The O'Malley Lab at UCSB

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People

Principal Investigator

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Prof. Michelle A. O’Malley
Cliff R. Scholle Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, UCSB
Professor, Department of Bioengineering, UCSB
​Director, NSF ExFAB Biofoundry

USDA-NIFA Postdoctoral Fellow, MIT/Broad Institute (2009-2012)
Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, University of Delaware (2009)
B.S. Chemical Engineering; B.S. Biomedical Engineering,
Carnegie Mellon University (2004)
Email
omalley_cv_2024.pdf

Project scientists

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​Dr. Elaine Kirschke
Project Scientist
Ph.D. Biophysics, University of California San Francisco (2014)
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​Dr. Oliver Vining
Project Scientist
Ph.D. Pharmaceutical Sciences, Oregon State University (2015)
Secondary metabolism of complex microbial consortia

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​Dr. Nathalie Elisabeth
Project Scientist
Ph.D. Physiology and Biology of Organisms, Populations, and Interactions, University des Antilles/France (2011)
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Lab Manager

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Jackie Richardson, MSc
Lab Manager
M.S. Biochemistry, University of Saint Joseph (2023)
B.S. Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara (2004)
Mensa member since 2023

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Postdoctoral researchers

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​Dr. Hugh M. Purdy
Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison (2021) 
Characterizing genetic mechanisms of diatom cell-wall silicification
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CV
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​Dr. Bo Zhang
Ph.D. Animal Biology, UC Davis (2022) 
Microbial consortia and metabolism of anaerobic microbes
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Graduate students

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Ramya Ragunathan
B.S. Chemical Engineering, 
Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, India (2021)
Understanding the formation of biogenic silica in diatoms and characterizing it​ ​
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Co-advised by Prof. Brad Chmelka and Prof. Mark Brzezinski
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Vikram Mubayi
B.S. Chemical Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2022)
Microbial Degradation of Plastics
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Janelle Arnold
B.S. Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University (2023)
Developing anaerobic cell-free systems to study non-model microbes
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Co-advised by Prof. Carolyn Mills

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Chaoming Xu
B.S. Biological Science, UC Santa Barbara (2023)
Characterization and Engineering of Fungal Carbohydrate-Binding Module
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Colleen Ahern
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B.S. Chemical Engineering University of Massachusetts Lowell (2020)
Microbial degradation of plastics​
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Shiyan (Shirley) Jin
​B.S. Chemical Engineering, University of Delaware (2021)
Characterizing lignin-active enzymes in anaerobic fungi
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Sarah Seagrave
B.S. Microbiology, UC Santa Barbara.
M.S. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Georgetown University.

Engineering novel genetic engineering tools for directed evolution in non-model microbes
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Vikram Shanbhag
B.S. Chemical Engineering, Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, India (2023)
Engineering self-remodeling protein complexes for synthetic biology
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Co-advised by Prof. Scott Shell
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Artury Ramirez
B.S. Bioengineering, UC Merced (2023)
Developing Oligonucleotide Uptake Tools for Non-Model Organisms
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Current Undergraduate Students

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​​Jessy Gonzalez
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UCSB 
Microbiology, 2024​
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Wenni Zhang
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UCSB Chemical Engineering
, 2027
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John Sepe
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UCSB Microbiology
, 2026
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Isabella Farrand
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UCSB Chemical Engineering
,  2026
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Hector Cardenas
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UCSB Chemistry
, 2026
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Chandraki Chatterjee
​UCSB Chemical Engineering, 2025
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Keith Chiu
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UCSB Biochemistry
, 2025

Lab Alumni

Former International Visitors

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Dr. Mike Theodorou, Professor Emeritus of Anaerobic Digestion & Fermentation Technology, Harper Adams University, UK
Dr. Magdalena Calusinska, Senior Researcher, Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology

Former Postdoctoral Scholars

Dr. Tejas Navaratna (2023), currently University of Michigan
​Dr. Amy Eisenberg (2023), currently Alga Biosciences
Professor Chris Lawson (2020), currently Assistant Professor, University of Toronto 
Professor Xuefeng (Nick) Peng (2015-2020), currently Assistant Professor, University of South Carolina
Dr. Doriv Knop (2016-2018)
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Dr. Susanna Seppala (2014-2022)
Dr. Monica Reith (2014-2016), currently Assistant Professor, Southern Illinois University (Edwardsville)
Dr. Jessica Sexton (2014-2016), currently Apeel Sciences
Dr. Charles Haitjema (2012-2016), currently ProteinSimple
Professor Kevin Solomon (2012-2015), currently Associate Professor, University of Delaware

