Team

Dr. Kevin Neumann (Principal Investigator)

In 2018, Kevin obtained his PhD at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, under the supervision of Professor Mark Bradley. In his PhD, Kevin was working on tetrazine-mediated drug activation chemistry and on glycopolymers for high-affinity lectin-binding. After his PhD studies, Kevin worked as a postdoctoral fellow on a project that investigated radiotherapy-mediated prodrug activation in collaboration with clinicians of the Royal School of Veterinary Studies in Edinburgh. In 2018, Kevin joined the group of Jeffrey Bode as postdoctoral fellow at ETH Zurich, Switzerland. Here, he worked on the total chemical synthesis of proteins. In 2021, Kevin started as an assistant professor in the Systems Chemistry Department at the IMM, Radboud University in Nijmegen. His research focuses on precision chemistry, specifically, assembling (bio)macromolecular architectures with the highest possible molecular precision to drive innovations in medicine and at the bio-interface. As part of this research ambition, his group develops highly selective click chemistry tools, new synthetic methodologies to label complex biomolecules and rethinks polymer designs and synthesis routes, ultimately intertwining the fields of bioorganic and macromolecular chemistry with chemical biology (MacroChemBio).

Kevin was featured as Emerging Investigator by RSC Chemical Biology and as PeptideTalent by the European Peptide Society in 2023. In the following year 2024, Kevin was named Emerging Investigator by RSC Biomaterials Science, showcasing the highly interdisciplinary nature as a cornerstone of our research. In 2024, Kevin was awarded the Bachem Award during the Austrian Peptide Symposium. In 2025, Kevin was featured as Emerging Investigator in RSC ChemComm, Journal of Materials Chemistry B and selected as ACS Rising Stars in Polymers.

Courses:

• Polymer Science (MSc)
• Chemical Biology (MSc)
• Essentials of Organic Chemistry (BSc)
• Biochemistry 2 (BSc)

Memberships:

• Early Career Advisory Board Member ‘Chemistry – A European Journal‘ (2025 – present)
• Board Member of Royal Netherlands Chemical Society (KNCV) – Organic Section (2024 – present)
• Board member of the Honours Program at Radboud University (2022 – present)
• Early Career Advisory Board Member of Tetrahedron Letters and Tetrahedron (2022 – 2024)

Katerina Gavriel (PhD candidate)

Katerina obtained her master’s degree in molecular Life Sciences (Specialization Chemistry of Life) in 2021 at Radboud University. During her education, she gained knowledge in synthetic organic chemistry while working on new synthesis routes for double-functionalized trans-cyclooctenes for biorthogonal reactions in the Chemical Biology group of the IMM in 2019. For her master thesis, Katerina joined the group of dr. Paul Kouwer, working on the formation of hyaluronic acid immunobrushes and investigating their potential in T-cell activation. In October 2021, she joined Kevin’s group as a PhD candidate focusing on new approaches for drug delivery and activation.

Dulce Sanchez Cerrillo (PhD candidate)

Dulce obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Guanajuato, Mexico. Her bachelor thesis focused on the synthesis of quaternized PDMAEMA with alkyl halides with antifungal properties. She completed her Master studies in Chemistry of Materials at the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Germany, where she worked in different projects including the evaluation and optimization of PET depolymerization using different polymeric catalyst. In her Master thesis, under the supervision of Dr. Carlos Guerrero Sánchez, she focused on the synthesis of polymeric drug delivery containers with removable targeting ligand for lung infection disease. In October 2022, Dulce joined the Neumann group as a PhD candidate to work in the field of polymer chemistry for applications in nanomedicine. 

Qi Wang (PhD candidate)

Qi obtained her bachelor degree in Chemical Engineering and Technology in 2019 at Shandong University of Technology, China. Her bachelor thesis focused the construction and electrocatalytic properties of carbons-supported metals (Ru, Ir). She completed her master studies in Light Industry Technology and Engineering in 2022 at East China University of Science and Technology, where she focused on the study of Lewis-Acid-Catalyzed organic synthesis methodology. In October 2022, Qi joined the Neumann group as a PhD candidate focusing on the development of new nano-reactors for enabling a variety of chemical transformations under otherwise inapplicable conditions. 

Noël Schneider (Master Student)

Noël has recently started his master’s internship in the Neumann group with a focus on the synthesis on novel drug-delivery polymers.  During his MSc thesis, Noël employs synthetic chemistry to tackle challenges in pharmaceutical science and drug delivery. He finished his bachelor’s degree at Radboud University, but also spent one semester abroad at Nagoya University in Japan where he completed his minor in Japanese culture and society. His thesis research was conducted at the FELIX Laboratory and the Center for Astrophysics of Harvard University, focussing on the synthesis, infrared- and microwave spectroscopy of astronomically relevant sulfur-containing molecules.

Tom Vervelde (Master Student)

Tom obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering and Chemistry from Eindhoven University of Technology. During his studies he developed an interest in biochemistry and cellular chemistry. For his bachelor thesis, he worked on the synthesis of ligands for transition metal catalysts, and their incorporation in single-chain polymer nanoparticles for the purpose of bioorthogonal catalysis. Tom is currently following the Master’s program Molecular Sciences, with a specialization in Chemistry of Life. During his master’s internship in the Neumann group, he focusses on the modification of bioactive peptides with bioorthogonal click handles.