CURRENT GROUP MEMBERS

Postdocs

Matthew Nodwell ðŸ‡¨ðŸ‡¦

Matt is a BC native from Penticton. Before joining the Britton group, he did his Ph.D. with Dr. Raymond Andersen at UBC, then worked as a Humboldt postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Stephan Sieber at the Technical University of Munich. He is happy to be back home, where he can pursue outdoor activities such as mountain biking, skiing, and camping. 

Narasimha Thota ðŸ‡®ðŸ‡³

Narasimha ("Simha") was born and raised in Andhra Pradesh, India where he received his M.Sc. in Chemistry from the IIT-Bombay in 2011. He completed his Ph.D. under the supervision of Prof. Todd L. Lowary, working on the total synthesis of the Campylobacter glycan fragments. Joing the Britton group in 2019, his research involves the synthesis of nucleoside analogues. Outside of the lab, Simha enjoys playing badminton, squash and cricket.

Matthew Anketell ðŸ‡¬ðŸ‡§

Matthew grew up in the south east of England. He studied for his undergrad at the University of Cambridge, doing his masters project on the total synthesis of patellazole B in the lab of Professor Ian Paterson. He continued to do his Ph.D. in the Paterson lab, completing the first total synthesis of the actinoallolide family of antiparasitic polyketide natural products. He has many hobbies including reading literature, hiking, birdwatching, cooking and programming.  

Bara Singh 🇮🇳

Bara is an Indian native who hails from Punjab. He received his Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Science and Educational Research in Mohali, Punjab, in November 2022, working under the guidance of Dr. Sripada S. V. Ramasastry. His Ph.D. research focused on developing new strategies for synthesizing small and medium-sized rings with an all-carbon quaternary/spiro center based on sulfur ylide and π-allylpalladium chemistry. In October 2023, Bara joined the Britton lab as a postdoctoral fellow and is currently working on synthesizing bicyclic nucleoside analogues. He enjoys studying literature, going to the gym, and playing cricket.

Guillermo Caballero Garcia ðŸ‡²ðŸ‡½

Guillermo (nickname Memo) was born and raised in central Mexico. He studied chemistry at the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico, graduating in 2014. He then taught chemistry at the high school level (at the same high school he attended) for one year before starting his Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge. During his Ph.D., in Jonathan Goodman's group, he worked on asymmetric organocatalysis using chiral phosphoric acids and did computational chemistry to explain enantioselectivity outcomes. Memo joined the Britton group in 2021 and he's currently working on the total synthesis of complex molecules. When he is not doing science you can find him at the Jackalopes reading sci-fi novels while enjoying a beer with nice metal music.

Darryl Wilson ðŸ‡¨ðŸ‡¦  

Darryl was born and raised in Abbotsford, BC. In 2017 Darryl received his B.Sc. in chemistry from the University of the Fraser Valley, working with Drs. Noham Weinberg and Cory Beshara where he was able to explore both synthetic and computational chemistry. He joined the Britton and Linington groups at SFU to combine data mining and synthetic chemistry for the development of novel natural product-like compounds. Outside of class his hobbies include: curling (yes the sport!), fountain pens, fantasy novels, and anything science fiction.

Graduate Students

Daniel Driedger ðŸ‡¨ðŸ‡¦

Daniel was born and raised in Abbotsford, BC, where he completed his B.Sc. in chemistry at the University of the Fraser Valley. During his degree, he worked under the supervision of Dr. Chadron Friesen (TWU) on the development of a difluoroalkyl ether synthesis. He joined the Britton lab in the summer of 2019 and is excited to be pursuing a Ph.D. focused on the development of new synthetic methodology. Apart from lab work, he enjoys playing sports (hockey, volleyball, squash, tennis), cycling, board games, guitar, and listening to worship music. 

Cohan Huxley ðŸ‡¦ðŸ‡º

Cohan completed his Bachelors of Biomolecular Sci. (Hons) at Griffith University in 2018 with Queensland Health Forensic and Scientific Services under Dr. Urs Wermuth and Dr. Mark Coster. After completing his degree Cohan worked with Griffith University in technical support and nature products research under Dr. Rohan Davis before starting with the Britton Lab in late 2019. Cohan enjoys listening to music and podcasts and playing guitar.

Tommi Muilu ðŸ‡«ðŸ‡®

Tommi was born and raised in the Capital Region of Helsinki, Finland. After finishing the International Baccalaureate (IB) program in Finland, Tommi moved to Scotland where he completed his undergraduate and masters in Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry at the University of St Andrews. After graduating in 2021, Tommi started his PhD degree at SFU and is now working on the synthesis of novel, locked nucleosides. Outside the lab, Tommi enjoys hiking, playing tennis and throwing a frisbee around.

