Current Lab Members
Principal Investigator
Clare and Peter Buenz Endowed Chair & ZD Bonner Professor of Chemical Engineering at UT Austin
BA, Human Biology with Honors, Stanford University
PhD, Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin
Postdoc, Microbiology & Immunology, Stanford University
* National Academy of Inventors, senior member
* American Institute of Medical & Biological Engineers Fellow
* University of Texas “Emerging Inventor of the Year” Award
* Texas Exes Teaching Award for the College of Engineering
* Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Grand Challenge Award
* Packard Fellowship, David and Lucile Packard Foundation
* Dreyfus New Faculty Award
* National Research Service Award, NIH F32
Research Assistant Professor
Dr. Annalee W. Nguyen
Director, CPRIT Advanced Protein Therapeutics Core
Director, UT Austin/ MD Anderson TRIUMPH-IBC Accelerator project
BS, Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin
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UT Austin Distinguished Scholar
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Women in Engineering Program Distinguished Female Engineer
PhD, Chemical Engineering, University of California at Santa Barbara
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NSF GRFP award
Post-doc, Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin
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NIH NRSA F32 award
Research Associates/ Assistants
Dr. Brant Gracia
BS, Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M
PhD, Biochemistry & Structural Biology, UT Austin
Post-doc, Genetics & Systems Biology, MD Anderson
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NIH NRSA F32 award
Mathew Soto
BS Biology: Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, UT-Austin
Joseph Garza
BS Biology: Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, UT-Austin
Graduate Students
Kelli Hager
BS, Animal Science, Ohio State University
MPH, Infectious Disease and Vaccinology, UC Berkeley
PhD Candidate, Microbiology (5th year)
McKenna Flynn
BS, Biochemistry, University of Texas at Austin
PhD Candidate, Biochemistry (5th year)
Charlie Johnson
BS, Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M
MSE, Biomedical Engineering, UT Austin
PhD Candidate, Biomedical Engineering (5th year)
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Agata Turula
BE Chemical Engineering, The City College of New York
PhD Candidate, Chemical Engineering (4th year)
(co-supervised with Lydia Contreras)
Yakendra Bajgain
BS Biology, Troy University
MS Biology, Villanova University
PhD Candidate, Biochemistry (4th year)
Kate McConnell
BS Biochemistry, Western Washington University
PhD Candidate, Biochemistry (4th year)
Truong Nguyen
BS Molecular, Cell & Dev Bio, University of Washington, Seattle
Cell & Molec Biology PhD program (3rd year)
Mica Cabrera
BS Biochemistry, Cal State East Bay
Cell & Molec Bio PhD program (3rd year)
Marguerite Murray
BS Biomedical Engineering, University Minnesota Twin Cities
Biomedical Engineering PhD program (2nd year)
Matthew Ocañas
BS Mechanical Engineering, University Texas at Austin
Chemical Engineering PhD program (1st year)
Sam Cirigliano
BS Microbiology, Immunology & Molec Genetics, UCLA
Microbiology PhD program, PGEF Fellow (1st year)
Undergraduate Researchers
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Kailey Pittman, Computational Bio, class of 2026
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Ashley Hardy, Chem class of 2026
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Esdras Lopez, ChE class of 2026
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Olivia Nair, Microbiology, class of 2026
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Irene Alapatt, Biochem class of 2027
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Will Parker, BME class of 2028
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James Li, Human Biology, class of 2028
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Sara Adio-Oduola, BME class of 2028
We periodically seek undergraduate research assistants to help with our efforts. If you are an undergraduate interested in joining the lab, please complete the google form here. We will review these and reach out as needs arise. Thank you for your interest!
