Meet the Team

June 25th, 2024. The house is full!

Raúl Hernández Sánchez (PI)

​2015   Ph.D Chemistry, Harvard University
2012   A.M. Chemistry, Harvard University
2010   B.Sc. Chemistry ITESM Campus Monterrey

P o s t d o c s

Hormoz Khosravi

Google scholar profile
Hormoz was born in Gilan-e Gharb, Iran and received his BSc in chemistry from the Razi University in Kermanshah. In 2014, he began his MSc in polymer chemistry with Dr. Ali Rostami at the Shahid Beheshti University, where he worked on "squaramide as a hydrogen-bonding catalyst for the synthesis and investigating of ring-opening polymerization of cyclic carbonates". In 2022, Hormoz completed his doctoral degree at K. N. Toosi University of Technology under the supervision of Prof. Saeed Balalaie, which he worked on the development of domino reactions of enynes such as enynals and 1,3-diene-5-ynes that had shed light on 8π-electrocyclization with alkynes experimentally and computationally. During his PhD, he received two scholarships to join the Prof. Bernhard Breit research group at the Albert Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, which he focused on "electrophilic allyl metal precursors in transition metal catalysis". In August 2023, Hormoz joined Dr. Raúl Hernández Sánchez’s research group as a postdoctoral researcher.
[email protected]

Hong-Lei Xu

Google scholar profile
Hong-Lei was born in Shangqiu, He’nan province, China. He obtained his B.S. degree in Chemistry from Beijing Technology and Business University. During his M.S. training, he worked in Prof. Yue Chen group (Nankai University), involving the synthesis and modification of natural products with biological activities, such as the BE-43547A2 and Cyclotheonellazole A. Next, Hong-Lei pursued his Ph.D. in the lab of Prof. Zhong-Ming Sun in Nankai University, which he received in June 2022. His research topic is mainly focused on the synthesis of new types of Ge/Sn cluster anions with unusual metal-metal bonding. After that, Hong-Lei continued his research as a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Prof. Jianwei Sun at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. In November 2023, Hong-Lei joined Rice University.
[email protected]

G r a d u a t e   S t u d e n t s

Victor Espinoza Castro

Victor was born in Sinaloa, Mexico but grew up in Los Angeles, CA. He earned his B.S. degree in Chemistry at California State University, Fullerton (CSUF). As a McNair Scholar at CSUF, he worked in the lab of Dr. Peter de Lijser and studied the reactive intermediates that form from the photooxidation of oxime and oxime ethers. These intermediates can potentially provide a novel synthetic route for the formation of isoindole heterocycles. Over the Summer of 2019, he worked in the lab of Dr. Alina Schimpf at the University of California San Diego (UC San Diego). At UC San Diego, he synthesized polyoxovanadate clusters and frameworks in order to form thin films using polyethylene glycol. He came to the University of Pittsburgh in the Summer of 2020 to pursue his PhD in Chemistry.
[email protected]

Alejandro Fuentes Beltran

Bio

Nghi La

Nghi is originally from Vietnam and earned her B.S degree in Chemistry at Texas Christian University (Fort Worth, TX). During her undergraduate studies, Nghi worked in the lab of Dr. Jeff Coffer, where she did research on synthesizing perovskite-loaded materials and studying their optoelectronic properties for the fabrication of new LEDs. She came to Rice University in the fall of 2021 to pursue her PhD in Chemistry.
[email protected]

Odunola Orege

Odunola hails from Ibadan, Oyo state, Nigeria. She earned her B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Industrial Chemistry from the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. Her M.Sc. thesis was in the removal of amoxicillin from aqueous media using silver nanoparticles-maize leaf composite under the supervision of Prof. F.A. Dawodu.
Odunola joined Rice University in the fall of 2023.
[email protected]

Manasseh Osei

Manasseh is originally from Ghana and received his bachelors from KNUST in Ghana. He worked in the lab of Prof. Evans Adei and Dr. Richard Tia, where he did quantum chemical calculations on trimethylenemethane and the effects of the installation of heteroatoms on reactivity patterns in the singlet and triplet spin states.
[email protected]

Jorge Rodas

Jorge was born in Houston, Texas and received his bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and Biophysics from Amherst College. He was a member of Dr. Anthony Bishop’s lab where he worked on synthesizing, characterizing, and testing novel organic inhibitors for SRC-Homology-2-Domain containing PTP-2. He joined Rice University in the fall of 2023 in pursuit of a PhD in Biochemistry.
[email protected]

Lul Sharif

Lul is from Minnesota and received her bachelors in chemistry at Swarthmore College. She worked in the lab of Dr. Kathryn Riley to develop electrochemistry techniques to quantify the dissolution kinetics of LiCoO2 nanoparticles. At Rice, Lul hopes to continue using chemistry to address environmental concerns. In her free time, she likes to play ultimate frisbee, run, and bake. She came to Rice University in the summer of 2022 to pursue her PhD in Chemistry.
[email protected]

U n d e r g r a d u a t e   S t u d e n t s

Mohammad Bilal

Mohammad was born in Tartous, Syria, where he lived before starting his undergraduate studies at Rice University. He is now a sophomore at Brown College, and he expects to graduate in May 2025 with a degree in Chemistry. Prior to joining Rice’s international community, Mohammad was a member of the Syrian International Chemistry Team, where he competed at the International Chemistry Olympiads in 2019 and 2020 in France and Russia. He later went on to coach younger Syrian competitors and develop chemistry content and study tools in Arabic. These experiences sparked his interest in pursuing chemistry research and joining the HSG. He is working with Victor expanding on the synthesis of tubularenes. Mohammad is looking forward to learning from the team at HSG and hopes to eventually pursue graduate studies in chemistry.

