Dr. DiMaggio received a B.S. in Biochemistry from Tulane University in 1998 and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of New Orleans in 2003. Her dissertation research involved designing and synthesizing biologically active molecules based on natural products as well as natural product synthesis. She also enjoyed an appointment as a Visiting Professor at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (2005-2006) where she focused on synthesizing functionalized nanomaterials to be used in basic studies as potential drug delivery systems. She gladly joined the Xavier Chemistry Department in 2003 where she has been at home ever since and conducts research on drug delivery and gene delivery systems using modified nanomaterials. In that capacity, she has mentored over 25 undergraduate research students who have successfully gone on to Ph.D., M.D., Pharm D. and M.S. programs, as well as research positions in academia, government and industry. Recently, she completed a four year role as the faculty in Residence for First Year Faculty Mentoring at Xavier’s Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Faculty Development and currently serves as the Principle Investigator for Xavier’s NSF ADVANCE grant for the promotion of underrepresented women in the STEM professoriate. Her professional service includes an active membership in the Louisiana Local Section of the American Chemical Society, a membership in the ACS Organic and Polymer Divisions, and she serves as the Phi Lambda Upsilon Chemistry Honor Society advisor. She is also the recipient of the 2012 Norman C. Francis Excellence in Teaching Award, the Alan Berman Research Publication Award from the Naval Research Laboratory, and the Kellogg II Endowed Professor of Teaching award.

Dr. Mehnaaz Ali is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Xavier University of Louisiana where she has been a faculty member since 2010. She received both her B.S. degree in Biochemistry and her Ph.D. degree in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin. After her postdoctoral work at the Tulane University School of Medicine, she joined the faculty at Xavier University.  

Dr. Ali conducts externally-funded research (NIH-SCORE, NSF SURE, Board of Regents and the Research Corporation) in collaboration with highly motivated undergraduate students who are interested in a career in the biomedical and chemical sciences. Her research interests include developing allosteric aptamer scaffolds that will serve as elegant conduits to study nucleic acid and small-molecule interactions. Dr. Ali’s fundamental research interest is in using structural modifications to enhance or inhibit binding within the aptamer scaffold. These alterations can be used to study the effects on kinetic and affinity parameters of the binding partners. Such systems are of significant interest due to their potential role as molecular switches, chemo-responsive sensors or genetic control elements. Dr. Ali publishes regularly with undergraduate co-authors and her students regularly present their research results at national meetings of the American Chemical Society and Materials Research Society.  

She is currently the co-PI on a center grant from the NASA MUREP Institutional Research Opportunity (MIRO) program which supports training and development of student research opportunities to directly affect the number of students in STEM careers. Dr. Ali is also a co-PI on a recently funded NSF ADVANCE grant which is focused on creating an equitable, inclusive and energizing climate for female STEM faculty members by addressing systemic barriers which currently lead to higher attrition rates of female faculty and Women of Color.

As the Director of Special Projects in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs and the Chemistry Department at Xavier University of Louisiana Erica Severan-Webb works to support the scientific research infrastructure while also supporting the faculty and the university in the development institutional grants. As Co-Principal Investigator of XULA STrIDES, Erica serves as Co-Facilitator of the mentoring network workshops and works with the team to study and transform policy and practice to be fully inclusive for the women in STEM at Xavier.