The Boyle Lab

Meet our Team of Researchers

Our lab is made up of graduate students, postdocs, and undergraduates who share a passion for discovery in organic synthesis. We explore new ways to understand mechanisms, design catalysts, and develop transformative reactions. Beyond the research, we value mentorship, creativity, and building an inclusive space where scientists can thrive.

Group Photo

Dr. Andrei Popov

Postdoctoral research assistant

Andrei was born and raised in Novosibirsk, Western Siberia, Russia. In 2015, he received his specialist degree in chemistry from Novosibirsk State University. During his undergraduate studies, Andrei held a joint research assistant appointment at the Institute of Catalysis, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In 2019, he joined the Hull group at UT-Austin. During his graduate studies, Andrei developed copper-catalyzed radical difunctionalizations of unsaturated organic compounds. In August 2025, he joined the Boyle lab at the University of Maryland, where he is currently developing synthetic methods for functional group insertions.
 
Outside of the lab, Andrei enjoys going on road trips with his wife, playing guitar and keyboards, watching movies, and creating new cocktail recipes.

Dennis Skiba

2nd year graduate student

Dennis was born in Trenton, NJ and grew up in Levittown, PA. He earned his B.S. in Chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh. While at Pitt, he performed research under Professor Kazunori Koide, working on the total synthesis of meayamycin, an analog of FR901464. Dennis then moved to Maryland and joined the Boyle group in Fall 2024, where his research focuses on the fluorination of unactivated C-H bonds.

Outside of lab, Dennis enjoys going to the gym, playing basketball (2024 UMD 3v3 intramural champs), watching sports, and cooking.

Wenkai Zhang

2nd year graduate student

Wenkai was born in Szechuan, China. He earned his BSc Environmental Science in China University of Petroleum (Beijing) and BSc (Hons) Chemistry in the University of Edinburgh. During his time in Scotland, he developed a molecular balance for examining halogen bonding under the guidance of Prof. Scott Cockroft and Dr. Krzysztof Bąk. Following his time in Scotland, Wenkai joined the Boyle lab at the University of Maryland in Fall 2024. He is currently developing strategies for selective anionic functionalizations.

When not in lab running experiments, Wenkai enjoys classical music and playing PC games.

Mya Gaddy

2nd year graduate student

Mya was born and raised in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania. She received her B.A in Chemistry and German from Lafayette College in 2024. During her undergraduate career, she worked with Dr. Daniel Griffith on synthesizing bridged azapolycycles using tropone as a starting material. She also worked on the total synthesis of a Streptothricin F analog in the Manetsch Lab at Northeastern University during the Summer of 2022. She joined the Boyle lab at the University of Maryland in Fall 2024, with her research focusing on the generation of strain unnatural amino acids.

Mya enjoys baking and designing press-on nails when not in the lab.

Read about some of the work we do in our lab

Our Research

University of Maryland College Park
7800 Baltimore Ave
College Park, MD
20740, United States

The Boyle Lab