The Wenthur Lab is proud to include researchers from a wide range of personal and professional backgrounds. We believe that an inclusive, supportive environment is a necessary foundation for accomplishing significant scientific, clinical, and academic progress. Our insights are stronger when they are developed from multiple perspectives, and our lives are richer when our friends and colleagues provide us with a chance to learn from their experiences.

We invite you to look through our member biographies to learn more about our members’ individual interests and expertise.

headshot of Dr. Cody Wenthur

Cody Wenthur, PharmD, PhD

Assistant Professor of Pharmacy
Director, Psychoactive Pharmaceutical Investigation MS Program
Doctor of Pharmacy, Purdue University – College of Pharmacy
Doctor of Philosophy - Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University – School of Medicine
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla – Department of Chemistry

Dr. Cody Wenthur is an innovative, translational investigator in psychopharmacology who has been on the UW–Madison faculty since 2018. His work is focused on improving our understanding of the basis for beneficial and detrimental effects of opioids, cannabinoids, psychedelics, and other neuroplasticity-inducing approaches in the context of novel therapeutic approaches for promoting and maintaining mental health.

His research program has received both basic and clinical grant and fellowship support from NIGMS, NIDA, NIMH, independent foundations, and philanthropic funds. The resulting findings have been published in leading journals such as Nature and PNAS and have yielded the development of first-in-class tool compounds and generated new pharmacologic techniques for the investigation of complex psychoactive mixtures.

His scientific research is complemented by his dedicated support of graduate education in neuropharmacology, including active service as the founding director of the Psychedelic Pharmaceutical Investigation Master’s program, and mentorship of PharmD and PhD students in the Pharmaceutical Sciences, Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, and Neuroscience Training Programs.

Staff and Postdoctoral Researchers

Riya Bhavsar, MS

Research Specialist
BS Pharmacy
MS Pharm/Tox, Long Island University

Jillian Kyzer, PhD

Research Scientist
PhD in medicinal chemistry, University of Minnesota
Postdoc in Chemical Neuroscience, UW

Graduate Students

Noelle Cataldo

PhD Candidate, Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology

U. Matthew Enriquez

PhD Candidate, Pharmaceutical Sciences
MCP T32 Fellow

Natalie Gonzalez Velazquez

PhD Candidate, Pharmaceutical Sciences
SciMED GRS Fellow
Chemisty-Biology Interface T32 Fellow

Nate Jones

PhD Candidate, Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology
MCP T32 Fellow

Suhjung Janet Lee

PhD Candidate, Neuroscience and Public Policy
ICTR TL1 Fellow

John Razidlo

PhD Candidate, UW Neuroscience Training Program
NTP T32 Fellow

Zarmeen Zahid

PhD Candidate, UW Neuroscience Training Program
NTP T32 Fellow

PharmD Students

Joseph Nerad

PharmD Candidate
BS, Pharmaceutical Sciences, UW-Madison, 2021

Rhiann Sato, MS

PharmD Candidate
MS, Biology, Villanova University, 2021

Interns / Residents

Mika Hess

Research Intern; Sponsor: Psilera Inc.
PPI MS Candidate

Alumni

The Wenthur Lab is proud to have supported the careers of these undergraduate, graduate, professional, and post-graduate members who are now serving in leadership roles across areas ranging from healthcare delivery to the biotechnology industry and academia.

Zhen Zheng, PhD

PostDoc, 2021 (Faculty at Tianjin Medical University)

Mohammad Mosharraf Hossain, PhD

PostDoc, 2022 (Assoc Rsrch Scientist, Thermo Fisher)

Adam Worob, PhD

PhD, Pharm Sci - 2022 (Medical Writer, A2-AI)

Claudia Epland

PharmD, 2023 (Mental Health Resident, Veterans Administration)

Vincent Wartenweiler

PharmD, 2020; PPI MS, 2023 (Porta Sophia)

Grace Chung

PharmD, 2019 (Walgreens)

Amy Stewart

PharmD, BCACP, CPP (Clinical Pharmacy Specialist, CHESS Health Solutions)

Christina Beer

Visiting Intl. Scholar, 2023 ( U. Freiburg)

Laura Wagner

BS, 2023 (Chemistry PhD Student, UCLA)

Paxton Paine

BS, 2018 (William Blair)

Mason McGuire

BS, 2022

Alexandra Minich

BS, 2020