Current Group Members

Ronald Hann

Patrick Eidam

Born in New Castle, Pennsylvania
5th Year graduate student, Synthetic Organic Chemistry, University of Virginia
B.S. Chemistry, Lafayette College (Easton, PA)

Patrick joined the Marshall lab in the summer of 2001. His refined tastes, combined with his skills with a French press have since earned him widespread respect in the Marshall lab coffee community. Indeed, Patrick considers the greatest accomplish in lab thus far to be making coffee for Dr. Ireland. In his spare time, Patrick enjoys hiking, sports, watching movies, taking a "Thai with extra shrimp", smoking cigars, drinking good beer and playing with his dog, Lexington. Visitors are encouraged to participate in a little name game of trying to stump Patrick. You will find it is an arduous task and we are proud to have Patrick serving a five year term as our walking encyclopedia of name reactions.

For the past three years Patrick has been working towards the total synthesis of the Callipeltoside Aglycon.

Hilary Schenck Eidam

From York, Pennsylvania
Post-doctoral student
B.S. Gettysburg College, 2000
Ph.D. UVa, 2004 (Dr. Milton Brown)
Hilary is currently the Marshall lab’s only post-doc. Seeing as how she earned her Ph.D. in only four years, she must have been very busy dirtying up glassware. As a result Hilary would love to find an undergrad willing to donate their time to clean glassware. She hopes to eventually move back to Pennsylvania while working in the pharmaceutical industry. Her interests include photography, dog agility, herding and doing therapy visits with her shelties, Madison and Lexington. Hilary’s spunky personality and strong viewpoints are responsible for inciting many of the interesting debates that sporadically occur in our lab. Feel free to walk up to her and say something obnoxiously political. It will evoke a response worthy of an Oscar!

Hillary is currently working on the synthesis of dictyostatin-1.

Ann M. Mikowski

Born in Brookfield, IL (near Chicago….they have a zoo)
4th Year graduate student, Synthetic Organic Chemistry, University of Virginia
B.S. Chemistry, German minor, summa cum laude, William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA

It appears that Ann's biggest joy in life comes from walking in the footsteps of Thomas Jefferson himself. After completing her undergrad at the College of William and Mary where Mr. Jefferson attended over two centuries ago, she now joins us at the university that he created. While it is unknown if she has any presidential ambitions, it is known that she began research in the Marshall lab in the summer of 2002. Aside from comparing the picturesque campuses of UVA and W&M, she likes to play tennis, bowl, and read science fiction. She also claims to be a huge fan of Lord of the Rings (just like everyone else). Some of Ann’s other joys in life include being a bonafide Star Wars fan and making frequent trips to the Wood Grill with Jesse and April.

Ann’s hard work first paid off in her total synthesis of 4 leptostatin (unnatural hybrid of leptomycin and callystatin) analogs. She synthesized all four stereoisomers of leptostatin and has since moved on to the C₁₇-C₃₂ fragment synthesis of ionomycin, a polyether antibiotic.

James Mulhearn

From Laurel Springs, New Jersey
3rd Year graduate student, Synthetic Organic Chemistry, University of Virginia
B.S. Chemistry, Eastern University, 2003

Since moving to Charlottesville, Jim has been to exactly one Phillies game. (Coincidentally, that is about how many they have won.) When his studies are complete, he hopes to move back to the northeast and never intends on visiting the Midwest.

After Jim finished his segment of superstolide A, which involved studying allenyl metal additions in chiral alpha amino aldehydes, his research shifted towards the synthesis of Uprolide D. Former group member Harry Chobanian got to the final step, but was unsuccessful at synthesizing the final product. Jim hopes to have better luck.

Josh McCoy

From Wooster, Ohio.
3rd Year graduate student, Synthetic Organic Chemistry, University of Virginia
B.S. Chemistry, Wittenberg University, Springfield, Ohio.

Josh is the Marshall lab's bonafide football fanatic. His loyalties include all Cleveland teams (the Browns, Calves and Indians) as well as the Ohio State Buckeyes. In case you haven't guessed, Josh's favorite sport is football and you will rarely see him working in the lab without a football shirt on. Josh's favorite place in the world is Glen Lake, Michigan.

Josh is working on an intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction in relation to the synthesis of the hydronaphthalene segment of Superstolide A.

Andrew Nolting

From Fort Wayne, Indiana
3rd Year graduate student, Synthetic Organic Chemistry, University of Virginia
B.S. Chemistry, Butler University, Indy, Indiana

Andy is a 3rd year grad student who spends his spare time reading. Among his favorite authors are James Joyce, T.S. Eliot, Kurt Vonnegut and Jack Kerouac. When his nose isn’t buried in a book, Andy can also be found listening to (and even playing) music. He has been married to his wife, Kelley, for one year and hopes to live in Venice, Italy…someway…somehow…someday.

