Ognjen holds a Diploma from the University of Belgrade (2000) and a PhD from the University of California at Berkeley (2005), where he worked with Prof. K. Peter C. Vollhardt. Following a postdoctoral stay in Prof. J. Fraser Stoddart's group at UCLA (2005–2008), Ognjen joined the University of Houston (UH) in 2008, and was promoted to Professor in 2019. Among other distinctions, he is the recipient of UH Teaching & Research Excellence, NSF CAREER, and Cottrell Scholar awards, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. Ognjen enjoys travel, cinema, swimming, photography, good wine, and better food. He is a father of three.

Principal Investigator

Maymounah was born in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia in October 1984. She obtained her BSc in Chemistry (2007) and MSc in Inorganic Chemistry (2011) from King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. She has worked as a teaching assistant, and then a lecturer before she received a scholarship from her university to pursue a PhD in USA. In April 2015, Maymounah joined Miljanic research group at the University of Houston as a graduate student.

Graduate Student

Corie was born in Phoenix, Arizona but lived in Lakeville Minnesota. She studied chemistry, forensic science, and mathematics as an undergraduate at Simpson College in Iowa. She worked for three years at 3M in St. Paul, Minnesota as a contract scientist on ScotchBlue™ painters tape. Corie joined the Miljanic group in October 2015.

Graduate Student

Zhenglin Zhang was born in Ganzhou of China in 1989. He received the BSc in Applied Chemistry (2011) from Liaoning Shihua University and the MSc in Chemical Engineering and Technology (2014) from Beijing University of Technology, and worked for WuXi AppTech (Shanghai) as a researcher (March–April 2015). In October 2015, he joined the Miljanic research group at the University of Houston as a graduate student.  

Graduate Student

Thamon Puangsamlee was born in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand in 1990. She received her BSc in Chemistry and MSc in Organic Chemistry from Silpakorn University, Thailand. Thamon joined the Miljanic research group in April of 2017.

Graduate Student

Sumitra Karki was born in Ramechhap, Nepal in July 1992. She obtained her undergraduate degrees in Chemistry and Mathematics from the Mississippi University for Women in May 2016. She joined the Miljanic Research Group at the University of Houston in Fall 2017 as a graduate student.

Graduate Student

Alexandra Robles was born in El Paso, TX in 1996. She received a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin in 2018. She joined the Miljanic group at the University of Houston in October 2018.

Graduate Student

Tiffany Lu was born in Dallas, Texas. She received her B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin in 2018. She spent a year teaching high school chemistry, before joining the Miljanic group in October 2019.  Outside of studying chemistry she enjoys hiking, traveling, and going to music festivals. 

Graduate Student

Christina Stegemoller is originally from Houston, Texas.  She is currently a post-baccalaureate student working toward a BS in Physics.  Christina also holds a BA in Government from the University of Texas at Austin and a JD from Southern Methodist University.  Upon graduation, she intends to pursue a PhD in Physics.  She joined the Miljanic group in January 2018.

Post-bacc Student

Bradley Engel was born in Houston, TX in 1998. He is currently an undergraduate student at the University of Houston pursuing a degree in biochemistry. He joined the Miljanic Research Group in December 2018.

Undergraduate Student

Anuwut Petdum was born in Prachuap Khiri Khan, Thailand in 1992. He received his MSc degree in Organic Chemistry from Silpakorn University, Thailand. He is currently a PhD student in Organic Chemistry at Silpakorn University, Thailand. He joined the Miljanic Research Group as a visiting scholar in August 2019.

Visiting Scholar