Our People
Leading our research, education, entrepreneurship efforts, our faculty, staff, and trainees are propelling us to push the boundaries of synthetic biology.
Center Operations / Center Faculty / Center Researchers / Advisory Board
Center Operations
The Leadership Team
Julius Lucks
Center Co-Director
Danielle Tullman-Ercek
Center Co-Director
Yael Mayer
Director of Operations and Outreach
Center Staff
Christine Akdeniz
Senior Education and Outreach Coordinator
Brianna Bullock
Senior Program Coordinator
Lauren Clark
Foundry Scientist
Juan Villacres Perez
Lab Tech
Rebecca Spivack
Program Assistant
Lisa La Vallee
Marketing and Communications Coordinator
Center Faculty
Our Core and Affiliate Faculty
Our External Faculty
Neda Bagheri
Michael Jewett
External Faculty, Stanford University
Center Researchers
Our Postdoctoral Researchers
Jaison Rathina Raj Arivalagan
Postdoctoral Fellow
Catherine Beaumont
Post-Doctoral Researcher
Nasrin Naderi Beni
Postdoctoral Fellow
Hilary Bethancourt
Postdoctoral Fellow
Andrew Blake
Postdoctoral Fellow
Nathaniel (Nate) Campbell
Post-Doctoral Researcher
Priscila Cavassin
Post-Doctoral Researcher
Kangfu Chen
Postdoctoral Fellow
Gaurav Deshmukh
Post-Doctoral Researcher
John Devany
Postdoctoral Fellow
Carina Fedosejevs
Postdoctoral Fellow
Állan Ferrari
Research Assistant Professor
Cody FitzGerald
Postdoctoral Fellow
Surath Gomis
Postdoctoral Fellow
Sri Bala Gorugantu
Postdoctoral Fellow
Sunghee Hwang
Postdoctoral Fellow
Pandeeswari Jeeva
Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Oliyad Jeilu
Postdoctoral Fellow
Kevin Jooss
Postdoctoral Fellow
Rahul Kumar
Postdoctoral Fellow
Nitu Kumari
Postdoctoral Fellow
Ben Kuznets-Speck
Post-Doctoral Researcher
Yebin Lee
Post-Doctoral Researcher
Ted Litberg
Postdoctoral Fellow
Xiaoyang Liu
Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Leticia Lopez-Flores
Postdoctoral Fellow
Cat Majors
Postdoctoral Fellow
Bapi Mandal
Postdoctoral Fellow
Olivia Manley
Postdoctoral Fellow
Gianmaria Matrone
Post-Doctoral Researcher
Anibal Arce Medina
Postdoctoral Researcher
Carolyn Mills
Postdoctoral Fellow
Dayna Patterson
Postdoctoral Fellow
Sarah Quillin
Postdoctoral Fellow
Aswathy Raghu
Postdoctoral Fellow
Vicky Santoso
Postdoctoral Fellow
Alexander Shaw
Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Ahis Shrestha
Postdoctoral Fellow
Ben Des Soye
Postdoctoral Fellow
Pei Su
Postdoctoral Fellow
Abhijith Surendran
Post-Doctoral Researcher
Maria de Lourdes Cabezas Tapia
Postdoctoral Fellow
Jane Thibeault
Postdoctoral Fellow
Neha Tyagi
Post-Doctoral Researcher
Vidya Venkataramanan
Postdoctoral Fellow
Sara Volz
Postdoctoral Fellow
Daniel Wang
Postdoctoral Fellow
Ashan Wettasinghe
Postdoctoral Fellow
Jess Willi
Postdoctoral Fellow
Jonathan Xia
Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Jianshe Xia
Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Yao Xiong
Postdoctoral Fellow
Kefan Yang
Postdoctoral Fellow
Chansik Yoon
Post-Doctoral Researcher
Hanie Yousefi
Postdoctoral Fellow
Hossein Zargartalebi
Postdoctoral Fellow
Quan Zhang
Postdoctoral Fellow
Nanqing Zhou
Postdoctoral Associate
Our Graduate Students
Abdalla Abdrabou
PhD Student
Lauren Adams
PhD Student
Rogelio Alvarado
PhD Student
Michael Anderson
PhD Student
Chloé Archuleta
PhD Student
Daniel de Castro Assumpção
PhD Student
Joey Ayala
Graduate Student
Alexandra Barajas
PhD Student
Jade Basinski
PhD Student
Quinn Beato
PhD Student
Alexander Best
Graduate Student
Katy Bond
PhD Student
Gauri Bora
PhD Student
Jonathan Boucher
PhD Student
Maddie Briggs
PhD Student
Joey Brogan
Undergraduate Student
Dylan Brown
PhD Student
Ryan Bui
Undergraduate Student
David Bushhouse
PhD Student
Margaret Butler
PhD Student
Delfin Buyco
PhD Student
Luis Fernando Ayala Cadona
Graduate Student
Andra Campbell
PhD Student
Isa Candal
Undergraduate Student
Christina Catlett
