Pharmaco-Science from Osaka University under the direct supervision of Prof. Shuji Akai as a Japanese (MEXT) Scholar working on lipase-oxovanadium co-catalysed dynamic kinetic resolution of dual stereogenic secondary allylic alcohols. He is currently a 2023 SBM CDT student exploring the development of triaryloxonium ions as potent precursors for meta-benzyne generation. Outside the lab, he loves reading and writing.

1st year DPhil

Ben Stacey

Ben was born in Oxfordshire but lived in Buckinghamshire for most of his life. He returned to Oxford where he is currently studying for his MChem at St Hildas College. For his Part II project in the Burton group he was conducting methodology research on radical cyclizations. Now he rejoined the group as a DPhil student for more excitement in organic chemistry. Outside of chemistry, Ben enjoys playing the cello and rock climbing.

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