Andy is working towards a synthesis of Amphidinolide E.

Jesse Sabatini

From the styx of Horseheads, New York
2nd Year Ph.D. candidate, Synthetic Organic Chemistry, University of Virginia
B.S., Molecular Biology, Chemistry minor, Binghamton University, 2004

Jesse, a 2nd year grad student, is working on the total synthesis of the Annonaceous Acetogenin, Asimicin. Jesse introduced the Marshall group to Grubbs chemistry and thus is wholly responsible for bringing our poor souls out of the dark ages of synthesis. His love for chemistry extends beyond his research and is evident in his passion for teaching, as he was the first chemistry teaching assistant to receive the Seven Society Graduate Fellowship for Superb Teaching.

Jesse loves his family, lives to do chemistry, and is the model American patriot. In his spare time, Jesse enjoys running marathons, for which he trains by running every day typically between the hours of 1 and 2 am. He is a big follower of the New York Giants football, claims the chef’s title “The King of Pancakes”, and enjoys showing off his talented tenor voice by singing chemistry songs. In the words of the man himself, “I will NEVER pass up the chance to go to the Wood Grill, especially with Ann and April” and also readily admits that at the ripe old age of 23, he still watches professional wrestling on occasion.

Martin Herold

From Wuppertal, Germany, home of the world’s oldest operating transportation monorail, the “Schwebebahn".
2nd Year Ph.D. candidate, Synthetic Organic Chemistry, University of Virginia
B.S. Chemistry, Technische Universität München (Technical University Munich)

Martin is the only “non-American” member of the Marshall Lab and as such takes pride in incorporating the European viewpoint into the various healthy debates that crop up from time to time. Martin not only excels at Chemistry, but has a passion for cycling and so it is not uncommon to walk into our break room and see a sleek racing bike resting in the corner. When he is not in the lab or on the bike, Martin enjoys cooking, practicing his French and given the chance, he would also like to revisit the piano.

April Richardson

Born and raised in Dallas, Texas. Was forced to reside in New Jersey (a.k.a. the armpit of America) for her teen years until she escaped to Allentown, Pennsylvania for college.
B.S., Chemistry, Muhlenberg College, 2005
B.A., Music, Muhlenberg College, 2005
1st Year Ph.D. candidate, Synthetic Organic Chemistry, University of Virginia

April is a first year graduate student who started work for the Marshall Lab in the summer of 2005. She loves synthetic organic chemistry (as she often relates it to “cooking with chemicals”) and is grateful to have found kind mentors in the Marshall Lab. April’s strong coffee addiction has only been fueled since joining the Marshall Lab and you will rarely see her without a beaker mug full of coffee. When she is not in the lab, class or teaching organic lab, April enjoys escaping to the country for a nice bike ride or revisiting her musical days on the flute and piano. Some of her other hobbies include tennis, swimming, hiking, cake decorating, and challenging her lab mates to a Wood Grill trip. April’s favorite place in the world is Toledo, Spain, but that may change as she has great plans for travel. On your next trip by the Marshall lab, be sure to drop by April’s “house” (desk) and ask for something yummy to eat as she loves being the “cookie mom”.

Ronald Koy Hann, Jr.

Ron is an army brat bred in Pennsylvania, but raised mainly in Virginia. He may be northern by birth, but is certainly southern by upbringing.
1st Year Ph.D. candidate, Synthetic Organic Chemistry, University of Virginia
A.S. Richard Bland College (1984)
B.S. Chemistry, College of William and Mary (1986)
M.A., Chemistry, College of William and Mary (1987)

Ron enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve in 1983 as an Infantryman. He was commissioned as an active duty officer in 1987 in the Army Chemical Corps and served two tours of duty in Iraq for Operations Desert Shield/Storm and Iraqi Freedom as well as a tour in Bosnia as part of SFOR 8, Operation Joint Forge. As a result, you will find that Ron is just as likely to say “Go Cavalry!” as “Go Cavaliers!” Ron has been married to his wife, Marsha for 17 years, and is blessed with 3 kids: Michael (14), Kaitlin (11) and Sarah (7). If you are ever visiting the new Chemistry building, be sure to drop by the Marshall lab and take a tour of the renowned Ronald Hann Medal Museum currently located at his desk. To get his attention, just yell out one of his many nicknames, such as “the Colonel” or “Ronbo” and he will be happy to give you a guided tour.