May 2016: Alford Antoine John

Alford Antoine John, 4th-year PhD student in Prof. Lin's lab

• First-author publication in Organic Letters: Org. Lett., 2015, 17(24), 6258-6261.

"Controlling the structure of proteins is an attractive gateway towards being able to control the function of that protein. Our goal is to synthesize red-shifted azobenzene amino acids that can be incorporated into protein using amber codon suppression technique, with the aim of achieving spatiotemporal control using visible light.

I enjoy being a graduate student because I appreciate the challenge associated with learning something new, and applying accumulated knowledge into relevant applications. In addition, I have a naturally curious mind, and being a chemistry graduate student at UB gives me practical tools I need to freely satisfy my innate scientific curiosity.

I love to travel and experience different cultures in their native settings! I also spend a lot of time doing edible chemistry (cooking and baking)!"