Dr. Robert Comito:

A native New Jersean, Rob attended college at Rutgers University, where he performed undergraduate research in the laboratory of Professor Spencer Knapp. For his PhD, Rob studied asymmetric catalysis and organic synthesis in the laboratory of Professor David MacMillan at Princeton University. His doctoral studies focused on stereoselective carbon-carbon bond forming reactions using organocatalysis and copper catalysis. After his PhD, Rob joined the laboratory of Professor Mircea Dincă at MIT, to study organometallic catalysis in metal-organic frameworks. Through this work, Rob prepared single-site heterogeneous catalysts for selective olefin oligomerization and polymerization. For his independent career, Rob applies catalysis toward problems in organic and polymer synthesis.

Visiting Scholars:

Pratyush Naik: Pratyush was born and brought up in Balangir, Odisha, India. He completed his Integrated MSc. a 5-year program from National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Bhubaneshwar. During this tenure he worked under Prof. Sanjib Kar on synthesizing, spectroscopically studying various Metallocorroles of Antimony and Copper. He also investigated their catalytic properties in small molecule oxidation. In his free time, he enjoys watching a game of soccer or playing cricket and Badminton.

Fourth-Year Graduate Students:

Simran Simran: Simran was born and raised in Kurukshetra, Haryana, India. Simran did her Bachelors in science and masters in chemistry from Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra. During her masters, Simran worked on liquid crystals displays, polymer composites and computational and statistical analysis under the supervision of Professor Sanjiv Arora, Dr. Hardeep Anand and Dr. Sohan Lal. Then, she did a project at Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-NEIST) where she took the opportunity to learn about data assimilation. Simran enjoys cooking and listening to music in my free time.

Qingqing Dong: Qingqing majored in biochemistry and received my bachelor's degree at Central Michigan University where she worked at Dr. Choon Lee's lab. She worked on synthesis of building blocks that will be used for powerful antioxidant dendrimer synthesis. Then she went to the department of chemistry for my Master's degree and worked for Dr. Benjamin Swarts on chemoenzymatic synthesis of trehalose-6-phosphate analogous at Central Michigan University. After recieving her Master's degree, Qingqing worked at Shanghai Henlius Biotech as an upstream engineer for monoclonal antibody production. In my free time, Qingqing enjoy traveling and hiking.

Oshani Wijesinghe: Oshani was born and raised in Gampaha, Sri Lanka. She did her Bachelor of Science Honours degree in Chemistry from University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. During her undergraduate research she worked with "Investigation of Heavy metals and environmental samples using analytical instruments." During the leisure time she enjoys traveling and listening to songs.

Third-Year Graduate Students:

Gurleen Kaur: Gurleen kaur was born in Amritsar India. She earned her Bachelor’s in Chemistry in 2020 from Khalsa college Amritsar, and the Master's degree in chemistry in 2022 from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, where she worked on organic synthesis, "Synthesis of Spiro-Epoxy Isatin Utilizing the Corey-Chaykovysky Reaction." In August 2023, she joined Comito’s research group at the University of Houston as a graduate student. In her free time, she likes to read books and play badminton.

Second-Year Graduate Students:

Ravneet Kaur: Ravneet Kaur was born in Amritsar, Punjab, India. She completed her bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 2020 and her master’s degree in chemistry in 2022 from Khalsa College, Amritsar, Punjab, India. During her master’s program, she conducted research on “Catalyst Screening for the Synthesis of 3-Substituted 3-Hydroxy-2-Oxindoles” under the supervision of Dr. Kirandeep Kaur and Dr. Jasneet Kaur. In her free time, she enjoys listening to music and watching movies.

Undergraduate Students:

Tayann Cobo: Born and raised in Houston, Tayann graduated from Cypress Lakes High School in Katy, Texas, with her associate degree. She is now pursuing her undergraduate degree in Public Health, B.S. With her knowledge she hopes to obtain doing research, she wants to expand it into her dreams of being a physician. She plays volleyball, board games, and reads in her free time.

Adam Czader: Adam, a native of Houston, Texas, graduated from Glenda Dawson High School in 2021 and is currently pursuing a degree in chemistry at the University of Houston. His primary academic interest is synthetic organic chemistry, particularly its applications in enhancing polymers. Outside of his studies, Adam spends his free time exercising, practicing the trumpet, and playing soccer.

Komathi Sivakumar: Komathi was born in Coimbatore, India and graduated from Seven Lakes High School in Katy, Texas. As an undergraduate at the University of Houston, she is pursuing a degree in Chemistry, B.S. With an avid interest in research, she hopes to gain valuable knowledge and skills as she works toward her goal of becoming a physician. In her free time, she enjoys reading novels and poetry.

Alumni:

Postdoctoral:

Dr. Subrata Ghosh. Member 2018-2022. Currently a postdoc with Corey Stephenson at the University of Michigan. (as of June 2023)
Dr. Liton Seikh. Member 2025-2026.

Graduate:

Dr. Maxym Tansky. Member 2018-2023. Currently a JSPS postdoc with Professor Kotaro Sato at Tokyo Institute of Technology. (as of June 2023)
Dr. Zilu Tang. Member 2018-2023. Currently a postdoc with Dr. Jeffrey Lipshultz at Stony Brook University. (as of June 2023)
Dr. Zipeng Gu. Member 2018-2023. Currently a Research Scientist in Bioconjugation Chemistry at Proteogenomics Research Institute for Systems Medicine (PRISM) (as of August 2023).
Dr. Mengnan Hu. Member 2018-2023. Currently a Research Scientist at Affinity Chemistry. (as of Ausust 2023).
Dr. Jin Qian. Member 2018-2023. Postdoctoral scholar with Zhe Qiang at the University of Southern Mississippi. (As of October 2025)
Dr. Pratyush Naik. Member 2020-2025.
Dr. Lizhe He. Member 2020-2025.

Undergraduate:

Christina Nnabuife. Class of 2021. UH Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship. Supervised by Dr. Subrata Ghosh. Currently a Research Technician in the Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology at Baylor College of Medicine. (as of June 2023)
Thomas Cao. Class of 2021. Supervised by Maxym Tansky. Currently a graduate student in Chemical Engineering at the University of Houston. Thomas's advisor is Prof. Alamgir Karim. (as of June 2023)
Ryan Bujnoch. Class of 2023. Supervised by Dr. Subrata Ghosh. Commissioned as a second lieutenant in the US Air Force. (as of June 2023)
Nicholas Nguyen. Class of 2023. UH Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship. Supervised by Zilu Tang, and then by Lizhe He. Currently a medical student at the Joe R. & Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine in San Antonio. (as of June 2023)
Nathan Seto. Class of 2023. UH Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship. Provost Undergraduate Research Scholarship. Supervised by Zipeng Gu. Applying to medical school. (as of June 2023)
Samiksha Chandran. Class of 2025. Provost Undergraduate Research Scholarship. Supervised by Pratyush Naik.
Tri Nguyen. Class of 2024. Provost Undergraduate Research Scholarship. Supervised by Oshani Wijesinghe.

High School:

Xirui Peng. Welch Summer Scholar, 2019. Supervised by Maxym Tansky. Currently attending college at UT Austin, class of 2024, majoring in mathematics. (as of June 2021)
Alvina Shaik. Welch Summer Scholar, 2024. Supervised by Oshani Wijesinghe. Currently a BS/MD student at the University of Tulsa/OU College of Medicine (as of October 2025)
Advaith Nair. Supervised by Lizhe He.