Cech Research Group

Nadja B. Cech, PhD
Associate Professor

Phone:	336.334.3017
Fax:	336.334.5402

nadja_cech@uncg.edu

Dr. Cech earned a BS degree in chemistry from Southern Oregon University at the age of 17. This degree was funded in part a large crop of the plant medicine Echinacea, which she helped to cultivate on her family’s organic farm. In 2001, Dr. Cech was awarded her PhD in Analytical Chemistry from the University of New Mexico, where she worked under the direction of Dr. Chris Enke, co-inventor of the triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. Dr. Cech’s initial research efforts were focused on fundamental studies of electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, and her review on this topic is one of the most widely referenced in this field (DOI: 10.1002/mas.10008).

When she was hired as an Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina Greensboro in 2001, Dr. Cech was excited to apply her theoretical studies of mass spectrometry to her long-dormant interest in medicinal plants. In particular, she tackled the question, “How can mass spectrometry be used to study the synergistic interactions responsible for the biological activity of botanical medicines?” This question has been the topic of 10 consecutive years of external funding from agencies including the National Institutes of Health (National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine). Dr. Cech’s work in this area was recently covered by C&E News, and she was awarded the Jack L. Beal Award from the Journal of Natural Products for best paper by a young investigator in 2011.

She currently supervises a dynamic group of 12 undergraduates, graduate students, and post-doctoral research associates. Dr. Cech has been recognized for both her teaching (with the 2008 University of North Carolina Greensboro College Teaching Award) and her research (with the 2011 University of North Carolina Greensboro Junior Research Excellence Award) and has published 25 peer-reviewed papers.

Current Lab Members
	Mary Beth Lovin Post-doctoral Research Associate melovin@uncg.edu PhD, Wake Forest University, Integrative Plant Biology MA, Developmental Psychology, University of North Carolina Greensboro BA, Psychology, Davidson College	Vamsikrishna Kandhi PhD Student, Medicinal Biochemistry v_kandhi@uncg.edu MS, Pharmacy, Kakatiya University, India BS, Pharmacy, Kakatiya University, India
	Keivan Ettefagh PhD Student, Medicinal Biochemistry kaettefa@uncg.edu BS, Chemistry, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill	Owen Bussey, III PhD Student, Medicinal Biochemistry robussey@uncg.edu BS, Chemistry, Davidson College
	Adam Brown PhD Student, Medicinal Biochemistry arbrown2@uncg.edu MS, Botany, University of Hawaii at Manoa BS, Biology, minors in Chemistry and Archeology, Lycoming College, PA AAS, Forest Technology, Pennsylvania College of Technology, PA	Daniel Todd PhD Student, Medicinal Biochemistry datodd3@uncg.edu BS, Chemistry, North Carolina State University
	Michael Conine MS Student, Chemistry michaelbconine@gmail.com BS, SUNY Oneonta, Chemistry and Adolescent Education	Scott Jarmusch BS Student, Biochemistry sajarmus@uncg.edu
	Patrick Cole BS Student, Biochemistry pscole@uncg.edu	Ashley Moody BS Student, Biochemistry anmoody@uncg.edu
	Fredrick Carter BS Student, Chemistry fscarter@uncg.edu BS, Wood Science & Technology, North Carolina State University	Clint Alfaro BS Student, Biochemistry and Biology cmalfaro@uncg.edu

Current Graduates from the Cech Laboratory
	Hiyas A. Junio Post-Doctoral Research Associate Indiana University hjunio@indiana.edu Advisor: Dr. Erin Carlson PhD, Medicinal Biochemistry, University of North Carolina Greensboro	Jennifer Flynn Goldston Graduate Research Assistant goldston@iastate.edu Iowa State University & Ames Laboratory, U.S. D.O.E. PhD Advisor: Dr. Marek Pruski
	Jessica R. Bame Graduate Research Assistant jbame3@gatech.edu Georgia Tech University PhD Advisor: Dr. Alfred Merrill	Amanda B. Roffman Graduate Research Assistant aroffman@uvm.edu University of Vermont PhD Advisor: Matthew D. Liptak
	Alan K. Jarmusch Graduate Research Assistant ajarmusc@purdue.edu Purdue University, Aston Labs PhD Advisor: Dr. R. Graham Cooks	Kathryn T. Micko Graduate Research Assistant KMT31@pitt.edu University of Pittsburgh PhD Advisor: Joe Grabowski