Dr. Jason A. Carr

Position: Group Leader

Hello and welcome to the Carr-Group website,

My name is Dr. Jason A. Carr and I am an assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Louisiana at Monroe (www.ulm.edu) where I teach upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in chemistry. Presently, I am establishing an active research program in organic and medicinal chemistry with focus on the synthesis of therapeutic agents targeting anti-cancer and infectious diseases.

I was born in Belize, Central America and left Belize to further my education and settled in Sarasota, FL where I received my A.A. from Manatee Community College in 1997 followed by a B.A. in chemistry from New College of Florida in 1999. I then decided to pursue a doctorate at the University of South Florida.

While in the Ph.D. program at USF, I was very active in research in the Department of Chemistry. I co-authored four publications in peer-reviewed journals and made several poster presentations at regional and national meetings of the American Chemical Society. I am an active member of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, the American Chemical Society Organic and Carbohydrate Chemistry Divisions and the American Chemical Society Younger Chemist Society.

Cheers,
Dr. Carr

Aaron McCall

Position: Student Research Associate

Aaron is currently a student at the University of Louisiana at Monroe pursuing Pharmacy as his major degree. He is a graduate of the Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts (LSMSA).....'a residential high school founded to serve the academic, artistic, and creative needs of gifted or high-achieving students.' Along with an outstanding academic background, Aaron brings to the group great people skills and is very efficient at accomplishing tasks given to him.

Aaron’s current research project deals with the synthesis of pyrazole-containing amino acids as potential anti-microbial agents. Aaron is also a certified pharmacy technician with future professional goals of becoming a member of a pharmaceutical team and gain leadership and knowledge in the field of pharmacy.

Update: Aaron got accepted to the University of Louisiana at Monroe School of Pharmacy. Outstanding job!!

Congrats, Aaron!!

Tyler Plauche

Position: Student Research Associate

Tyler is a junior at the University of Louisiana at Monroe pursuing a degree in Biomedical Sciences.

Matthew Kiok

Position: Student Research Associate

Matthew is a senior at the Louisiana School of Mathematics, Arts and the Sciences. Matthew worked with us over the summer on the synthesis of pyrazole-containing amino acids as a part of his senior thesis project. During his time here at ULM, Matthew made tremendous progress on optimizing reaction conditions toward the synthesis of these substrates. Matthew's future goal is to become a medical doctor and is currently applying to a number of universities nationwide.

Update: Matthew was offered and accepted a full tuition ride to Tulane University.

For his summer research project, Matt became a semifinalist in the Siemens-Westinghouse competition. Thereafter, he competed in the Region IV Science Fair held at LSU-Alexandria and won 1st place OVERALL, making him automatically qualified for the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), and 1st place in the Chemistry division resulting in an additional award given to him from the US Army. In the Louisiana Science and Engineering Fair (LSEF), Matt placed 2nd in Chemistry but got 1st place in the American Chemical Society (ACS) Division.

Congrats, Matthew!

Yousif Salhab

Position: Webmaster

Yousif is a recent graduate of the University of South Florida where he graduated with a Bachelors of Science degree in biomedical sciences. He has completed his premedical requirements and is currently applying to medical school. He has mastered two web languages, PHP and MySQL, and has extensive knowledge of Javascript and Ajax. With over 7 years experience and having built over 100 websites, Yousif is in constant demand as an internet marketing consultant. He is also available as a professional magican.

In his spare time, Yousif loves to box, hang out with friends, watch films, listen to music, and practice sleight of hand magic.

Update: Yousif is now in medical school at LECOM in Sarasota, Fl. Congrats, Yousif!

Laten Barham

Position: Student Research Associate

Laten is a junior at ULM with intentions of going to dental school.

Jamie Phelps

Position: Student Research Associate

Jamie was salutatorian of her high school graduating class and is now a sophomore at the University of Louisiana at Monroe pursuing a degree in environmental toxicology. In her free time, she spends most of it riding her horses.

Paul Koenig

Position: Student Research Associate

Paul is currently a junior at the Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts. He is the second student from LSMSA to join the lab. Over the summer, Paul primarily worked on the syntheses of Spiro-Beta-Lactams, but he also contributed some of his time to a Bis-Beta-Lactam project. This semester at school, Paul will be taking Organic Chemistry! After the school year is over, Paul plans to spend his summer here at ULM to continue his research and to take an Organic Chemistry II class. When he is older, Paul wants to attend medical school and become a doctor.

In his free time, Paul enjoys hanging out with friends, playing Frisbee, shooting pool, and sleeping.