Jonathan Ashby began his education in chemistry at Trinity College, investigating the extraction of pesticides from human hair for studying long-term exposure of farm workers to these toxins. As a graduate student at UC Riverside and postdoctoral researcher at UC Davis, Jon worked at the interface of biology and analytical chemistry, using mass spectrometry to identify the formation of protein coatings around nanoparticles and interactions between DNA repair enzymes and damaged DNA. As an independent researcher, Jon’s interests in macromolecular interactions have shifted towards protein-protein interactions, developing higher throughput methods to screen for both interacting proteins and conditions to inhibit said interactions.

In the classroom, Jon enjoys teaching coursework on quantitative and qualitative analysis. One of his focuses when teaching is in demonstrating the connectivity of the chemical sciences with a variety of other fields, using case studies to connect chemical analysis to food science, forensic science and other industries.

curriculum vitae

Publications/Presentations:

• Ashby, Jonathan. Fluorescamine as a multi-purpose reagent for probing protein interactions. Benedictine College (virtual). April 2023. Invited lecture.
• Ashby, Jonathan. Screening of Protein-macromolecular interaction and inhibition via covalently interacting fluorogenic dyes. Pittsburgh Conference. Philadelphia, PA. March 2023. Oral presentation.
• Cao, Sheng; Rodgers, JohnPatrick; Yeo, Jongchan, Anderson-Steele, Brittany; Ashby, Jonathan; David, Sheila. 2’-fluorinated hydantoins as chemical biology tools for base excision repair glycosylases. ACS Chem. Biol.2020, 15, 915-924.
• Yuen, Philip; Green, Sydnee; Ashby, Jonathan; Lay, Kori; Santra, Abishek; Chen, Xi; Horvath, Martin; David, Sheila. Targeting base excision repair glycosylases with DNA containing transition state mimics prepared via click chemistry. ACS Chem. Biol.2019, 14, 27-36.
• Ashby, Jonathan. Flow field-flow fractionation based isolation of nucleic acid complexes. Amherst College. March 2018. Invited lecture.
• Fong, Miranda; Zhou, Weiying; Liu, Liang; Alonaga, Aileen; Chandra, Manasa; Ashby, Jonathan; Chow, Amy; O’Connor, Sean; Li, Sasha; Chin, Andrew; Somlo, George; Palomares, Melanie; Li, Zhuo; Tremblay, Jacob; Tsuyada, Akihiro; Sun, Guoqiang; Reid, Michael; Wu, Xiwei; Swiderski, Piotr; Ren, Xiubao; Shi, Yanhong; Kong, Mei; Zhong, Wenwan; Chen, Yuan; Wang, Shizen Emily. Breast-cancer-secreted miR-122 reprograms glucose metabolism in premetastatic niche to promote metathesis. Nat. Cell Bio. 2015, 17, 183-194
• Ashby, Jonathan; Ligans, Erik; Tamsi, Michael; Zhong, Wenwan. High-throughput profiling of nanoparticle-protein interactions by fluorescamine labeling. Anal. Chem.2015, 87, 2213-2219.
• Ashby, Jonathan*; Flack, Kenneth*; Jimenez, Luis; Duan, Yaokai; Kareem-Khatib, Abdel; Somlo, George; Wang, Shizen Emily; Cui, Xinping; Zhong, Wenwan. Distribution profiling of circulating microRNAs in serum. Anal. Chem., 2014, 86, 9343–9349.
• Ashby, Jonathan; Pan, Songquin; Zhong, Wenwan. Size and surface functionalization of iron oxide nanoparticles influence the composition and dynamic nature of their protein corona. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2014, 6, 15412–15419.

• Racial Equity Research and Action Grant, Mount Holyoke College, 2022
• Pittcon Undergraduate Analytical Research Program Award, Society for Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh, 2020
• Pittsburgh Conference National Memorial Conference Grant, Society for Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh, 2020
• Consortium for Faculty Diversity Fellowship, Mount Holyoke College, 2016
• Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship, National Research Council, 2015
• Graduate Research Fellowship, National Science Foundation, 2011
• Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award, University of California, Riverside, 2011
• Lisa P. Nestor Award for Excellence in Student Teaching in Chemistry, Trinity College, 2009