People

Lab Head

Woonghee Lee, I.E.I.P., M.S., Ph.D. (Principal Investigator)

woonghee.lee AT ucdenver.edu

Assistant Professor of Chemistry, University of Colorado Denver (2020-present)

Co-Principal Investigator / Member, Center for Advanced Computational Molecular Science, University of Colorado Denver (2025-present)

Data Science and Chemistry Certificate Program Director, University of Colorado Denver (2024-present)

Adjunct Professor of Chemistry, Gyeongsang National University (2022-present)

Affiliate of University of Colorado Cancer Center, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (2024-present)

Affiliate of Colorado Center for Personalized Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (2024-present)

Early Career Reviewer (ECR), National Institute of Health (2023 - present)

Editor, Editorial Board, Magnetic Resonance Letters (2023 - present)

Reviewer Editor, Editorial Board of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, Frontiers in Chemistry (2022-present)

Honors and Awards

World's Top 2% Scientist, Stanford University/Elsevier (2022, 2023, 2025)

BKI Early Career Researcher Award, Korean Magnetic Resonance Society (2025)

Early Career Award for Excellence in Research, CU Denver (2024)

Presentation and Publication Grant to the ENC, CLAS, CU Denver (2024)

Honored Listee, Marquis Who's Who (2024-present)

Undergraduate Research Mentor of the Year Top Nominee, The 2023 Research and Creative Activities Symposium (RaCAS), CU Denver (2023)

Early-Career Professional Development (ECPD) Award, The Center for Faculty Development & Advancement, CU Denver (2022; 2024)

Impact Award (Research), 2021 CU Denver Pandemic Research and Creative Activities Awards, CU Denver (2021)

YUMP Award, The Center for Faculty Development & Advancement, CU Denver (Spring 2021; Fall 2021)

Steenbock Research Travel Award to the 26th ICMRBS Conference at Dallas, TX (2014)

WeNMR Travel Award, The 2nd CASD-NMR Workshop at Piscataway, NJ (2013)

Biochemistry Travel Award to the IEEE BIBM 2012 Conference at Philadelphia, PA (2012)

BACTER Institute Graduate Fellowship, Department of Energy (PI: Julie Mitchell; 2011-2012)

New Graduate Student Fellowship, Biochemistry Department, UW-Madison (2009)

Poster Excellence Award, Yonsei Biomolecule Research Initiative-Brain Korea 21 (2007)

ISMAR Student Travel Award, The 16th ISMAR Conference, Kenting, Taiwan (2007)

Poster Excellence Award, The 7th KIAS-Soongsil Conference, Soongsil University (2007)

Oral Presentation Excellence Award, The 1st Protein Summer Research Conference, Ewha Womans University (2007)

Past Experiences

Scientific Program Committee, the 30th International Council on Magnetic Resonance in Biological Systems (ICMRBS; 2024)

MSFA Review Panel Member (Temporary), National Institute of General Medical Sciences (2024 Cycle 1)

Reviewer, Biopreparedness Research Virtual Environment (BRaVE), Department of Energy (2023)

Guest Associate Editor, Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences, Research Topic "Computational Approaches for Interpreting Experimental Data and Understanding Protein Structure, Dynamics and Function Relationships" (2021-2022)

Assistant Scientist, National Magnetic Resonance Facility At Madison (NMRFAM; 2015-2020)

NMRFAM PostDoc Fellow, University of Wisconsin-Madison (2013-2015)

Ph.D. University of Wisconsin-Madison (2009-2013; Prof. John Markley's group; BACTER Institute Fellow 2011-2012)

M.S. Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea (2006-2008; Prof. Weontae Lee's group; Brain Korea 21 Fellow)

B.S. Yonsei University (1998-2006; full tuition stipend for 7 semesters; tennis team captain 1999-2000)

I.E.I.P. (Industrial Engineer Information Processing; 2000-present) Human Resources Development Service of Korea

CESG Research Intern, University of Wisconsin-Madison (2008-2009; Dr. Zsolt Zolnai's SESAME LIMS group)

Software Developer & Project Manager, EnGIS technologies (2001-2004; substituting mandatory military service in South Korea)

ROK Army (Civil Defense Agent 2013-2020; Reservist 2005-2012; 4-week training in 2003; honorable discharge at the rank of private in 2004)

Current Members

Andrea Estefanía López Giraldo, M.S. Ph.D.

andrea.lopezgiraldo AT ucdenver.edu

Voluntary PostDoc, Department of Chemistry, University of Colorado Denver (2025-present)