PhD Student
Norah Chen
Master's Student
Kathleen Cheng
MD PhD Student
Edric Choi
PhD Student
Lariana Cline
PhD Student
Amparo Cosio
PhD Student
Israel DaSilva
PhD Student
Rachel Daso
PhD Student
Herma Demissie
PhD Student
Maddie DeWinter
PhD Student
Piriththiv Dhavarasa
PhD Student
Naedum Domnwachukwu
MD/PhD Student
Jane Donnelly
Graduate Student
Kathleen Dreyer
PhD Student
Bill Duong
PhD Student
Daniel Duplessis
PhD Student
Holly Ekas
PhD Student
Fatemeh Esmaeili
PhD Student
Blake Everett
PhD Student
Jonathon Fan
PhD Student
Yilin Fang
PhD Student
Matthew Farnese
PhD Student
Juliana Feng
MD/PhD Student
Garth Fisher
PhD Student
Sullivan Fitz
PhD Student
Kevin Fitzgerald
PhD Student
Connor Flynn
PhD Student
Andrew Freiburger
PhD Student
Tina Fu
PhD Student
Mario Garcia
PhD Student
Armin Geraili
PhD Student
Emanuelle Grody
PhD Student
Zhaoyi Gu
PhD Student
Jing Gu
Master's Student
Taylor Gunnels
PhD Student
Zihan Guo
PhD Student
Raveena Gupta
PhD Student
Ethan Halingstad
PhD Student
Brandon Li Hancock
PhD Student
Laura Hertz
PhD Student
Heather Hirsch
PhD Student
Gloria Hu
PhD Student
Vivian Hu
PhD Student
Rosalba Huerta
PhD Student
Tyler Hummer
PhD Student
Tyler Hummer
PhD Student
Stefanie Huttelmaier
PhD Student
Scott Isaacson
PhD Student
Ashley Ives
PhD Student
Elizabeth Johnson
PhD Student
Hyunkeun Joo
PhD Student
Vasili Kalas
PSTP Postdoctoral Fellow
Soumya Kandi
PhD Student
Julie Kang
Master's Student
Pavel Katsev
Master's Student
Mary Kelly
PhD Student
Nolan Kennedy
PhD Student
Victoria Kindratenko
PhD Student
Victoria Kindratenko
PhD Student
Simon Kissel
Undergraduate Student
Camila Kofman
PhD Student
Lingji Kong
Master's Student
Lingji Kong
Master's Student
Elizabeth Koselka
PhD Student
Han Umana Kossio
PhD Student
Shivani Kozarekar
PhD Student
Grant Landwehr
PhD Student
Zachary Laswick
PhD Student
Calvin Law
PhD Student
Caleb Lay
PhD Student
Alexander Lee
PhD Student
Haklae Lee
PhD Student
Hunter Lee
Undergraduate Student
Chloe Lenker
Master's Student
Aurelia Leona
PhD Student
Jenni Li
PhD Student
Yi Li
PhD Student
Muhan Li
PhD Student
Muhan Li
PhD Student
Shiqi Liang
PhD Student
Dachey Lin
Master's Student
Aiden Linderman
Undergraduate Student
Lucy Liu
PhD Student
Elaine Liu
Master's Student
Junyi Liu
PhD Student
Yara Jabbour Al Maalouf
PhD Student
Alam Mahmud
PhD Student
Aurore Niyitanga Manzi
PhD Student
Rawia Marafi
Master's Student
Cydney Martell
PhD Student
Natalia Matiuto
PhD Student
David Matthews
PhD Student
Julia Mayes
PhD Student
Patrick Mbullo
PhD Student
Grace McLaughlin
PhD Student
Dilara Meli
PhD Student
Madeline Melzer
PhD Student
Natalia Mendonca
PhD Student
Giovanni Michel
Master's Student
Marija Milisavljevic
PhD Student
Jake Miller
PhD Student
Madeline Mills
PhD Student
Roxi Mitrut
PhD Student
Anahid Moghadam
PhD Student
Anahid Amani Moghadam
PhD Student
Maram Naji
PhD Student
Audrey Nashner
Graduate Student
Tung Nguyen
PhD Student
Adun Obisesan
PhD Student
Meagan Olsen
PhD Student
Brandon Onusaitis
PhD Student
Caitlin Palmer
PhD Student
Brett J. Palmero
PhD Student
Laxman Pandey
PhD Student
Pornchanan (Cherlyn) Pholraksa
Graduate Student
Claire Phoumyvong
PhD Student
Nicholas Pogharian
PhD Student
Tanu Priya
PhD Student
Weronika Ptaszek
Master's Student
Dingwen Qian
PhD Student
Rebecca Rasmussen
PhD Candidate
Lauren Redus
PhD Student
Reyvin Reyes
PhD Student
Kimberly Riordan
PhD Student
Hector Manuel Lopez de la Cerda Rios
PhD Student
Gerri Roberts
PhD Student
Tanja Sack
PhD Student
Crystal Sanchez
PhD Student
Yannick Schreiber
PhD Student
Antara Sen
PhD Student
Tori Seto
PhD Student
Kevin Shebek
PhD Student
Bethel Shekour
PhD Student
Mary Skillicorn
PhD Student
Isaac Smith
PhD Student
Keren Sneh
PhD Student
Zehao Song
PhD Student
William Sprague
PhD Student
Sraeyes Sridhar
PhD Student
Luke Strgar
PhD Student
Luke Strgar
PhD Student
