Riley Hughes

NRSA Fellow Chemical Biology PhD Candidate at Emory University Laney Graduate School

Atlanta, Georgia, United States

About

PhD candidate in Chemistry at Emory University, focused on chemical biology, proteomics, and the development of innovative chemical tools to study protein function in complex biological systems. My research centers on designing and applying chemical probes to investigate post-translational modifications and protein degradation pathways, particularly in the context of neurodegenerative disease. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5924-7775 https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=Q6pSAuMAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&authuser=1&gmla=AIqSsVuP_qbUvoRsgukcmX3psCAYdkgpYsqKJgdxZfPcsP0AjSa2G6gqvCy_kuZAnXtWfJPxBrI6wm8UYpblTckD

Experience

  • Emory Biotech Consulting Club (EBCC) (Freelance · 1 yr 1 mo)
    • President
      May 2026 - Present · 2 mos

      We match interested students with Atlanta-based inventors and entrepreneurs to help them overcome the next big obstacle on their path to biotech commercialization, including market assessment, customer discovery, competitor analysis, regulatory pathway identification, intellectual property strategy, and more. We also sponsor professional development seminars and workshops to help prepare our students for consulting case interviews. Membership is open to graduate and professional students at Emory and neighboring institutions, such as Georgia Tech and Georgia State University, with an emphasis on connecting STEM and business graduate students.

    • Consulting Director
      Jan 2026 - Apr 2026 · 4 mos

    • Team Lead - OrthoPreserve
      Aug 2025 - Dec 2025 · 5 mos

  • Venture Scout at Nucleate Atlanta
    Jan 2026 - Present · 6 mos

    Nucleate is a student-led organization that represents the largest global community of bio-innovators.

  • PHD Candidate at Emory University Laney Graduate School
    Jun 2023 - Present · 3 yrs 1 mo

    Member of the 2023 cohort of Emory PhD students in chemistry. Focusing in chemical biology and chemoproteomic methods with Dr. Monika Raj. Inaugural member of the Biological Discovery through Chemical Innovation Training Program. Achievement Rewards for College Scientists Foundation Scholar.

  • Providence College (Part-time · 3 yrs 10 mos)
    • Organic Chemistry Undergraduate Research - Walsh Fellow
      Feb 2020 - May 2023 · 3 yrs 4 mos

      Walsh Fellowship funded investigation into the “Design, Synthesis, and Physicochemical Studies of Configurationally Stable b-Carboline Atropisomers” and “Asymmetric Methods for the Synthesis of Atropisomeric β-Carbolines via [2+2+2] Cyclotrimerization.” Published in the Journal of Organic Chemistry and Tetrahedron Letters. American Chemical Society Conference poster presenter, Spring 2022 and 2023. Work includes summer 2021 & 2022 along with seven semesters. Summer 2020 - Computational Chemistry Study Adapted and optimized research goals to address increasing Covid-19 challenges. Remotely developed a vast library of atropisomeric beta-carbolines in Wavefunction’s Spartan 18 as well as Gaussian in order to computationally predicted barriers to rotation about its axis.

    • Staff Supervisor - Concannon Fitness Center
      Aug 2019 - May 2023 · 3 yrs 10 mos

  • Global Product Development Intern - Inflammation and Immunology at Pfizer
    May 2022 - Aug 2022 · 4 mos

    Clinical trial study design, involved in key sub team and regulatory discussions. Initial design of two, open-label study cohorts to assess the safety and early signs of efficacy​ in patients as a means to reduce the high unmet medical need observed in idiopathic inflammatory myopathies.