dr. KUHALI DAS

Herchel Smith Research Fellow

Kuhali was born in India in 1994. She completed her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of North Bengal, India. In 2017, she joined the group of Dr. Biplab Maji at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Kolkata, India, to pursue her doctoral studies on the development of phosphine-free manganese complexes and their application in catalytic hydrogen-transfer and hydroelementation reactions, and she defended her thesis in 2022. In November 2022, she joined the Dydio Research Group to study multicatalytic organic transformations. While in the group, she secured the prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions and Herschel Smith Postdoctoral Fellowships. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, reading, and listening to music.

dr. Jyothi Yadav

Marie Curie Research Fellow

Jyothi was born in India in 1994. She completed her Bachelor’s degree at the University of Delhi, India, and her Master’s degree at the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Rourkela, India. In 2017, she joined the research group of Dr. Indresh Kumar at the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani, India. Her PhD research focused on the development of novel metal-free methodologies for the asymmetric synthesis of bridged nitrogen heterocycles. In December 2023, she joined the Terada Research Group at Tohoku University, Japan, where her research focused on chiral Brønsted acid-catalyzed reactions and photoredox chemistry. On 1 June 2026, she joined the Dydio Group after securing the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowship. Her research focuses on the development of multicatalytic strategies for organic transformations. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, playing sports, and watching movies.

Oscar Hills

Oscar was born in 2003 in London, UK. He obtained his integrated master’s degree in chemistry from University College London (UCL); this also included a year abroad studying at the University of Toronto. His master’s project was completed under the supervision of Prof. Jamie Baker and focused on the development of a novel click-to-release reaction for integration within targeted therapeutics. In October 2025, he joined the Dydio Group as a PhD student to establish new functionalization/cross coupling strategies involving multi-component catalysis. In his free time, he enjoys climbing and spending too much time in the cinema.

Yifei Bai

Yifei was born in 2003 in Beijing, China. He received his B.Sc. degree from the College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering (CCME) at Peking University, where he was recognized as an Excellent Graduate of Peking University. His undergraduate thesis focused on the palladium-catalyzed synthesis of structurally novel organophosphorus ligands. In 2025, he joined the Dydio Group as a PhD student. His current research focuses on cooperative catalysis enabled by functional group borrowing strategy. Outside the laboratory, he enjoys playing the piano, particularly arranging and performing music from anime soundtracks.

Christopher Köhler

Christopher was born in 2001 in Dormagen, Germany. He earned his Bachelor’s degree at the University of Bonn, where he began his research career as a research assistant in the group of Prof. Dr. Ala Bunescu. Under her supervision, he later conducted his Bachelor’s thesis on photocatalyzed decarboxylative nucleophilic fluorination. In April 2026, he joined the Dydio group as a visiting student, where his current research focuses on Pd-catalyzed asymmetric Markovnikov carbonylation reactions. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his family and friends, as well as good food.