
Anja Röder
Alexander von Humboldt Fellow (postdoc), University of Ottawa/NRC (Albert Stolow)
BSc, Universität Würzburg
PhD, Universität Würzburg (Ingo Fischer) and Université Paris-Saclay (Lionel Poisson)
Exciting molecules and following their dynamics with time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy

Gabriel dos Passos Gomes
University of Toronto
Machine Learning Dihydrogen Activation in the Chemical Space Surrounding Vaska’s Complex
Gabe received his B.Sc. in Chemistry from Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil under supervision of Professor Pierre Mothè Esteves, in 2013. His research at that university was focused on theoretical studies of electrophilic aromatic nitration via single electron transfer and a final project on the development of methane clathrates inhibitors. He also spent a year at the University of Lisbon, Portugal in an academic exchange researching reduced graphene oxides, with Professor Maria José Lourenço.
He earned his Ph.D. in Fall 2018 from Florida State University, under the guidance of Professor Igor V. Alabugin, where he also was awarded the LASER Fellowship in 2014 and the 2016-2017 IBM Ph.D Scholarship. At FSU, Gabe’s research was centered on the relationship between molecular structure and reactivity, focusing on the development and applications of stereoelectronic effects. His dissertation was entitled “Controlling Chemical Reactivity with Stereoelectronic Effects.” For his work at FSU, in 2018, Gabe was: awarded the FSU’s Graduate Student Research and Creativity Award for his work in Computational Chemistry; awarded the ACS COMP Chemical Computing Group Excellence Award for his work on the mechanism of the Gold-Catalyzed Bergman Cyclization; selected for the CAS SciFinder Future Leaders Program; selected for the ACS ORGN Graduate Research Symposium.
In 2019, Gabe joined the University of Toronto as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Matter Lab, led by Professor Alán Aspuru-Guzik. In 2020, Gabe was awarded the prestigious NSERC Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship with the project “Designing Catalysts with Artificial Intelligence,” and has been featured on the “Next Great Impossible” series by Merck/Milipore-Sigma. His research rests at the interface between machine learning and organic chemistry, where he aims to develop new platforms for reaction discovery, with emphasis on catalysis. His goal is to establish an independent research program focused on the development of new chemical reactions, pioneering research and training the next generation of chemists.