Taojunfeng Su
PhD Student
Jordan Summers
PhD Student
Jack Sumner
PhD Student
Hanxiao Sun
Master's Student
Sufyaan Syed
Undergraduate Student
Daniel Szames
PhD Student
Kelly Teitel
Undergraduate Student
Christina Thaggard
PhD Student
Shelby Tillema
PhD Student
Frank Tucci
PhD Student
Beliz Utebay
PhD Student
Dhanvi Vemulapalli
Master's Student
Citlayi Villasenor
PhD Student
Jiaxing Wang
PhD Student
Maria Warns
Master's Student
Grace Watkins
PhD Student
Elijah Watson
PhD Student
Amy Weiss
PhD Student
John Williams
PhD Student
Cole Wilson
PhD Student
Derek Wong
PhD Student
Zhenwei Wu
PhD Student
Xinran Xie
PhD Student
Julia Yescas
PhD Student
Chen Yu
PhD Student
Chen Yu
PhD Student
Yue Zhang
Medical Student
Lily Zhang
PhD Student
Yifan Zhang
Graduate Student
Chenlin Zhao
PhD Student
Our Undergraduate Students
Jessica Alcantara
Undergraduate Student
Yazeed Alroogi
Undergraduate Student
Ai-li Baird
Undergraduate Student
Natalia Barna
Undergraduate Student
Eleftheria Beres
Undergraduate Student
Paul Bernhard
Undergraduate Student
Emily Chi
Undergraduate Student
Gabriela Cosenza
Undergraduate Student
Lynna Deng
Undergraduate Student
Regina Fernandez
Undergraduate Student
Margaret Guilarte-Silva
UG Researcher
Anika Gupta
Undergraduate Student
Yulia Gutierrez
Undergraduate Student
Dylan Burke Hakken
Undergraduate Student
Iva Hammitt-Kess
Undergraduate Student
Jack Hume
Undergraduate Student
Faith Irvine
Undergraduate Student
Emilie Jacobus
Undergraduate Student
Lyra Johnson
Undergraduate Student
Samanvi Kanugula
Undergraduate Student
Rebeca Lion
Undergraduate Student
Ridhima Manocha
Undergraduate Student
Laiqa Mazhar
Undergraduate Student
Caleb Nunes
Undergraduate Student
Halle Petrie
Undergraduate Student
Teresa Rojas Rodríquez
Undergraduate Student
Francesca Rosen
Undergraduate Student
Marcos Sanchez
Undergrad Student
Maggie Schneider
Undergraduate Student
Lily Settel
Undergraduate Student
Daniel Shamsoddini
Undergraduate Student
Rohan Sohini
Undergraduate Student
Benjamin Thomae
Undergraduate Student
Emma Vinokour
Undergraduate Student
Catherine Xu
Undergraduate Student
Center Lab Research Staff
Syeda Subia Ahmed
Research Technologist
Sharif Ahmed
Research Staff
Keerthana Melekote Arun
Research Technologist
Dr. Randy Atwal
Research Staff
Caroline Bell
Research Technician
Eric Berns
Research Staff
Maria Cabezas
Research Staff
Dingran Chang
Research Staff
Jagotamoy Das
Research Staff
Eva Durance
Research Technician
Amin GhavamiNejad
Research Staff
Xudong Ji
Research Assistant Professor
Felipe Jimenez-Angeles
Research Associate Professor
Elizabeth Lakoma
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Katelyn Leisman
Research Staff
Michelle Lotz
Research Technician
Justin Modica
Research Staff
Alexandra Moreno
Lab Manager
Eli Plunkett
Research Technologist
Dr. Weitao Shuai
Research Associate
Abhijith Surenderan
Research Assistant Professor
Ahmed Usman
Clinical Trials Research Fellow
Hansen Wang
Research Staff
Amy Wang
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Richard Wang
Research Staff
Rebecca Wilson
Research Technician
Sophie Xiao
Research Staff
Advisory Board
Our Academic Advisory Board
Frances Arnold
American Chemical Engineer, Nobel Laureate, and Professor at California Institute of Technology
Frances is the Linus Pauling Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering and Biochemistry at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). In 2018, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for pioneering the use of directed evolution to engineer enzymes.
She earned her BS in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Princeton University in 1979 and her PhD in chemical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. There, she did her postdoctoral work in biophysical chemistry before coming to Caltech in 1986.