Sam de Armas

Bio

Charlotte Lawrence

Charlotte is from Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts, and is a Hanszen freshman and expects to graduate in 2027 with a degree in Chemistry. Before starting at Rice, Charlotte ran both the Science and Health Occupations (HOSA) clubs at her high school. At HSG, Charlotte is working under the mentorship of Saeed. Charlotte is thrilled to be a part of the Hernandez Sanchez Lab and gain new knowledge as she pursues a future in chemistry and medicine.

Yehjune Moon

Yehjune Moon was born in Haenam, South Korea, and grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana before studying at Rice University. He is a freshman at Duncan College, expecting to graduate in 2027 with a degree in Chemistry. Yehjune joined the HSG group in 2024 and is currently working under the mentorship of Hong-Lei Xu in the synthesis of metal clusters.

Agustin Valles

Agustin was born in El Paso, Texas and grew up in the bordering city of Juarez, Mexico. He is now a sophomore at Sid Richardson, and he expects to graduate in May 2025 with a degree in Chemistry. Prior to starting his undergraduate career, Agustin competed in the Chemistry Olympiad and founded a Chemistry Club at his high school. He is working with Victor to explore the use of C–H hydrogen bonding anion hosts as electrocatalysts during carbon dioxide reduction.

V i s i t i n g   S c h o l a r s

Prof. Natalia Gonzalez-Pech

Dr. Natalia Gonzalez-Pech is originally from Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico. She received her B.S. in Chemistry from Monterrey Tech (ITESM). In 2016, Natalia completed her Ph.D. in Chemistry, in Rice University. Her doctoral research focused on nanomaterials synthesis and characterization, and their applications in water processes. Dr. Gonzalez-Pech did her postdoctoral research at UCSD. Her research focus is in the characterization of metal-containing nanoparticles formed in industrial processes with an emphasis on understanding their health-related effects. Currently, she is an assistant professor at Hope College. Her research group focuses on the development of nanomaterials for water remediation and energy-related applications in a sustainable manner.
[email protected]

Prof. Marcelo Videa Vargas

Marcelo Videa earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Sciences from Tecnológico de Monterrey in 1993 and a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Arizona State University in 1999. His thesis project was "Conductivity and self-diffusivity measurements on molten lithium electrolytes for battery applications." He joined Tecnológico de Monterrey in August 2000 and was director of the undergraduate program in Chemistry from 2001 to 2013. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Rice University. His research focuses on the electrochemical synthesis of metallic nanoparticles and the study of parameters for the kinetic control of nucleation and growth processes to understand the control of the size and shape of nanoparticles produced chemically or electrochemically to contribute to the applications of electrocatalysis and the development of sensors. He is a National Research System (SNII) Level II member

Group Alumni
Former postdoctoral associates
Dr. Xiangquan (Eric) Hu - Assistant Professor Xi'an Jiaotong University
Dr. Edison Castro - Scientist I @PCT Therapeutics, Inc.
Dr. Thomas H. Allen - Senior Development Chemist @Boron Specialties, LLC

Former graduate students
Saeed Mirzaei - Graduate student at Rice
Valeria Stevens - Graduate student in the Sarlah Group (Rice)
Saber Mirzaei - Postdoctoral researcher in the Yaghi group at UC Berkeley
Swati Arora - Scientist III Process Chemist at Thermo Fisher 
Brett Lucht - Graduate student in the Transue Group (Pitt) 
Keren Lee - Graduate student in the Hutchison Group (Pitt)
​Mohammad Azizur Rahman - Graduate student @WVU
Omri Abarbanel - Graduate student in the Hutchison Group (Pitt)

Former undergraduate students
Ava Grace Slobin (NSF RLEAD - REU)
Raúl Paredes Noroña (TRREx)
Victor Caycedo
​Mira Goldstein
​Nicholas Figueroa (NSF RLEAD - REU)
​Nicole Imming
Gabriella Prieto
​Gabriella Belsito
​Addison Averill
Emily Nicola
Derek Lamb (BS 2021) - Lab Assistant @Center for Blood Oxygen Transport & Hemostasis, University of Maryland
Bridget Glessner (BS 2020) - Raw Materials Chemist @Eurofins
James Dages (BS 2020) - Quality Control Analyst @Polysciences, Inc.
Madison Keating (BS 2020) - Forensic Scientist @Atlantic Diagnostic Laboratories
Nicolas D'Annunzio (BS 2019) - Research Associate @Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Ryan W. McLane (BS 2019) - Product Optimization Specialist @Thermo Fisher Scientific

Rice University, 6100 Main St., Houston, TX 77005. +1 (713) 348-5694. Ralph S. O’Connor Building for Engineering Science
 344 and 348. ​[email protected] 
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