Our Team
Lindsay K. Caesar, PhD
she/her
Assistant Professor of Chemistry
James Madison University
email: caesarlk@jmu.edu
Dr. Caesar's passion for natural products started during a family vacation in 2001, when she and her mother discovered a hidden medicinal herb garden in the rainforests of Belize. This trip inspired them both, prompting them to start an organic farm focusing on the cultivation of native medicinal plants. Dr. Caesar earned her BS in Biology from Furman University in 2012. She went on to complete her Master's degree in Plant and Environmental Science from Clemson University (obtained in 2015), where she worked under the mentorship of Dr. Jeffrey Adelberg. Dr. Caesar's research focused on developing micropropagation protocols to optimize nutrient conditions for plant multiplication. In 2019, Dr.
Caesar earned her PhD in Medicinal Biochemistry from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where she worked with Dr. Nadja Cech. Dr. Caesar's PhD research centered on developing mass-spectrometry based tools to investigate natural medicines and their ability to treat antibiotic-resistant infections. She completed her postdoctoral work at Northwestern University under the dual mentorship of Dr. Neil Kelleher and Dr. Nancy Keller (at the University of Wisconsin Madison). During her time at Northwestern, she worked to integrate fungal metabolomics and genomics datasets to identify novel metabolites and their biosynthetic pathways from fungi. As a new faculty member at James Madison University, Dr. Caesar is excited to merge her diverse research experiences to understand why natural products are being produced, what biosynthetic pathways produce them, and how she can use this information to prioritize discovery of antimicrobial drugs. She currently supervises a group of 8 undergraduate students and has published 23 peer-reviewed papers.
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Fun facts: In her free time, Dr. Caesar likes playing role playing games with her husband, exploring the outdoors, and knitting.
Current Members
Lyn Haugh
she/her
Lyn is a senior Materials Chemistry major at JMU. She is not a dog. The dog pictured is a very good boi named Charlie that Lyn thought you would like to see.
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Fun facts: Lyn's primary hobby is D&D, but she also enjoys biking and painting minatures (also for D&D).
Diya Chand
she/her
Diya is a freshman chemistry major at JMU with a predental minor who has plans to become a pediatric dentist.
Fun Fact: Diya loves to draw and rollerblade when she has time.
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Carly Hemani
she/her
Carly is a sophomore Biotechnology major at JMU with specific interest in the pre-medicine track, wanting to become a cardiologist.
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Fun facts: Carly can wiggle her right ear and can speak French!
Shyleigh Good
she/her
Shyleigh is a senior Chemistry major at JMU. She is specifically interested in environmental and analytical chemistry.
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Fun facts: Shyleigh loves to hike and spend time with her dog, Fran.
Mary Sessoms
she/her
Mary is a sophomore chemistry major at JMU with a specific interest in the pre-physician's assistant track, wanting to become a dermatologist PA.
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Fun facts: Mary has been to 5 different countries and loves to go on long-distance adventures with friends!
Frances Homan
she/her
Frances is a senior Chemistry major at JMU with an interest in environmental chemistry.
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Fun facts: Frances plays trombone and piano and likes to roller skate.
Elijah Fernands
he/him
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Elijah is a senior at JMU majoring in Biophysical Chemistry and hopes to work in industry upon graduation before starting as a high school teacher. ​
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Fun facts: Elijah has broken bones more times than he has gotten the flu! It's amazing this accident prone man is still alive.
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Frank Muscarella
he/him
Frank is a junior at JMU majoring in Health Sciences and has plans to go to dental school and become an orthodontist after graduation.
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Fun facts: Frank loves to rock climb and snorkel in his free time.
Alumni
Ashley Clements, '24
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