Chad R. Borges, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Dr. Borges is jointly appointed in ASU's School of Molecular Sciences and The Biodesign Institute
Contact
E-mail: chad.borges@asu.edu
Phone: +1-480-727-9928
Biography: Dr. Borges received a B.S. in Chemistry from Walla Walla College (WA) in 1997. He went on to complete a Ph.D. in Analytical Toxicology (2001) at the University of Utah under Prof. Douglas Rollins, the medical director in charge of doping control for the 2002 Olympic Games. Dr. Borges’ dissertation research focused on the role of hair pigments and cellular transport in drug incorporation into hair. He continued his education as a postdoctoral fellow at Michigan State University under pioneering mass spectrometrist J. Throck Watson, where he studied protein mass spectrometry with an emphasis on characterizing protein posttranslational modifications. In 2003, he returned to Utah where he helped establish the Olympic-level certified Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory. Following successful laboratory accreditation he transitioned to The Biodesign Institute at ASU in 2007 where he worked for several years as a research faculty member at The Biodesign Institute with Dr. Randall Nelson before joining the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry in 2013.
A copy of Dr. Borges' CV can be obtained here.
Jorvani Cruz Villarreal, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Scholar
Contact
E-mail: jcruzvil@asu.edu
Biography: Dr. Cruz Villarreal received a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico. She obtained her Ph.D. in Chemistry at Arizona State University working on the development of microfluidic tools for bioanalysis. Her thesis focused on the hyphenation of a microfluidic platform with mass spectrometry for targeted protein analysis from biological samples. She joined the Borges Lab as a postdoctoral research scholar and is currently working on the development of endogenous and exogenous markers of biospecimen integrity.
Retired: Stephen P. Rogers, Ph.D.
Sr. Research Specialist
Biography (Written by Dr. Rogers): Dr. Rogers is an old dog with the privilege of learning new tricks in Professor Chad Borges' research lab. A native Phoenician, cooked in the Arizona desert for decades, Dr. Rogers acquired his Ph.D. from Arizona State University in Chemistry with a special emphasis in chromatography. A classmate got him an interview at Motorola where he was hired on and made a 26-year career in Motorola’s Corporate Research Labs. There Dr. Rogers applied chemistry principles and fundamentals towards the understanding of semiconductor processes and product development, troubleshooting, problem solving, and new technology development (11 patents, 2 Defensive Publications, a few presentations and papers). After a formal retirement, he came back to ASU in 2006, working in The Biodesign Institute where he met Professor Borges and the began his exposure to proteins and biochemical/biomedical studies.
Dr. Rogers' current research interests are making sure the goals of the Borges Lab are met which in turn makes him feel like a student again. At the same time, he hopes to provide the students, by example and mentoring, with safe laboratory practices, logical approaches to lab problems, and a practical sense of working in a community lab environment with shared resources. Outside of the lab Stephen enjoys cycling, off the grid camping, astronomy, beer drinking, being a grandparent, and husband. Dr Rogers is also a music producer with some long-time collaborators and band mates in North of Tomorrow.
Schuyler Kremer
Ph.D. Student
Contact
E-mail: schuyler.kremer@asu.edu
Biography: Schuyler Kremer was born in Ohio and raised in Arizona where he attended ASU as an undergraduate and where he received a bachelor's in Biochemistry. He has since worked in a clinical lab for the last seven years before joining the Borges lab. His current interest is in using the post translational modification of Albumin as a marker of biospecimen integrity.
Ishmael Quansah
Ph.D. Student
Contact
E-mail: iquansah@asu.edu
Biography: Ishmael Abedzie Quansah is a Ghanaian and first generational academician who obtained his bachelor's degree in Biochemistry from KNUST, Ghana. His final-year research focused on isolating, identifying and characterizing protease from protease-producing microbes from fermented fish (locally called 'momoni'). He continued to work as a Teaching Assistant in the Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology (KNUST) after graduation. He joined the Borges Lab in the Fall of 2022 and is currently working on the novel ΔS-Cys-Albumin Assay and its further conversion to a fluorescence-based plate reader assay. Ishmael is very passionate about teaching and research and is always eager to learn about and explore new ideas of science and technology.
Beth Sicari
Ph.D. Student
Contact
E-mail: esdrake@asu.edu
Biography: Beth is a first-generation college student and with an academic journey has been anything but traditional. She has always worked while attending college, so it has taken her extra time to complete her goals; her zeal for knowledge and tenacity is what keeps Beth going. Beth completed an Associate’s degree in Biotechnology (2008), Bachelor’s degree in Medical Laboratory Science (2010) and Master’s degree in Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology (2019). In the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Beth built and supervised a clinical lab capable of testing nearly 35 thousand SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid amplification tests within an incredible 24-hour turnaround time (which also included a mobile unit to be dispatched to remote areas in the country). In fall of 2024, Beth joined the Borges lab, and is currently working on a project to determine the rate law for an oxidation reaction that occurs in biospecimens once they are removed from their native biological environment. Outside the lab, Beth enjoys playing with her young son, and SCUBA diving with her husband.
