Prof Rein Ulijn PhD Msc FRSC FRSE

Rein Ulijn's research group is developing bio-inspired nanotechnology. The fundamental research question that drives his work is how the molecular building blocks and processes of life can be repurposed, combined and simplified to produce functional materials with designed properties and functions that cannot be achieved using existing design approaches. The resulting materials can be produced from sustainable sources and are finding wide-ranging applications ranging from energy harvesting, to sustainable plastics, personal care, sensing, biomedicine. He is founding Director of the Nanoscience Initiative at the Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC) at CUNY, New York. Prof. Ulijn has held several personal fellowships and has won a number of awards, including the Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship, RSC Norman Heatley Medal, Royal Society Merit Award, and was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He is also the Einstein Professor of Chemistry at Hunter College of CUNY.

Present appointments:
2022-present: Director of the NSF Research Training Grant (NRT) Nanoscience Connected to Life, Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY).
2019-present: Director of the ASRC Sensor CAT (Center for Advanced Technology), Advanced Science Research Center, City University of New York (CUNY).
2014-present: Director of the Nanoscience Initiative, Advanced Science Research Center, CUNY.
2014-present: Albert Einstein Professor of Chemistry, Hunter College, CUNY.

Previous employment:
2008-2017: Professor of Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, WestCHEM, University of Strathclyde, UK.
2012-2014: Vice Dean Research (Science), University of Strathclyde.
2006-2008: Associate Professor and EPSRC Advanced Research Fellow, School of Materials & Interdisciplinary Biocentre (MIB), University of Manchester, UK.
2003- 2006: Assistant Professor in Biomedical Materials, School of Materials, UMIST/University of Manchester.
2001-2003: Postdoctoral research associate, School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, UK. Advisor: Prof. Sabine Flitsch.

Education:
1998- 2001: PhD Physical Chemistry, University of Strathclyde, UK. Advisor: Prof. Peter J. Halling and Dr. Barry D. Moore.
1993-1998: MSc Biotechnology, University of Wageningen, NL.

Memberships:
American Academy for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
American Chemical Society (ACS)
Materials Research Society (MRS)
Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) (Fellow since 2008)
Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) (Fellow since 2014)

Fellowships and Awards:
2021: Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship
2020: World Science University Faculty
2020: Batsheva de Rothschild Fellowship
2014: Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE)
2014: Royal Society Wolfson Merit Award
2014: RSC Emerging Technologies Award
2013: RSC Norman Heatley Prize
2010: ERC Consolidator Grant
2009: NW Biomedical Awards for Innovation
2008: Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC)
2007: Macro Group UK Young Researchers Medal
2007: Leverhulme Trust Leadership Award
2006: EPSRC Advanced Research Fellowship

Dr Ifigeneia Tsironi

Ifigeneia received her B.Sc. in Chemistry from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, specializing in organic chemistry, and subsequently earned her Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Miami in 2024. Her doctoral research focused on integrating supramolecular organic semiconductors with silicon electrodes to develop functional electrode materials with tunable properties. She then joined the University of New Mexico as a postdoctoral researcher, where her work focused on the design and characterization of functional supramolecular materials, with an emphasis on dynamic self-assembly and electronic properties. In 2026, she joined Prof. Rein Ulijn’s group at the Advanced Science Research Center (CUNY) as a postdoctoral fellow. Her current research combines molecular dynamics simulations, machine learning, and experimental approaches to understand and predict peptide self-assembly and guide the discovery of functional supramolecular Email

Dr Avishek Dey

Avishek obtained his B.Sc. and M.Sc. from the Midnapore College and Vidyasagar University, India. He received his Ph.D. in 2018 from Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India, under the guidance of Prof. Kumar Biradha. His research focused on the self-assembled functional materials using supramolecular approach. Subsequently, he joined Prof. Niveen Khashab group at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the same year where his research focused on self-assembly of organic materials such as cages, macrocycles, energy intensive separations and bioimaging. He has been also awarded JSPS fellowship, Japan in 2022. Then, he joined as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Prof. Eric Bloch group at University of Delaware, USA to investigate the self-assembly of the porous cages. Avishek joined Prof. Rein Ulijn's group at Advance Science Research Center, CUNY (New York, USA) in 2023 as a Research Associate to work on the functional organic materials such as systems and flow chemistry, adaptive peptide assembly using machine learning techniques. Email

Ayomide Ijaola

Ayomide obtained his B.S. in Industrial Chemistry from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife, Osun State, Nigeria, in 2024. For his undergraduate research, he worked on the molecular modelling and simulation of atazanavir hydrazide derivative as a potential protease inhibitor of HIV I. He also volunteered to work on the computational studies and synthesis of Novel Betti bases patterned after the SNRI reboxetine as a potential antidepressant inhibitor. In 2025, he joined the Chemistry PhD program at Graduate Center, CUNY, and as started his research, which is co-mentored by Prof. Contel at Brooklyn College and Prof. Ulijn at ASRC. His work focuses on peptide-based nanocarriers and conjugates to improve the delivery and selectivity of hydrophobic Gold(I)-N-Heterocyclic Carbenes anticancer agents. Email

