Research Team
Principal Investigator
May H. Abdelaziz, BPharm, MS, PhD
Dr. Abdelaziz received a Bachelor of Pharmacy and Masters in Pharmaceutical chemistry from Cairo University-Egypt, and Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU)-Richmond, Virginia. She has completed two postdoctoral research fellowships in drug discovery of neurologic agents at the University of Utah and in cancer research at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).
Her teaching experience is in medicinal chemistry for PharmD students, with a passion for mentoring undergraduates, graduate, and pharmacy students in biomedical research. She is an active member in several professional associations including the American Chemical Society, American Association fo Colleges of Pharmacy. She enjoys reading and spending time with her kids.
Lab Members
Liaqat Ali, M. Phil, Ph.D. (Postdoctoral Fellow)
Liaqat earned his Ph.D. from Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, China, and
completed his first postdoctoral fellowship at Kansas State University, Manhattan,
KS. He has excellent expertise in the infectious diseases field with a concentration
on bacterial genmoics and antibiotic resistance. Liaqat joined our lab in June, 2022
and is working to elucidate resistance mechanisms and crosstalk between two-component
signaling networks in Staphylococcus aureus to develop novel therapeutic strategies.
Itzel Montoya (MS-Chemistry)
Itzel is a graduate student at UT Tyler Chemistry Department . Following graduation,
she plans to pursue a career in STEM. Itzel previously worked in the Chemistry department
as a teaching assistant, at Analytical Environmental Laboratories as a lab technician
and volunteered with Bethesda Health Clinic. In her free time, Itzel enjoys caring
for houseplants and painting.
Thanya Chaisuwan (Lab Technician) 
Thanya earned her Bachelor's degree in Biology from the University of Texas at Dallas
and is currently pursuing graduate studies at the University of Texas at Tyler in
the Interdisciplinary Medical Sciences Program. Thanya aspires to apply to the UT
Tyler Medical School to further her academic journey. In her free time, Thanya passionately
explores the culinary world through cooking and finds joy in discovering new destinations
through travel.
Ava Nguyen (Undergraduate Student)
Ava is a sophomore at UT Tyler pursuing a degree in biology. Following graduation,
she plans to apply to physician assistant school. She is interested in the field of
medicine and, through doing research, hopes to learn more about the field. In her
spare time, she enjoys spending time with friends and watching movies.
Dana Al-Manaseer (Undergraduate Student)
Dana Al-manaseer is nursing undergraduate student at UT Tyler. She became interested
in research, especially bacterial resistance, after learning about bacterial resistance
in her undergraduate classes. She is a student who is interested in medicine and has
plans to do great things in the field of medicine!
Aryanna Blakeney (Undergraduate Student)
Aryanna is a sophomore at UT Tyler pursuing a degree in Biochemistry. Once she graduates,
she intends to apply to the Ben and Maytee Fisch College of Pharmacy. Her primary
interest lies in compound pharmacy, and she hopes that her research work will help
her master the techniques and skills that will benefit her in the class and the future.
In her free time, she likes to go to the gym, hang out with friends, and play games.
Reagan Shofner (Undergraduate Student)
Reagan is a sophomore at UT Tyler majoring in biochemistry. After securing her degree,
she is planning on attending Ben and Maytee Fisch College of Pharmacy. In her free
time she likes to workout and play volleyball with friends.