Emil Ljungberg, M.S.
Graduated Spring 2024
Starts Medical School Fall 2024
Contact
E-mail: eljungbe@asu.edu
Mr. Emil Ljungberg's thesis research focused on the design and validation of color-changing permanganate/oxalate-based time-temperature indicators (TTIs). His work included groundbreaking efforts to extend reaction run times and develop greater color depth than previously achieved. Additionally, he established the foundation for our understanding of the pre-activation and long-term stability of these TTI systems.
Download a copy of Mr. Ljungberg's thesis
Aaron Gabriel Uy, M.S.
Graduated Spring 2024
Contact
E-mail: abuy1@asu.edu
Biography: Mr. Aaron Gabriel Uy helped establish the accuracy and precison of several different color-changing, permanganate/oxalate-based time-temperature indicators (TTIs). He also initiated the documentation of the freeze-thaw characteristics of several TTIs.
Download a copy of Mr. Uy's thesis
Nilojan Jehanathan, Ph.D.
Graduated Fall 2022
Current Position: Field Application Scientist, Genscript
Contact
E-mail: njehanat@asu.edu
Biography: Dr. Jehanathan played an important role in the development of ΔS-Cys-Albumin and linking it to the ex vivo stability of clinically important proteins. By tapping into the unique ex vivo biochemistry that underlies ΔS-Cys-Albumin, he converted it into an assay that can be carried out in any biomedical laboratory using a plate reader.
Visit Nilo's LinkedIn page
Visit Nilo's ResearchGate page
Download a copy of Dr. Jehanathan's dissertation
Erandi Kapuruge, Ph.D.
Graduated Fall 2021
Current Position: Instructor, School of Molecular Sciences, Arizona State University
Contact
E-mail: erandi.kapuruge@asu.edu
Biography: Dr. Kapuruge linked the ex vivo stability of numerous clinically important blood plasma proteins to ΔS-Cys-Albumin. She also gave us an improved understanding of how fusion proteins do not always exhibit the same molecular interactions as their native counterparts.
Download a copy of Dr. Kapuruge's dissertation
Jesús Aguilar Díaz de león, Ph.D.
Graduated Spring 2021
Current Position: R&D Applications Scientist, Biosensing Instrument, Inc.
Contact
E-mail: jsaguil1@asu.edu
Research Focus: Dr. Aguilar Díaz de león expanded the ability to analyze glycan nodes in a variety of different biomatrices including cell culture supernatant, extracellular vesicles, and cell membrane fractions and lysates--finding interesting biological phenomena in each of these important biomatrices. He also discovered that oxidized and desialylated LDL, a hallmark of atherosclerosis, plays a role in tamping down innate cellular immunity against cancer.
Download a copy of Dr. Aguilar Díaz de león's dissertation
Yueming Hu, Ph.D.
Graduated Spring 2019
Current Position: Senior Scientist at L'Oréal, specializing in bioanalytical research
Contact
E-mail: yuemingh@asu.edu
Research Focus: Dr. Hu developed a spin column-free method for glycan permethylation, validated the utility of glycan nodes as diagnostic and prognostic markers in a large lung cancer case/control study, and documented biospecimen integrity issues that occur all too easily in large clinical studies that involve multi-site collections.
Download a copy of Dr. Hu's dissertation
Joshua Jeffs, Ph.D.
Graduated Fall 2018
Current Position: Manager of Instructional Laboratory Instrumentation, School of Molecular Sciences, Arizona State University
Contact
E-mail: jwjeffs@asu.edu
Research Focus: Dr. Jeffs developed ΔS-Cys-Albumin as a marker of blood plasma and serum integrity. He also documented the ex vivo instability of glycated protein measurements, using albumin as a model.
Download a copy of Dr. Jeffs' dissertation
Shadi Ferdosi, Ph.D.
Graduated Spring 2018
Current Position: Scientist, Seer, Inc., Redwood City, CA
Contact
Dr. Ferdosi's LinkedIn Page
Research Focus: Dr. Ferdosi was the first student to get her Ph.D. degree in the Borges lab. Her dissertation explored the diagnostic and prognostic capacity of blood plasma and serum glycan nodes in different types of cancer—with a particular focus on lung and bladder cancer.
Download a copy of Dr. Ferdosi's dissertation
Anika Li
Biochemistry (Medicinal Chemistry) Major
Contact
E-mail: anikali@asu.edu
Anika Li joined the Borges Lab in January of 2024. After graduating high school, she enrolled in Arizona State University in 2022 to obtain her B.Sc. in Biochemistry (Medicinal Chemistry) from the School of Molecular Sciences. In the Borges Lab, she studies and works on developing time-temperature indicator systems.
Milap Owens
Biochemistry Major
Contact
E-mail: mowens29@asu.edu
Milap Owens joined the Borges lab in March of 2024. In 2023, after spending two years at a different university, he transferred to the ASU's School of Molecular Sciences to study Biochemistry. In the Borges Lab, he does quality control experiments related to the time-temperature indicators project.