Xhesika Sula

Xhesika obtained her B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Virginia in 2021. There she worked on engineering biodegradable, polymeric microparticles for tunable drug delivery systems under Prof. Kyle J. Lampe. She also enjoyed serving as chair of Wahoo Wizards, a community outreach program whose goal was to spark curiosity and make science hands-on and accessible for local youth. After graduating, she taught high school math and science courses before joining the Chemistry PhD Program at the CUNY Graduate Center. In the fall of 2026, she joined the Ulijn group as a PhD student where her research integrates molecular dynamics simulations, machine learning, and experimental approaches to study peptide self-assembly behavior and accelerate supramolecular materials discovery. Outside of the lab she loves cooking, yoga, and sudoku. Email

Atena Farahpour

Atena completed her B.Sc. in Applied Chemistry and an M.Sc. in Polymer Chemistry, both from Ferdowsi University in Iran. Her focus during her M.Sc. research was on Gene Delivery. She began her Ph.D. in Chemistry at CUNY Graduate Center in 2022 and initiated her research at ASRC (Advanced Science Research Center) and MSK (Memorial Sloan Kettering) in 2023, under the guidance of Professors Rein Ulijn and Daniel Heller. Her current research emphasizes RNA and Drug Delivery using peptides. Email

Dr Paola Colon

Paola graduated with a B.S in Industrial Chemistry from the University of Puerto Rico in Humacao. She worked with understanding the ligand interactions and molecular modeling of 1-benzazepine analogues to find out which ones better fit into the binding site of the nicotinic acetylcholinesterase receptor (nAChR) of the 2PH9 protein using computational chemistry. She joined the Ph.D. program in Chemistry at the CUNY Graduate Center in 2021. Then Paola decided to join Ulijn Lab in 2022 at the Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC). Her research interests include peptide self-assembly, nanotechnology, peptide synthesis, surfactant capacity. In addition to doing research Paola enjoys listening to music, traveling and reading. Email

Anna Geissmann

Anna was born in Paris, France and moved to the US in 2017. Anna joined the Ulijn Lab in 2020 as part of her undergraduate research, where she worked on self-assembling peptides and subsequently joined the group as a PhD candidate. Email

Crisol Aguirre Ortiz

Crisol received her bachelor’s degree in chemistry with a biochemistry concentration from California State University, San Bernardino in 2023. During her time there she did volunteer work on an environmentally friendly synthesis and quality check project with a startup company. She also became a research student for the Center for Advanced Functional Materials, her project was focused on a computational analysis of piezoelectric crystals. This was all under the guidance of Dr. Kimberley Cousins. After graduating, Crisol came to CUNY Graduate Center in 2023 where she began her PhD in Biochemistry. She joined Dr. Rein Ulijn’s group in 2024 and her research focuses on neutral peptide based anion receptors. For fun she loves to go to the beach, concerts, and bike riding. Email

Ameena Yoonus

Ameena obtained her BS-MS degree in Chemistry with a minor in Biology from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram (IISER TVM). During her master's research, she worked under the guidance of Prof. Kana M. Sureshan on designing and developing functionalizable, photoresponsive polymers using a Topochemical approach. In 2024, she joined the Chemistry PhD program at the Graduate Center, CUNY, and started her research in Prof. Rein Ulijn's lab at the ASRC. Her research explores Dynamic Peptide Libraries and Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation (LLPS), focusing on how peptide sequence and molecular interactions govern assembly pathways, phase behaviour, and drive the emergence of complex assemblies. She is particularly interested in understanding the transmission of chemical information in adaptive peptide systems, in the context of the origins of life. Email

Yuntao Qiu

Yuntao obtained his B.Sc. in Chemistry from Jilin University and his M.Sc. in Chemistry from New York University. He is currently a Ph.D. student in Biochemistry at the CUNY Graduate Center, completing a research rotation in the Ulijn Lab at the ASRC. His work focuses on designing peptide-based systems to differentiate between structurally similar metabolites, specifically glucose-1-phosphate (G1P) and glucose-6-phosphate (G6P), with the broader aim of developing selective molecular recognition strategies. Email

Wasiq Mahmood

Wasiq received his Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry with a concentration in Biochemistry from Hunter College. He joined the lab in 2023, beginning his research by characterizing which dipeptides functionalize graphene under Kenny's mentorship. Now, his work focuses on functionalizing cellulose through mimetic melanization and functionalized graphene. His research aims to enhance material properties for biomedical and industrial applications by leveraging biomimetic strategies to improve functionality and sustainability. Email

Max Zeldich

Max is an undergraduate student at the Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College. He previously worked on determining the role that insulin and nutrient-depleted conditions play on bacterial biofilm dispersion at the Binghamton Biofilm Research Center at SUNY Binghamton. As a current undergraduate researcher at the Ulijn lab, he is studying the self-assembly behavior of dipeptides in the presence of other molecules, such as drugs and vitamins. After graduating with his bachelor's degree, he hopes to pursue a graduate education in pharmacology and drug design.  Email

Cher Li

Cher is a junior at Hunter College majoring in Chemistry. She previously worked under Professor Alvarado at Queens College studying the reversible molecular mechanisms that shape a genome to changes in the environment. At Ulijn Lab, under the guidance of Dr. Hamish Swanson, her current research focuses on using molecular dynamics simulations to mechanistically study the self-assembly behavior of short-chain peptides, in order to characterize the relationship between peptide sequence and behavior. After graduating with her Bachelor’s, she hopes to further pursue research through graduate school or in industry. Email