Meet the Team
About Prof. Speight
Prof. Isaiah Speight is a native of the Hampton Roads Area, born and raised in Portsmouth, VA. He earned his B.S. in chemistry in 2016 from Norfolk State University as a DNIMAS Scholar. During this time, he did undergraduate research in polymer and carbohydrate synthesis. Isaiah then moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he completed his Ph.D. as a Provost’s Graduate Fellow at Vanderbilt University with Prof. Timothy Hanusa. During his time as a Ph.D. student, Isaiah developed new mechanochemical methods for making inorganic and organometallic compounds. Following his doctoral work, Isaiah became a NIGMS Postdoctoral Fellow at University of California, Irvine. His research focused on the development of new technologies for amide reduction and bond formation. Prof. Speight did a short stint in industry at AbbVie in the New Chemistry and Continuous Improvement group where his work focused on green synthesis of pharmaceutical targets.
Isaiah joined the W&M chemistry department in Fall of 2023 where his group focuses on mechanochemistry and sustainable chemistry. In addition to his bench work, Isaiah works very closely with the National Organization for Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE), serving on the Executive Board as their National Student Representative (2019-2021) and as their Western Regional Chair (2021-2023).
Meet the Group Members
Kyle Lewis-Johnson (He/Him)
Junior, Chemistry
Research Project - Heterocycles via MChem
Nick Failon (He/Him)
Senior, Chemistry
Research Project - Heterocycles via MChem
Connor Doran (He/Him)
Sophomore, Chemistry
Research Project - Heterocycles via MChem
Amelia Klaus (She/Her)
Junior, Applied Mathematics
Research Project - 3D Printable MChem Equipment
Vanessa Dunu (She/Her)
Sophomore, Neuroscience
Research Project - 3D Printable MChem Equipment
Theo Bremner (He/Him)
Sophomore, Chemistry
Research Project - MOFs
Maria Soly (She/Her)
Junior, Chemistry
Research Project - Peptides in Water
Vanessa Sanni (She/Her)
Freshman, Undeclared
Research Project - Peptides in Water
Group Funding and Collaborators
AbbVie
Our team regularly collaborates with AbbVie scientists to ensure our research is having the broader world impact we truly seek to make.