Research Scientist at Earth Science Labs (2023-2024)

PostDoc, Department of Chemistry, University of Colorado Denver (2022-2023)

Ph.D. National Autonomous University of Mexico (2022; Prof. José Federico del Río Portilla's group)

M.Sc. National Autonomous University of Mexico (2018), B.Sc. University of Quindio (2015)

Research Project: ssPINE-POKY development

Abigail Chiu, M.S. (Graduate Researcher)

abigail.chiu AT ucdenver.edu

Graduate Researcher, Department of Integrative Biology, University of Colorado Denver (2024-present)

Graduate Researcher, Department of Chemistry, University of Colorado Denver (2022-2024)

B.S./M.S. University of Colorado Denver (2022, 2024)

Research Project: 1. Software development of NMR-based metabolomics analysis, 2. AI-incorporated innovation for traditional herbal medicine

The 2023-2024 Recipient of the NSF GRFP Honorable Mention

EUReCA! Fellow, Summer 2021, Fall 2021 - Spring 2022 (Colorado State Work-Study Awardee)

ICMRBS 2024 Travel Award

Graduate Education Master's Thesis Award for AY 2023-2024

CLAS Outstanding MS Graduate Student Award for Spring 2024

Chemistry Outstanding Graduate Student Award for AY 2023-2024

The 2023-2024 Recipient of the Chancellor's Scholarship

The 2022 Recipient of the Robert Damrauer Scholarship

ENC 2023 Travel Award from Norell

CLAS 2023 Student Travel Awardee (Spring 2023; to BPS 2023)

CU Denver Graduate Education Travel Awardee (Spring 2024; to ENC 2024)

The Poster Award at the RaCAS 2021 (Denver, CO)

POKY Lab Chief (2023-2024, 2026-)

Qingxuan Fei (Graduate Researcher)

qingxuan.fei AT ucdenver.edu

Graduate Researcher, Department of Integrative Biology, University of Colorado Denver (2024-present)

Undergraduate Researcher, Department of Chemistry, University of Colorado Denver (2022-2024)

B.S. University of Colorado Denver (2024)

EUReCA! Student Assistant, Fall 2023 - Spring 2024

Research Project: 1. Spectral enhancement method development, 2. Nsp9, QKI and let-7b interaction studies by NMR

The 2024 Recipient of the Robert Damrauer Scholarship

POKY Lab Chief (2024-2025)

Karen Pham, B.S. (Graduate Researcher)

karen.pham AT ucdenver.edu

M.S. ABD.

Graduate Researcher, Department of Chemistry, University of Colorado Denver (2022-present)

B.S. University of Colorado Denver (2020)

Research Project: Computational NMR methods to generate protein 3D homomer structures

CU Denver Graduate Education Travel Awardee (Spring 2025; to ENC 2025)

The Poster Award at the SBBB 2025 (Aurora, CO)

The 2024-2025 Recipient of the Graduate Education Scholarship Award

POKY Lab Chief (2023-2024)

Yukthika Boddeda (Undergraduate Researcher)

yukthika.boddeda AT ucdenver.edu

Undergraduate, Department of Chemistry, University of Colorado Denver (2024-present)

EUReCA! Student Assistant (2025-2026)

EUReCA! Fellow, Summer 2025

Research Project: CHCHD10 protein studies

Jehoon Park (Undergraduate Researcher) - hibernating

nubddak2 AT gmail.com

Undergraduate, Computer Science, University of Minnesota Twin Cities (2025-present)

Research Project: POKY plugin development

Uyen Bui (Undergraduate Researcher)

uyen.2.bui AT ucdenver.edu

Undergraduate, Department of Chemistry, University of Colorado Denver (2025-present)

Research Project: FPR1 protein studies

Banin Ghafoori (Undergraduate Researcher)

banin.ghafoori AT ucdenver.edu

Undergraduate, Department of Psychology, University of Colorado Denver (2025-present)

Research Project: STORM protein studies

Past Members

Fatima Mustaffa (Undergraduate Researcher)

fatima.mustaffa AT ucdenver.edu

Undergraduate, Department of Integrative Biology, University of Colorado Denver (2023-2025)

EUReCA! Student Assistant (2024-2025)

McNair Scholar (2024-2025)

Research Project: hsACP structure calculation

Zowie Werner, B.S.

zowie.werner AT ucdenver.edu

Undergraduate Researcher, Department of Integrative Biology, University of Colorado Denver (2022-2024)