Former PhD Students

Dr. Lazarina Butkovich
Dr. Elaina Blair
Dr. Kellie Heom, currently Amgen
Dr. Katharine Dickson, currently postdoctoral scholar, UC-Davis (Hess Lab)
Dr. Patrick Leggieri, currently BP
Dr. Stephen Lillington, currently Genentech
​Dr. Tom Lankiewicz, currently Allonnia
Dr. Jennifer Brown, currently the DOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI)
Kerri Luttrell, former post-baccalaureate researcher, currently at University of Hawaii
Dr. Michael Vigers, currently postdoctoral scholar, Northwestern University
Dr. Kendrick D. Nguyen, currently Quantum-Si
Emily Sun, MS, currently 10x Genomics

Dr. Candice Swift, currently USPTO
Dr. St. Elmo Wilken, currently postdoctoral scholar, Heinrich-Heine University, Germany (
Ebenhöh lab)
Dr. Justin Yoo, currently Notch Therapeutics
Dr. Sean Gilmore, currently Native Microbials
Dr. John Henske, currently Inscripta
Dr. Nicole Schonenbach, currently Pfizer
Dr. Jennifer Guerrero, currently Amgen

Former Undergraduates

Noa Margolith (2023-2024), currently University of California, Berkeley
Johanna Blackmore (2022-2023)
​Nabil Alansari (2022-2023), Meissner

Thea Zalunardo (2021-2023)
Taylor Gierke (2020-2023), PhD Student Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Yale University
​Michael Dong (2021-2022), Sutro Biopharma
Natasha Aji (2022-2023)
​Scott Tam (2021-2022), ACCO Engineered Systems

Miguel Castaneda-Renteria (2020-2021), Cargill
Nikola Malinov (2019-2021), currently PhD Student Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Univ. of Delaware
Corey Kerdman-Andrade (2019-2020), currently FM Global
Derek Tang (2019-2020), Currently Sana Biotechnology 
​Freda Lababidi (2019), Quality Assurance Engineering, Ridgeline
Jenna Hoover (2018-2019), Amgen
Mason Gatz (2019), undergraduate UCSD Chemical Engineering
Alex Smith (2018-2019), undergraduate UCSB Microbiology
Patrick Kolence (2017-2019)
Mohan Saxena (2017-2019), Clorox
Teagan Pado (2018-2019)
Samantha Lee (2015-2018)
Julia Bryne (2016-2018)
Zach Cogan (2015-2017), UCSF
Winston Hsu (2016-2017), OSIsoft
Randall DeGroot (2015-2017), Zymergen
​Jessica Hauk (2015-2017), Chemetry
Francis Cunningham (2016-2017), PhD Student Chemical & Bimolecular Engineering, UC-Berkeley
R. Andres Parra Sperberg (2014-2016), PhD Student Bioengineering, Stanford University
Herman Ching (2015-2016), PhD Student Chemical Engineering, UC-Irvine
Daniel Yur (2014-2016), PhD Student Chemical & Biomolecular Eng, University of Delaware
Wen-Kang Chou, ICB URAP (2014-2015), PhD student ChE, Princeton
Sarah Maxel (2013-2015), PhD Student Chemical Engineering, UC-Irvine
​Natalie Banakis (2012-2015), Patagonia
Charlotte Abrahamson (2013-2015), PhD Student Chemical & Biomolecular Eng, Northwestern
Erich Brodbeck, Amgen Fellow, ICB URAP (2013-2014), Amryis
Chris Euchus (UC-Irvine), INSET (2014)
Marla Nyamdori (2013-2014)
David Chau (2013-2014), Eurofins Advantar Labs
Kane Nania (UCLA) (2013), PhD student UCLA
Jiehao (CJ) Chen (UC-Berkeley), INSET (2013), Genentech
Jessica O'Day (2012-2013), Kite Pharma
​Brian Owens (2012-2013), Energy Transfer
Briane Kiliman, McNair Scholar (2012-2013), Intel
Meredith Green (2012-2013), Merck
Elisa Ovadia (2012-2013), PhD Student Chemical & Biomolecular Eng, University of Delaware
Josie Tressl (2012-2013), Boehrigner Ingelheim
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