Megan Ken
Scripps Fellow, Principal Investigator | mken@scripps.edu

Julia Polay
Lab Administrative Coordinator | jpolay@scripps.edu
While my own background stems from an education and career outside of the sciences, I have spent the better part of the last decade surrounded by chemists. My previous experiences have demanded acute organization, clear communication, and an eye for detail. Nothing gives me more fulfillment than supporting a team of great minds and helping them achieve results.

Suraj Ugrani
Post-Doctoral Fellow | sugrani@scripps.edu
I am a chemical engineer by training with a keen interest in computational structural biology. During my master's and subsequent research fellowship at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, I engaged in experimental research on spray drying of lipid-encapsulated drug nanoparticles and flavor particles. As a chemical engineering PhD student at Purdue University, my work aimed to understand protein-ligand-solvent interactions to improve structure-based drug discovery. I employed molecular modeling techniques alongside machine learning models to build structure-property relationships. Here, my research will focus on addressing the challenges and limitations of applying molecular docking to RNA targets, discovery of RNA therapeutics, and RNA structure prediction.

Catherine Li
Graduate Student | cali@scripps.edu
I received my bachelor's degree in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania. At Penn, I conducted undergraduate and post-baccalaureate research in the lab of Dr. Shelley Berger, where I studied epigenetic regulators of senescence and aging as well as gene activation by nuclear speckles. I then worked at Aro Biotherapeutics as part of the preclinical research team, developing protein-siRNA conjugate drugs for rare genetic disorders and immune-mediated diseases. After matriculating at the Skaggs Graduate School of Chemical and Biological Sciences in 2023, I joined the Ken Lab as a PhD student. I am interested in studying RNA structural dynamics of HIV using biologically-relevant models and am excited about the application of these findings to RNA-targeted drug development.

Jessica Vance
Graduate Student | jvance@scripps.edu
As a scientist, I am interested in exploring the dynamics and structures of RNA. My current projects in the Ken Lab focus on identifying rare RNA conformational changes through NMR and observing the folding pathway of the HIV genome. I earned my bachelor’s degree in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of California, Berkeley, where I conducted undergraduate research in Prof. Jamie Cate’s lab as part of the NSF Center for Genetically Encoded Materials. There, I explored ways to expand the substrate scope of ribosome mediated peptide bond formation through chemical changes to the translational machinery. Beyond my lab-work, I am passionate about expanding science communication and creating development opportunities in science.

Shawn Sandhu
Research Technician | ssandhu@scripps.edu
I graduated from Michigan State University (MSU) with a bachelor's degree in chemistry. As an undergraduate at MSU, I worked as a researcher in Dr. Marcos Dantus' laboratory to study chemical reactions following strong-field ionization. I combined information from both femtosecond laser experiments and ab initio molecular dynamics to deduce mechanistic details of the reactions studied. After completing my undergrad, I joined Dr. Ken's lab to study the structural dynamics of RNA. I am looking forward to seeing our findings being used to help develop RNA targeting drugs.

Previous members