B.S. University of Colorado Denver (2024)

Research Project: 1. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) related peptide research, 2. Computer Vision-based NMR Strip Matching

ICMRBS 2024 Travel Award

EUReCA! Grant Awardee (Fall 2023 - Spring 2024; to ENC 2024)

CLAS Student Travel Awardee (Spring 2024; to ENC 2024)

EUReCA! Fellow, Summer 2023

EUReCA! Student Assistant, Spring 2022 - Spring 2024 (Colorado State Work-Study Awardee)

Adilakshmi Dwarasala, M.S., Ph.D.

adilakshmi.d AT vitap.ac.in

Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, VIT-AP University (2024-present)

Vounteer Researcher, Department of Chemistry, University of Colorado Denver (2020-2024)

PostDoc, Department of Chemistry, University of Colorado Denver (2020)

PostDoc, NMRFAM, University of Wisconsin-Madison (2020)

Ph.D. Indian Institute of Science (2019; Prof. K.V. Ramanathan's group)

M.S. Indian Institute of Technology Madras (2007), B.S. Acharya Nagarjuna University (2004)

Research Project: Automated Solid-State NMR Assignment and Wavelet Denoising for Challenging Proteins

Mikayla Truong

mikayla.truong AT cuanschutz.edu

MD student at CU Anschutz

Undergraduate, Department of Integrative Biology, University of Colorado Denver (2022-2023)

EUReCA! Student Assistant, Fall 2022 - Fall 2023 (Colorado State Work-Study Awardee)

Research Project: In silico screening methods

Mehdi Rahimi, M.S. Ph.D.

mehdi.rahimi AT ucdenver.edu

Current: Senior Bioinformaticist at Fulgent Genetics

PostDoc, Department of Chemistry, University of Colorado Denver (2020-2022)

PostDoc, NMRFAM, University of Wisconsin-Madison (2020)

Ph.D. University of Nevada, Reno (2019; Prof. Yantao Shen's group)

M.Sc. University of Nevada, Reno (2016), B.Sc. Tafresh University (2010)

Research Project: Computer Vision-based NMR Data Analysis

Yeongjoon Lee, M.S.

yj5088 AT cumc.columbia.edu

Current: PhD Student at Columbia University (Al-Hashimi Lab)

Contractor, University of Colorado Denver (2021)

Volunteer Researcher, University of Colorado Denver (2020)

B.S., M.S. Konkuk University (2019; Prof. Yangmee Kim's group)

Research Project: Development of Useful Computer Tools for NMR-based Protein Structure Study

Ira Manthey, B.S.

imanthey AT wisc.edu

Current: Associate Process Chemist at Kdc/One

Volunteer Researcher, University of Wisconsin-Madison (2020-2022)

B.S. University of Wisconsin-Madison (2022)

URS Scholar, University of Wisconsin-Madison (2019-2020)

Research Project: Multidimensional Solution and Solid-State NMR Data Assignment Strategy Development for POKY

Samantha Stone, B.S.

samantha.l.stone AT ucdenver.edu

Current: IT Executive Director at S&G Labs Hawaii

Undergraduate, Department of Chemistry, University of Colorado Denver (2021)

Research Project: Development of Computational NMR Methods

Karly VanDorsten, B.S.

vandorsten AT wisc.edu

Current: Biological Science Aid at USDA

URS Scholar, University of Wisconsin-Madison (2019-2020)

Research Project: Structure Determination of the PONDEROSA-C/S Package using NMR and Cryo-EM Data for Large Proteins

Huong Nguyen, B.S.

htnguyen23 AT wisc.edu

URS Scholar, University of Wisconsin-Madison (2019-2020)

Research Project: Structural Restraint Evaluation from Solid-State NMR Data for the PONDEROSA-C/S Package

Sarah Rolli (Kunath), Ph.D.

sarah.rolli AT marquette.edu

Current: Sr. Yeast and Fermentation Scientist at Molson Coors Beverage Company

Ph.D., Marquette University (Sontag Lab)

B.S., University of Wisconsin-Madison (2016)

Research Project: Developing Tutorial Videos for the PONDEROSA-C/S Package using Solution NMR Data from Brazzein

Enkhtsatsral Ariunbold, B.S.

ariunbold.enkhtsatsral AT ucdenver.edu

Undergraduate, Department of Chemistry, University of Colorado Denver (2022)

Fiorella Fernandez, B.S.

ffernandez2 AT wisc.edu

URS Scholoar, University of Wisconsin-Madison (2019)

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