Current Position

Scientist
Department of Protein Chemistry
Genentech (2017–present)
elsohlya at gene.com

Education and Training

Postdoc: Biomolecular Materials – UC Berkeley, 2012–2017
Ph.D.: Organic Chemistry – Columbia University, 2012
M.S.: Computational Chemistry – University of Mississippi, 2007
B.S.: Chemistry, Math, Pharmaceutical Sciences – University of Mississippi, 2007

Personal Bio

Adel was born and raised in Oxford, MS. After graduating from Oxford High School, he attended the University of Mississippi majoring in Pharmaceutical Sciences. After his freshman year, he began his first research experience with Prof. Greg Tschumper developing and using computational tools to study weakly bound molecular clusters, research for which he was named a Barry Goldwater Scholar. He continued research in the Tschumper Group for 4 years, upon which he completed a triple major in Chemistry, Mathematics, and Pharmaceutical Sciences as well as his M.S. in Computational Chemistry. Having completed his tenure at the University of Mississippi, Adel moved to New York City to join Prof. Scott Snyder’s research group at Columbia University as an NSF and Paul and Daisy Soros Predoctoral Fellow. Here, his research focused on the synthesis of polycyclic, bioactive alkaloids. During his postdoctoral research, Adel was a DoD Breast Cancer Research Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley in Prof. Matt Francis’ lab where he developed new bioconjugation reactions and protein-based biomolecular materials.

Outside of lab, Adel enjoys reading, art, cooking, basketball, and rock climbing with his daughter.

Honors & Awards

• Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Postdoctoral Fellow, 2014-present
• Pegram Award for Excellence in Doctoral Research, 2012
• Roche Excellence in Chemistry Award, 2011
• Paul and Daisy Soros Fellow, 2009-2010
• National Science Foundation Predoctoral Fellow, 2007-2012
• Finalist for Gates-Cambridge Scholarship, 2007
• Barry M. Goldwater Scholar, 2006
• Phi Beta Kappa Honorary Society, 2007-present
• Invitee to 45th Annual International Achievement Summit, 2006
• University of Mississippi Taylor Medalist, 2006
• Best Undergraduate Research Poster, Sigma Xi Poster Session, April 2007
• Outstanding Poster Presentation, 4th Annual INSPIRE Undergraduate Research Conference, October 2006
• Outstanding Poster Presentation, 15th Annual Conference on Current Topics in Computational Chemistry, November 2006
• Outstanding Poster Presentation, 35th Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Theoretical Chemistry Association, June 2005
• Best Undergraduate Research Poster, Sigma Xi Poster Session, April 2005
• Phi Kappa Phi Honorary Society, 2004-present
• Outstanding Poster Presentation, 34th Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Theoretical Chemistry Association, July 2004
• 2nd Place Overall at the LA/MS Mathematics Team Competition, 2006
• 3rd Place Overall at the LA/MS Mathematics Team Competition, 2005