Carolyn ðŸ‡¨ðŸ‡¦

Carolyn was born and raised in Waterloo, Ontario. She later completed her undergrad at the University of Western Ontario where she looked at the effects of corrosion on nuclear fuel waste containers under the supervision of Dr. Samantha Gateman. Carolyn joined the Britton Lab in May 2022, working on synthesizing carbafucose prodrugs. Outside of chemistry, she enjoys spending time outside hiking, scuba diving, or playing sports.

Suping Baikabi ðŸ‡§ðŸ‡¼

Suping hails from Malaka, a small village in the central part of Botswana. He completed his B.Sc. in Chemistry at University of Botswana in 2019. Inspired by the Britton lab's work, and its relevance during the COVID-19 pandemic, he joined the group in the summer of 2022 in pursuit of a Ph.D. His research focuses on method development for synthesis of nucleoside analogues. Outside the lab, Suping enjoys road cycling and listening to music. 

Alan Brooke ðŸ‡¨ðŸ‡¦ðŸ‡¬ðŸ‡§

Alan completed his B.Sc. in chemistry at Trinity Western University (Langley, BC) in 2022, where under the supervision of Chadron Friesen he helped develop novel methods for the synthesis of fluorine-containing small molecules. As an undergraduate researcher, he worked with the Britton lab in the summers of 2021 and 2022 developing a novel method for the synthesis of α-haloaldehydes. In Fall 2022 he began his Ph.D. degree as a graduate member of the Britton group focusing on the same method and its applications. Outside of the lab, Alan enjoys playing soccer and ultimate frisbee, working out at the gym, watching movies, and listening to music. 

Huyen (Minh) Tran ðŸ‡»ðŸ‡³

Huyen (Minh) Tran, from Hanoi, Vietnam, completed her Combined Chemistry and Biochemistry (BSc.) degree at the University of Victoria in 2022. During her undergraduate degree, she had a chance to work on photoaffinity labeling chemistry under the supervision of Dr. Jeremy Wulff. She joined the Britton lab at SFU in the Fall of 2022 in pursuit of a M.Sc. Her project focuses on improving both the diastereo- and enantioselectivity of the synthesis of nucleoside analogs. Outside of work, she enjoys drawing, writing, and movies.

Ethan Fung ðŸ‡¨ðŸ‡¦

Ethan was born and raised in Vancouver, B.C where he graduated with a B.Sc. (combined honours biochemistry and chemistry) from UBC. At UBC he discovered a passion for organic chemistry working under professor David Perrin for two years. During his time at UBC, Ethan worked on synthesizing unnatural amino acids for incorporation into potential peptide therapeutics. Afterwards, Ethan joined the Britton lab in 2023 as a Ph.D. student working on the synthesis of carbocyclic nucleosides analogues. Outside of the lab he enjoys playing sports, reading about physics and finance, and is striving to learn the piano.

William Yang ðŸ‡¨ðŸ‡¦

William completed his B.Sc. in Chemistry, Life Science, and Environmental Science at UBC in 2023. During his time at UBC, he had the opportunity to work with several distinguished organic chemistry researchers. He discovered his passion for organic chemistry in the classroom and in the research lab from Dr. Glenn Sammis, where he utilized thionyl fluoride as a reagent for synthesizing pharmaceutically relevant sulfur-based compounds. William joined the Britton Lab in 2023 in pursuit of an M.Sc. working on the total synthesis of Dragocin. Outside of the lab, he can be found hiking, playing video games, and wandering around the far depths of yonder (exploring).

Megan Schroeder ðŸ‡¨ðŸ‡¦

Megan was born and raised Elm Creek, Manitoba. She later moved to Kelowna, where she completed her Honour's BSc in biochemistry and molecular biology at UBC Okanagan. During this time, she developed a passion for organic synthesis under the supervision of Dr. Frederic Menard, where she worked to synthesize a fluorescent chemical probe for labelling calcium channels in neurons. She joined the lab in September 2024 and is excited to pursue a Ph.D. focused on natural product synthesis. Her work in the Britton lab focuses on the derivatization of the anti-cancer drug candidate, eleutherobin. Outside of the lab, she enjoys playing sports, reading and hiking.

Breanna Taylor ðŸ‡¨ðŸ‡¦

Breanna was raised in Amherst, Nova Scotia, and later moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia to attend Dalhousie University. At Dalhousie, Breanna received her BSc Honours in Chemistry while under the supervision of Dr. Alison Thompson where she synthesized molecules with pyrrolic frameworks, such as BODIPY dyes. At SFU, Breanna is involved with the total synthesis and derivatization of natural products. Outside of the lab, Breanna enjoys spending her time painting, reading historical fiction and working out.