The Team
Principal Investigator
Originally from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Allie (she/her) was raised in Northern Indiana, before attending Butler University in Indianapolis for her undergraduate education. From there, Allie moved to the beautiful Southwest to attend New Mexico State University for her PhD in Organic Chemistry. In Las Cruces, Allie worked in Professor Bill Maio’s lab, pursuing the total synthesis of marine natural products and phytocannabinoids.
Upon completing this work, Allie joined Professor Alison Narayan’s lab at The University of Michigan as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow to study chemoenzymatic natural product synthesis. Throughout her time in the Narayan Lab, Dr. Paton has discovered her interest in data science and, in collaboration with Professor Gabe Gomes’ group at Carnegie Mellon University, has developed a machine learning biocatalytic reaction prediction tool, “CATNIP”. Dr. Paton is enthusiastic to combine her skills of data science, biocatalysis and natural product synthesis to enable predictive chemoenzymatic routes to natural products and complex molecules while simultaneously elucidating the biological function of uncharacterized proteins.
Undergraduate Researchers
Zoe Dale
Zoe (she/her) is a third year undergraduate student majoring in Chemistry. Her specific research interests include synthetic chemistry and enzymes. Outside of the lab, Zoe performs in various musicals through ROC Players.
Joseph Kaji
Joseph (Joey, he/him) is a second year undergraduate student who is interested in the intersection between chemistry and computer science. He is currently a computer science and chemistry major and is currently looking at using machine learning in biocatalysis. Outside of lab, Joey is an EMT and enjoys playing tennis.
Natalie Dundas
Natalie (she/her) is a second year undergraduate student double majoring in Cell and Developmental Biology and Classical Civilizations. She is interested in developing efficient routes to novel biocatalysts. Outside of the lab, Natalie is on the women’s rowing team