Lab Members — The Sharaf Lab

Current lab members

Principal Investigator

Naima Gabriela Sharaf, Ph.D.

Naima Sharaf got her undergraduate degree in Chemistry at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She carried out her Ph.D. studies at the University of Pittsburgh in the lab of Dr. Angela Gronenborn where she used fluorine solution NMR to understand inhibitor-induced conformational changes with HIV-1 reverse transcriptase. She undertook her post-doctoral training at Caltech in the lab of Dr. Doug Rees where she used biophysical and biochemical tools to characterize the structure and function of *Neisseria meningitides* methionine ABC transport system. Research in the Sharaf lab bridges biochemistry, structural biology, microbiology, and immunology working toward the ultimate goal of translating lipoprotein research into therapeutics.
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Email: ngsharaf(a)stanford(.)edu

Claire Stewart, Ph.D.

Postdoc
Claire Stewart is a dedicated postdoctoral scholar and PRISM fellow known for her contributions to the field of chemistry. She earned her PhD in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she conducted research under the mentorship of Gary Pielak. Her academic journey has been marked by a strong focus on scientific exploration and innovation.
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Email:cjstew@stanford.edu
Qianqiao (Heather) Liu, Ph.D.

Postdoc
Heather is a postdoctoral scholar in the Sharaf lab. She earned her PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she conducted research on the structures and functions of human and bacterial Immunoglobulin A receptors. When not in lab, Heather enjoys hiking, camping and watching old movies.
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Email: QL8@stanford.edu
Francesca Starvaggi

Ph.D. Student
Francesca is a Ph.D. candidate in the department of chemistry. During her undergraduate education at Carnegie Mellon University, she conducted research at the interface of polymer chemistry and biomedical engineering under the mentorship of Dr. Stefanie Sydlik. At Stanford, she carried out research in fundamental polymer chemistry towards the goal of developing new chemically recyclable polymers under the mentorship of Dr. Yan Xia before transitioning to the Sharaf lab. Francesca hopes to apply her background in polymer chemistry and her interest in structural biology towards the goal of developing novel biomaterials.
Email: fstar@stanford.edu
Victor Nuñez

Ph.D. Student
Victor is a PhD candidate in the Sharaf Lab. He earned his undergraduate degree in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University. Under the mentorship of Kathryn Ferguson, he explored the structure and function of receptor tyrosine kinases. He enjoys listening to music, watching movies, and spending time with friends.
Sara Suchanti

Undergraduate Researcher
Email: sarasuch@stanford.edu
Uchenna Abba

Undergraduate Researcher
Uchenna is a sophomore interested in chemical engineering. During the summer of 2022, he conducted research at Pomona College using computational chemistry techniques to develop potential pharmaceutical treatments for the sickle cell anemia disease. He starts off in the Sharaf Lab as a BSURP student for the 2024 summer program.