People
Graduate Student
314.935.4964
I am a PhD candidate in Energy, Environmental, and Chemical Engineering. I joined the lab in May 2009. I am working to apply techniques developed to optimize the operation of chemical reactors to get more useful stuff out of our favorite micro-reactors: cyanobacteria.
Cyanobacteria created most of the organic material that time and geological forces turned into the fossil fuels we rely on to meet our energy and materials needs today. I believe that engineered cyanobacterial strains can play a major part in meeting those needs in the future. I am working to create those strains.
Senior Research Associate
314-935-6862
Research Interests: Stress dependant changes in photosynthetic organisms.
My current interest is on how various biological stress induce responses in a photosynthetic organism. The current emphasis is to document differences in the redox related chemistry and gene expression in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis 6803 that allow survival in the presence of various applied stresses (these stresses include changes in light availability, water, salt and micronutrient content of the environment.
Laboratory Technician
(314)935-6862
I am a technician in the lab. I enjoy working here with a group of energetic and passionate people. I take responsibilities of maintaining cyanobacteria culture and assisting other lab members as well as doing experiments independently such as PCR, subcloning, plasmid preparation etc. I am very interested in working in the field of renewable energy, which will ultimately change our life.
Postdoctoral Researcher
314 935-4964
I am interested in applying various computational and systems engineering concepts to understand complex biological systems. My research areas include analyzing high throughput biological data sets, identifying and modeling gene interactions, and characterizing metabolic networks.
During last two years, I also got involved in biological experiments including genetic modifications, biological assays, and cell growth. These experiments focus on developing cyanobacteria mutants for generation of bio-fuels.
Postdoctoral Researcher
314 935-8133
My research interests focus on understanding the structure-function relationships between cellular architecture and biological processes. Cyanobacteria are ideal model systems for this work because of their diverse metabolic lifestyles, which in some strains can include photosynthesis, nitrogen fixation, and hydrogen production, often coordinated with storage body accumulation and mobilization. My work uses a variety of experimental approaches, including biochemistry, molecular biology, and imaging methods including light and electron microscopy.
(314)935-4964
I am an undergraduate biomedical engineer interested in the applications of systems and synthetic biology to cyanobacteria. I am also a past participant in iGEM at WashU and am interested in pursuing graduate studies in bioengineering. Outside of the lab, I can be found playing water polo and enjoying all sorts of delicious foods.
Graduate Student
714 475-9150
I became caught up in the intricacies and quirks of plants after my first plant biology class at UC Berkeley. One of my most memorable experiences in college was when I devilishly persuaded my friends to taste pretty pine resin, simply to giggle at the grimaces on their faces. I also encouraged my parents to munch on briny, succulent Salicornia stems so they could appreciate its' ability to store salt. To this day, I love to discuss the medicinal properties of various plants that I see with anyone who will listen.
I believe that cyanobacteria are fabulous miniature living factories that can be engineered for sustainable production of high value products and biofuels due to their versatile metabolic machinery. I am interested on doing research focused on determining viable pathways and engineering them for the sake of generating biofuels and valuable products as well as working on the achievement of high throughput and performance optimization by means of synthetic biology. When not in the lab or tenaciously working on colossal homework assignments; I can be found cooking, learning and practicing foreign languages and traveling.
I am a graduate student in Energy, Environmental, and Chemical Engineering. I began at WUSTL in the fall of 2012.
Graduate Student
(314) 935-6862
As a joint Chemistry graduate student in the labs of Professors Pakrasi and Michael Gross, I am interested in using mass spectrometry-based techniques, as well as more traditional biological approaches, to study questions in Photosystem II assembly and function.
Laboratory Technician
314 935-6862
I like to take responsibility and strive for perfection in everything I do, such as organizing the lab and maintaining cultures, and also I work on molecular and biochemical projects in the lab that includes vector construction, SDS-page, westerns and protein purification…etc. I pretty enjoy the green world and hope to contribute with others in building a wonderful world.