Principal Investigator
Peter Kekenes-Huskey, Ph.D.
ProfessorDepartment of Cell & Molecular Physiology
CV
Research and Teaching Statement
Ph.D. Chemistry, 2009
California Institute of Technology
B.S. Chemistry, 2001
UNC Asheville
California Institute of Technology
B.S. Chemistry, 2001
UNC Asheville
Peter Kekenes-Huskey, Ph.D. (PI) is an associate professor at Loyola University Chicago.
He graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina Asheville (2001), which was followed by a Fulbright Fellowship to Germany (link), whereafter he obtained his Ph.D. at the California Institute of Technology (2009).
At UNC Asheville, he developed algorithms for the ab initio prediction of halogenated ethane decomposition rates as a Barry Goldwater Scholar with Bert Holmes and George Heard (UNCA).
His Ph.D. research with William A. Goddard, III (Caltech) focused on developing Monte Carlo tools and molecular dynamics simulations.
Peter complemented his studies with applied mathematics and computer science coursework from algorithm design to parallel computing, in fulfillment of National Science Foundation and Department of Energy Computional Science Graduate Fellowships.
Following his Ph.D. work, he worked as a Staff Scientist at Arete Associates from 2007 to 2010, where he developed near-real time image processing and signal detection algorithms for defense applications.
Returning to his passion for the physical sciences, he pursued postdoctoral studies with Professors Andy McCammon (Chemistry) and Andrew McCulloch (Bioengineering) at the University of California San Diego under support of American Heart Association and National Institutes of Health fellowships, to understand cardiac calcium signaling using molecular dynamics, partial differential equations and systems biology models.
In 2014, he began his independent career in the Chemistry Department at U Kentucky, where his lab studied multi-physics descriptions of molecular-driven events with macro-scale phenomena, with myriad applications in biological and nanoscale systems. His lab moved to Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine in 2019 to build an experimental complement to his computational research directions. As an independent investigator, he has been recognized for this work through becoming the first Maximizing Investigators' Research Award recipient at the University of Kentucky (Link) and being named as the Stritch School of Medicine's Senior Scientist of the Year (Link).
In 2014, he began his independent career in the Chemistry Department at U Kentucky, where his lab studied multi-physics descriptions of molecular-driven events with macro-scale phenomena, with myriad applications in biological and nanoscale systems. His lab moved to Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine in 2019 to build an experimental complement to his computational research directions. As an independent investigator, he has been recognized for this work through becoming the first Maximizing Investigators' Research Award recipient at the University of Kentucky (Link) and being named as the Stritch School of Medicine's Senior Scientist of the Year (Link).
pkekeneshuskey@luc.edu
Postdoctoral Scholars
Xuan Fang, Ph.D.
Ph.D. Molecular Biochemistry and Biophysics, 2019
Illinois Institute of Technology
Illinois Institute of Technology
After graduating from Illinois Institute of Technology, Xuan joined the PKH lab in Jan, 2020. Having survived five brutal Chicago winters, he has developed a skill set in biochemical and biophysical characterization of proteins. His main research interest lies in the understanding of enzyme mechanisms on the molecular level, using both computational and experimental techniques. Outside the lab, Xuan is a big fan of basketball, beer, and Rock music. Fun fact, when time permits, Xuan also does micro home brew with his buddies. Best batch so far is a pineapple wheat ale with a really refreshing fruity taste (Recipe available upon request).
xfang2@luc.edu
Graduate Students
Undergraduate Students
Staff
Peter Varughese, MPH
Reseacher Assistant
Peter Varughese is a graduate from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) with honors obtaining a Bachelors of Science (BS) in Biological Sciences and a Bachelors of Art (BA) in Psychology. During his undergraduate studies, he did research on ovarian cancer at UIC College of Pharmacy. After completing his Masters of Public Health (MPH) with a concentration in Epidemiology at Loyola University Chicago (LUC), he is working on using image detection to identify differences in microlgia morphology between patient's with Alzheimer's Disease and patient's without Alzheimer's Disease.
pvarughese@luc.edu
Alec Loftus
Research Associate
Alec completed his bachelors in Molecular Biology and masters in Bioinformatics at Loyola University Chicago. He has a passion for molecular and genetic research with a focus on genetic diseases. He is joining the PKH lab as a summer intern to work on molecular dynamic simulations of parvalbumin using AMBER. Aside from research, Alec loves to sing and make music as well as run and bike around the neighborhoods of Chicago.
aloftus1@luc.edu
Summer Researcher
Alumni
Audrey Kongmeneck
Ph.D., Theoretical Chemistry
Joshua Bruno
Biophysics
Michael Muzupappa
Molecular Neuroscience
Rohan Sethi
Bioinformatics
Dylan Colli
BS Chemical Engineering
Geraldine San Ramon
MS Bioinformatics
Tom Pace
Ph.D. student in Physics & Astronomy
Caitlin Scott
Postdoctoral Researcher (Currently Assistant Professor)
Bin Sun
Postdoctoral Researcher (Currently Assistant Professor)
Ben Chun
Postdoctoral Researcher (Currently Process Controls Engineer)
Kalyan Immadisetty
Postdoctoral Researcher (Currently Lead Bioinformatician)
Jeremiah Jacob-Dolan
BS Biochemistry and Biostatistics
Chisom Orizu
2022 Summer Intern