Team 1 — Neary Group

Our Team

William J. Neary

Education

2014 - B.S Chemistry/Math minor, University of Central Florida
2019 - Ph.D. Chemistry, Florida State University
2019 - Postdoctoral Associate, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Bio:

William (Bill) grew up in West Palm Beach, FL where he spent his childhood playing baseball and golf and exploring his love of photography. Billy went on to obtain his Bachelors at UCF in 2014 where he worked in the research group of Andres Campiglia studying the detection of PAH metabolites using capillary electrophoresis. After a slight change of heart, he continued his studies with Justin Kennemur at FSU in 2014 where he leveraged thermodynamic parameters of low ring strain monomers to gain control of polymerizations and depolymerizations pathways of cyclopentene variants. Bill became a postdoctoral associate with Jeffrey Moore at UIUC in 2019 where he studied the mechanochemical release of small molecules, frontal ring opening metathesis polymerizations, and the polymerization of cyclic allenes. Bill joined the department of Chemistry at UCR in July 2023. His groups research interests lie in the fields of polymer synthesis, depolymerizations, mechanochemistry, and organometallics.

Postdoctoral Associate

Spring 25’

Lefei Yu

Lefei received his Ph.D. degree from the College of Chemistry, Peking University under the directions of Prof. Jianbo Wang and Prof. Zi-Chen Li in the summer of 2024. His graduate research focused on the synthesis of polymers via carbene and diazo compounds. He joined the Neary Group in the autumn of 2024 and his research is focused on skeletal editing of polymers.

Graduate Students

Xuefen Liu

Xuefen is a second year PhD student who came to us from a small and beautiful city in China. She studies the polymerization mechanism of cyclic allenes via ROAlMP. With her free time, Xuefen enjoys painting, travelling, and watching movies.

Mriganka Saha

Mriganka comes from the city of joy, Kolkata in India. He completed his Bachelor's in Chemistry from St. Xavier's College, Kolkata and his Master's (with a specialization in Organic Chemistry) from University of Calcutta. He joined the group in Fall 2024 and is interested in working on skeletal editing in polymers. Apart from his studies, he likes to play cricket and watch movies.

Undergraduates

Alana Nurse

Alana is originally from Long Island, New York and then moved to Beaumont, CA. She graduated with a B.S. in Chemistry from UC Riverside in June 2025 with a pre-dental focus and joins our lab as a research assistant study skeletal editing of polymers . Outside of lab, Alana enjoys exploring new music, shopping, and learning about different cultures through food, art, and travel

Gaurav Rawat

Gaurav comes from the Himalayan state of Dev Bhoomi Uttarakhand, India. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Doon University, Dehradun, followed by a Master’s in Chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Gandhinagar. He joined the group in Fall 2025, where his research focuses on single-addition polymerization. Beyond academics, he enjoys playing cricket and volleyball and exploring the outdoors through hiking.

Trevor Trussel

Trevor graduated with a BS in Chemistry from Sonoma State University where he was also a part of the club baseball and rugby teams. He joined the group in Fall 2025, where his research focuses on the polymerization of high energy allenes. Outside of research, his interests include baseball, chess, trading card games and golf.

Raquel Dueñas

Raquel is a first year PhD student from Ojai, CA. She graduated with her B.S. in Chemistry in June 2025 from Union College in Schenectady, NY. She joined the Neary Group in the Fall of 2025 and is focusing on the release of small molecules via mechanochemistry. Outside of the lab, Raquel enjoys reading, dancing, and travelling.

Artem Skiba

Artem is a third-year chemistry major joining us from sunny Los Angeles. Originally researching chemistry education, he now works on discovering new pathways for sustainability and precision control in polymer synthesis. He aspires to one day study organic synthesis and earn his graduate degree in the field. Outside class, Artem plays in the UCR Wind Ensemble and supports new students as an SI Leader. He also enjoys playing music, watching movies, exploring, and writing stories!

Mahmood Elhawwash

Mahmood (Moe) is a third-year chemistry undergraduate student originally from Amman, Jordan and will be working on atom deletion in polymers. Outside of academics, Moe enjoys reading and playing soccer.