Arnold’s work has been recognized with many awards, including the 2011 Draper Prize and a 2013 National Medal of Technology and Innovation. She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2011. Arnold has the rare honor of being elected to all three National Academies in the United States — the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. In 2016 she became the first woman to win the Millennium Technology Prize, which she won for pioneering directed evolution. In 2017, Arnold was awarded the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Prize in Convergence Research by the National Academy of Sciences, which recognizes extraordinary contributions to convergence research. In 2018 she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her work in directed evolution, making her the fifth woman to receive the award in its 117 years of existence, and the first American woman.
Arnold is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Academy of Microbiology, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and an International Fellow of the UK’s Royal Academy of Engineering in 2018
Learn more about FrancesJames J. Collins
American Bioengineer and Termeer Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Collins is one of the founders of the field of synthetic biology, and has made multiple synthetic biology breakthroughs in biotechnology and biomedicine, including paper-based diagnostics for Zika & Ebola and programmable cells that serve as living diagnostics and living therapeutics to detect-and-treat infections, rare genetic metabolic disorders, and inflammatory bowel disease. His patented technologies have been licensed by numerous biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and medical devices companies. He has helped launch a number of companies, including Sample6 Technologies, Synlogic and EnBiotix.
Professor Collins has received numerous awards and honors, including a Rhodes Scholarship, a MacArthur “Genius” Award, an NIH Director’s Pioneer Award, the Lagrange Prize from the CRT Foundation in Italy, the Sanofi-Institut Pasteur Award, the BMES Robert A. Pritzker Award, the HFSP Nakasone Award, the Promega Biotechnology Research Award, and being selected for Technology Review’s inaugural TR100 – 100 young innovators who will shape the future of technology – and the Scientific American 50 – the top 50 outstanding leaders in science and technology.
Collins is also a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the Institute of Physics, and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. He is also an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Furthermore, he is a charter fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.
Learn more about Prof. CollinsWendell Lim
Professor and Chair of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at the University of California, San Francisco
Lim is the director of the UCSF Center for Systems & Synthetic Biology. He earned his AB in chemistry from Harvard University and his PhD in biochemistry and biophysics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is interested in the logic of cell signaling systems: understanding how the networks of signaling proteins found in eukaryotic cells have evolved to allow cells to make complex behavioral decisions.
Significantly, Lim’s research group uses synthetic biology to redesign biological systems. In particular, various methods are used to create novel or modified signaling proteins and pathways, both to systematically understand network structure/function relationships and to develop engineered research tools and novel biotechnological and therapeutic applications. He is an investigator in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and he has received the Hans Neurath Award from The Protein Society.
Learn more about Prof. Lim