@leresearchgroup

- WELCOME -

We are a synthetic research group in the Department of Chemistry at York University focused on the

design of new organic and organometallic reactions for applications in drug discovery and development, with a keen interest in probing reaction mechanisms using physical organic techniques.

- RECENT NEWS -

Summer 2026

We welcome undergraduate students, Harish Ramesh (NSERC USRA) and Mateo Granada (CHEM 4000), to the group!

Kate is awarded the Dalton Pharma Services/Douglas Butler Award in Organic Chemistry and the Queen Elizabeth II Scholarship in Science and Technology (QEII-GSST)! Congratulations!

Maryam's paper on the Diastereoselective Synthesis of α-Fluoro-γ-lactams via Difluorocarbene-Triggered Cyclization and Rearrangement is published in ACS Organic & Inorganic Au.

The whole Le Group attends the CSC/CSChE meeting (x2026) in Toronto. Christine co-organized an interdisciplinary symposium on Organofluorine Chemistry with Cora Young (York) and Shira Joudan (U Alberta). Jesse, and Maryam gave talks, while Kate and Emily presented posters.

Winter 2026

We welcome Alexander Goralcyzk (undergraduate volunteer) to the group.

Christine is awarded the 2025 Faculty of Science Excellence in Graduate Mentorship Award.

Ali successfully defends their PhD thesis! Many congratulations!

Emily Woo and Harish Ramesh are both awarded an NSERC USRA - Congratulations to both!

Christine has been selected to participate in the 2026 EuChemS Division of Organic Chemistry Young Investigator Workshop in Brussels with support from the CSC Organic Division.

Fall 2025

Dusty successfully defends his PhD thesis, marking a milestone in the Le Group! We wish him all the best at UBC in the Hudson lab for his NSERC-funded postdoc.

We welcome Kate Skinner (MSc student) and Justin Laurie (undergraduate volunteer) to the group. Emily starts her CHEM 4000 thesis project in the lab.

Maryam gives an oral presentation at the 12th Banff Symposium on Organic Chemistry in Alberta.

See archived news