OUSMAN BOYE
Oxford,MS
Summary
A Ph.D. Candidate in Pharmaceutical Sciences (Medicinal Chemistry) with 3+ years of experience in organic synthesis, analytical characterization, and process optimization. Skilled in LC-MS, HPLC, NMR, purification techniques, and regulatory workflows. Experienced in hybrid chemoenzymatic synthesis of glycans, project leadership, and manuscript preparation. Seeking to apply cross-disciplinary expertise in process development and drug manufacturing for an industry internship in biotech/pharmaceutical R&D.
Overview
5
5
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Graduate Teaching and Research Assistant
University of Mississippi, School of Pharmacy
08.2023 - 05.2027
- Designed and executed 10–18 step synthetic routes (40–90% yield), accelerating project timelines. All products are confirmed by HRMS or LC-MS and NMR
- Leading a hybrid chemoenzymatic strategy project for synthesizing heterogeneous O-GalNAc glycans using different glycosyltransferases, enabling modular assembly of glycopeptides for biological studies
- Achieved more than 95% conversion in enzymatic glycosylation, enabling SPPS workflows (Enzymatic reactions monitored using HPLC)
- Ensured compliance with good laboratory safety protocols, including chemical hazard waste and safe handling of biohazardous materials
- Optimized synthetic route to reduce reaction steps where feasible, improving yield from 30%–70%, improving efficiency and lowering material costs as well
- Advisor: Hailiang Joshua Zhu, Ph.D
Graduate Teaching and Research Assistant
Southern Illinois University School of Pharmacy
01.2022 - 08.2023
- Conducted experiments for the synthesis of diverse piperidine containing molecules leading to the identification of multiple hit compounds
- Utilized purification techniques including column chromatography and recrystallization
- Monitored reactions using TLC and confirmed products via LC-MS and NMR
- Presented experimental results to the research group using NMR and LCMS data analyzed with Mestrenova and Empower, and displayed via PowerPoint
- Advisors: Marcelo Nieto, Ph.D & Michael Crider, Ph.D
- Supported faculty members with administrative tasks such as grading assignments, proctoring exams, and maintaining attendance records.
- Assisted professors in conducting research projects, contributing to published articles and conference presentations.
Education
Ph.D - Pharmaceutical Sciences (Division of Medicinal Chemistry)
University of Mississippi
Oxford, MS05.2027
Master of Science - Pharmaceutical Sciences (Division of Medicinal Chemistry)
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Edwardsville, IL08.2023
Bachelor of Science - Chemistry
University of The Gambia
The Gambia12.2020
Skills
- Analytical: LC-MS, HPLC, NMR, UV-Vis, TLC
- Synthesis & Process Development: Multi-step organic synthesis, purification, yield optimization, enzymatic reactions
- Computational: Schrodinger, ChemBioDraw, GraphPad Prism, IBM SPSS, EndNote, Mendeley
- Regulatory: Familiarity with GMP compliance, QC workflows, cGMP recordkeeping
- Teaching strategies
- Research design
Affiliations
- President of Glycoscience Student Advocates 2025-Present
- Director of Support & Advocacy for Graduate Student Caregivers 2025-Present
- Graduate Student Council Senate 2024-Present
- Chemical Society of The Gambia 2023-Present
Certification
- Biomedical Responsible Conduct of Research, University of Mississippi (CITI Program) October 2023
- Industrial Biotechnology, The University of Manchester (Coursea) June 2024
- ACS Reviewer Lab, American Chemical Society July 2024
Timeline
Graduate Teaching and Research Assistant
University of Mississippi, School of Pharmacy
08.2023 - 05.2027
Graduate Teaching and Research Assistant
Southern Illinois University School of Pharmacy
01.2022 - 08.2023
Master of Science - Pharmaceutical Sciences (Division of Medicinal Chemistry)
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Ph.D - Pharmaceutical Sciences (Division of Medicinal Chemistry)
University of Mississippi
Bachelor of Science - Chemistry
University of The Gambia
Training
- The University of Mississippi October 3, 2023
- Utilized Schrodinger (Maestro) software to advance expertise in modeling Antibodies and Peptides/Peptidomimetics
PEER REVIEW ACTIVITIES
Peer Reviewer: ACS Omega (American Chemical Society Journal) June 2025-Present
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
- The University of Mississippi February 21, 2024
- School of Pharmacy Research Day Poster Presentation
- The University of Mississippi July 10, 2024
- 2024 Mid-South Glycoscience Meeting Poster Presentation
- University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences June 6-8, 2024
- Drug Discovery & Development Colloquium/MALTO 2024 Oral & Poster Presentation
Publications
- Boye, O.; Nicholson, L.; Marstall, A.; Van Engen, B.; Van Slageren, M.; Mulder, N.; Ali Eldeen, M.; Hall, A.; Putta, A.; Misra, S. K.; Sharp, J. S.; Zhu, H. J. Silver Oxide Promoted Synthesis of Alpha O-GalNAc Containing Glyco-Amino Acids: Synthesis of Core 2 Containing Glyco-Amino Acids for Solid Phase Synthesis of Glycopeptides. J. Org. Chem. 2024. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.joc.4c01572.
- Yang, N.; Boye, O.; Zhu, H. J. Hybrid Chemoenzymatic Strategy for the Synthesis of Heterogeneous O GalNAc Glycopeptides. Manuscript in preparation for submission to J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2025.
- Potential Publication under preparation: Design and Synthesis of Selective Sigma Ligands. The research is aimed at understanding the structural and physicochemical requirements for affinity and selectivity of different bioactive molecules as selective sigma receptor ligands
Awards
Dean’s Scholarship Award (University of The Gambia) January 2017, Geographic Enhancement Opportunity (GEO) Award (SIUE) September 2021, Research Grants for Graduate Students (RGGS) Award (SIUE) November 2022
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