Yetunde Oyesakin

Yetunde Oyesakin is a Research Fellow at the Department of Chemistry, Northeastern University, contributing to groundbreaking research in the Lab for Neglected Tropical Disease Drug Discovery. She earned her undergraduate degree in chemistry from a Nigerian college town and is pursuing a Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of Nevada, Reno, under Dr. Thomas Gould, Dr. Wesley Chalifoux, and Dr. Thomas Bell.

Her research spans synthetic and medicinal chemistry, focusing on covalent CADA analogues for opioid use disorder, high-throughput synthetic methodologies via photocatalysis, and computational drug design. She has published work on SERT inhibitors and antidepressant molecules.

Scientific awards include the Chemistry Graduate Student Award, travel support for the American Chemical Society Spring conference, and the 2023 Summer Mentor of the Year Award from the UNR Honors College. Her work has involved collaboration with researchers from Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria.

• Research Interests: Medicinal Chemistry, Synthetic Chemistry, Drug Discovery, Computational Chemistry, Chemical Biology, Neuropharmacology
• Educational Background: B.Sc. in Chemistry (Nigeria), Ph.D. in Chemistry (University of Nevada Reno, 2019–2024)
• Key Contributions: Molecular docking studies, heterocyclic compound synthesis, mentorship in organic chemistry