Professor Corey Stephenson
Principal Investigator
Corey was born in Collingwood, Ontario, Canada and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Waterloo in 1998. He completed graduate studies under the direction of Professor Peter Wipf at the University of Pittsburgh before joining the lab of Professor Erick M. Carreira at ETH Zürich. In September 2007, he joined the Department of Chemistry at Boston University as an Assistant Professor where he served until June 2013. In July 2013, he joined the Department of Chemistry at the University of Michigan as Associate Professor of Chemistry, and in September 2015, was promoted to full Professor. In June, 2024, Corey was appointed a the University of British Columbia as the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Innovative Synthetic Methods for Translational Chemistry with appointments in Chemistry and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. He also co-leads a new synthesis laboratory at the BC Cancer Research Center with Professor Corinna Schindler.
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Email: stephenson "at" chem.ubc.ca
Postdoctoral Researchers
Dr. Olaya Bernardo Gonzalez
Olaya (she/hers/her) was born in Cangas del Narcea, Spain. She earned his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from the University of Oviedo. In 2019, she joined the Selective Organic Synthesis group to pursue her Ph.D., working in the lab of Prof. Luis Ángel López. Her research was focused on the development of new gold-catalyzed transformations involving metal carbene intermediates and unsaturated silanes. After graduating in November 2022, Olaya joined the Montgomery lab in January 2023 as a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Michigan where she was working on the development of new nickel-catalyzed processes for derivatizing simple functional groups and/or unactivated C-H bonds. After that, Olaya joined the Stephenson lab in May 2024. Outside of the chemistry lab, Olaya enjoys reading, hiking, skiing and traveling.
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Email: olayabg "at" chem.ubc.ca
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Dr. Sergio González-Granda
Sergio (he/him/his) was born in Gijón, Spain. He earned his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from the University of Oviedo. In 2018, he joined the Bioorganic research group to pursue his Ph.D., working in the lab of Prof. Vicente Gotor and Prof. Iván Lavandera. His research primarily focused on designing novel enantioselective cascade reactions using enzymes and gold(I) catalysts. After graduating in December 2022, Sergio joined the Stephenson lab in January 2023, where his research currently focuses on photoredox catalysis, and novel radical rearrangements (Team Smiles). Outside of the chemistry lab, Sergio enjoys hiking, traveling, playing football (aka soccer to Americans), basketball, and cooking dishes from around the world.
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Email: sggranda "at" chem.ubc.ca
Dr. Elene Tatunashvili
Elene was born in Tbilisi, Georgia. She obtained her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at Tbilisi State University in physical chemistry. After her Master’s, she decided to pursue her career in organic chemistry; in 2018, she moved to Australia to undertake her Ph.D. at the University of Sydney. During this time, she worked in the McErlean group on reaction development in radical chemistry and applications in the synthesis of heterocycles and unnatural peptides. In 2022 she joined the Stephenson lab as a postdoc to work on synthesis of amino norbornanes via new catalytic methods. Outside the chemistry lab Elene enjoys cooking, hiking, dancing, and boxing.
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Email: elenet "at" chem.ubc.ca
Graduate Students
Travis Hammerstad
4th year
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
Travis (he/him/his) grew up in Appleton, Wisconsin before attending the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Being naturally indecisive, Travis collected majors in chemistry and chemical engineering along with minors in biology and leadership. His undergraduate research in the Aldrich lab included antibiotic synthesis and silane mediated amide reductions. Working to complete his tour of the Midwest, Travis was eager to pursue his graduate studies at the University of Michigan. Outside of lab Travis enjoys cooking, chess, and essentially any other form of competition.
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Email: thammers "at" chem.ubc.ca
Mark Glossbrenner
3rd year
Mark was born and raised in Bakersfield, California. He later moved to San Diego to work on photoredox catalysis with Professor Erik Romero at UCSD where he developed various methods of C-H activation. He later earned his B.S. in chemistry from UCSD and pursued the much milder midwestern weather at the University of Michigan. He enjoyed putting color into chemistry so much he decided to further pursue photochemistry in his graduate research and joined the Stephenson lab in Spring 2023. Mark is currently working on exploring the reactivity of various substrates under photocatalytic conditions. In his free time Mark enjoys cooking, swimming, fishing, golfing, playing with his dogs, and most any other outdoor activity.
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Email: "at" chem.ubc.ca
Eric Butler
1st year
Eric grew up in Sherwood Park, Alberta. He obtained his B.Sc. from the University of Alberta where he worked with Professor Michael Meanwell, Fred West, Rik Tykwinski, and Eric Rivard. His most extensive project was on the synthesis of polyyne based molecular wires with Professor Rik Tykwinski. With an interest in the field of photochemistry, Eric moved to Vancouver in 2024 to join the Stephenson group at the University of British Columbia. Outside of the lab Eric enjoys hiking, climbing, skiing, playing soccer, and reading a good book.
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Email: ebutler"at" chem.ubc.ca
Izabella Krug
1st year
Izabella grew up in Budapest, Hungary, before moving to the United Kingdom to complete her undergraduate and Master’s degree in Chemistry at the University of Bath. She worked with Professor Toby Jenkins on targeted antifungal delivery from composite hydrogels activated by cold atmospheric plasma. Izabella also had the opportunity to complete a year of study abroad at Dalhousie University in Canada, where she worked with Professor Alex Speed on asymmetric diazaphospholene catalysts. Developing a strong interest in radical reaction mechanisms and photochemistry, Izabella joined the Stephenson group at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver in the fall of 2024. In her free time, she enjoys cycling, playing golf, and delving into the depths of literature.
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Email: iokrug "at" chem.ubc.ca
Jasmine Etman
1st year
Jasmine was born in Calgary, Alberta. She obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. In 2023, she conducted research in the Reid lab, focusing on developing new chiral phosphoric acid-catalyzed enantioselective Mannich and Friedel-Crafts reactions. Her interest in the field of photochemistry led her to join the Stephenson group and continue her studies at UBC. Jasmine is committed to long-distance running and enjoys hiking and spending quality time with her family.
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Email: jetman "at" chem.ubc.ca
Ryan Qiu
1st year
Ryan (he/him) was raised in Edmonton Alberta and completed his Bachelor of Science at the University of Alberta. There, he worked on numerous different projects spanning from chemical biology to organic methodology. Ryan previously worked on the late-stage functionalization of bioactive macrocyclic peptides with Prof. Ratmir Derda, and photocatalytic C–H sulfinamidation with Prof. Michael Meanwell. Enjoying the adventures of photochemistry, Ryan joined the Stephenson lab in Fall of 2024 to fulfill his love of light and escape the cold darkness of Edmonton winters. When he’s not in the lab, you can find him playing CS2, learning how to golf, playing badminton, fishing in the summers, and skiing in the mountains in the winters!
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Email: ryanqiu "at" chem.ubc.ca
Xulian Fernandez-Gonzalez
Visiting Scholar (University of Santiago de Compostela)
Xulian's bio is coming soon.
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Email: "at" chem.ubc.ca
Undergraduate Students
Coming soon!
Position/Role
Coming soon!
Position/Role