Ernest Awoonor-Williams2014 – 2020Current Position: Senior Scientist at Schrödinger Inc
ACEnet Fellow and Vanier Scholar
Ernest completed his B.Sc. (Hons) in chemistry at Mount Allison University. He completed an Honours thesis with Professor Khashayar Ghandi. He is developing methods to model the reactivity of cysteine residues with covalent-modifier drugs.
  • Awoonor-Williams, E., Rowley, C. N. How Reactive are Druggable Cysteines in Protein Kinases? J. Chem. Inf. Model. 2018
  • Awoonor-Williams, E., Rowley, C. N. The Hydration Structure of Methylthiolate from QM/MM Molecular Dynamics J. Chem. Phys. 2018, 149, 045103 doi: 10.1063/1.5038010
  • Awoonor-Williams, E., Walsh, A. G., Rowley, C. N. BBA Proteins and Proteom. 2017, doi: 10.1016/j.bbapap.2017.05.009
  • Awoonor-Williams, E., Rowley, C. N. J. Chem. Phys. 2017, 146 (3) doi: 10.1063/1.4974164
  • Awoonor-Williams, E., Rowley, C.N. J. Chem. Theory Comput., 2016, doi: 10.1021/acs.jctc.6b00631
  • Awoonor-Williams, E., Rowley, C.N. Biochim. Biophys. Acta - Biomembranes 2016, doi: 10.1016/j.bbamem.2015.12.014
Fatima Sajadi 2016 – 2018 B.Sc. Shahid Beheshti University
M.Sc. Memorial (chemistry)
Thesis: Simulations of gasotransmitter permeation through lipid bilayers
Two papers.
Mohamad Mohebifar 2016 – 2018 B.Sc. Shahid Beheshti University
M.Sc. Memorial (chemistry) Thesis: Evaluating and improving the description of London dispersion interactions in molecular mechanical force fields using the exchange-hole dipole moment model
Three papers.
Now a Senior Software Developer at Shopify
Jason Sylvester 2016 – 2017 Honours project
One paper.
Research Assistant, Dalhousie University
Kari Gaalswyk 2014 – 2016

B.Sc. Denver (Chemistry and Computer Science)
M.Sc. Memorial (scientific computing)

Thesis: Molecular Simulation Methods for Conformational Searches and Diffusivity

Two first author papers.

Recipient of Shawn C. Hillier Memorial Scholarship

Now in a Ph.D. program at the University of Calgary in the MacCallum Group [LinkedIn]
Meghan Careen Summer 2016 WISE-NL Summer Employment Program
Andrew Walsh 2015 – 2016 Honours project
Evan Walters Summer 2015

Research Assistant

Currently enrolled in medical school at Memorial University
Jessica Besaw 2013 – 2015

B.Sc. Memorial (combined honours chemsitry and applied mathematics)
M.Sc. Memorial (chemistry)

Thesis: A Computational and Experimental Study of the Structure of the C-terminal Domain of the Wildtype and Mutant FOXL1 Protein

Now in Ph.D. program at the University of Toronto [LinkedIn]
Saleh Riahi 2012 – 2014

B.Sc. Isfahan University of Technology (Applied Chemistry)
M.Sc. (chemistry)

Thesis: "Development of the Drude Polarizable Force Field for H2S and QM/MM Study of Aqueous Mg2+ and Zn2+" [PDF]

Five first author papers

Now a postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology [LinkedIn]
Tiffany Tozer Summer 2014

Research Assistant

Pharmacy resident

One paper
Jennifer Smith 2013 – 2014

SURA, Honours project, and NSERC USRA student

Two first author papers

Winner of Best Undergraduate Poster Award at 2014 Canadian Society for Chemistry Conference in Vancouver, BC

Now a family physician in Newfoundland.
Alice Chen Summer 2014

WISE NL Summer Employment Program
Archita Adluri Summer 2013

WISE NL Summer Employment Program and Research Assistant

One paper
Jennifer Murphy Summer 2013

Research Assistant

Now a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Windsor

One paper
Doug Skirving September 2012 – April 2013

Honours thesis - The Structure and Dynamics of Influenza A Nucleoprotein

Currently in medical school at Memorial University
Lana Hiscock Summer 2012

Summer Undergraduate Research Award Student.

One paper
Leif Hickey Summer 2012–2014

Summer Undergraduate Research Award Student

One first author paper.

3rd Engineer at Canadian Coast Guard