I’m from LaPorte Indiana and graduated from LaPorte High School. I’m currently majoring in Biochemistry with a minor in Psychology. I joined in the Summer of 2023 to determine quorum-sensing regulated defense mechanism that defend against phages in Vibrio vulnificus & parahaemolyticus. In my free time I enjoy drawing, dancing, and binge watching tv shows.

Kyle was born in Brooklyn, New York, but moved and grew up in northwest Indiana. He is currently studying Biochemistry along with Mandarin in the Chinese Flagship Program. He joined the Gerdt Lab in Fall 2022 with a focus on investigating inducing factors for multicellular behavior witnessed in unicellular organisms closely related to animals. He […]

Julia was raised in Oberlin, Ohio and graduated with a BA in chemistry from Hamilton College. Throughout college she worked in an organic chemistry lab, developing photocatalyzed two- and three-component coupling reactions, but now enjoys the challenge of understanding the calcium-signaling pathways of Capsaspora owczarzaki. In her free time, she loves doing crafts, particularly needle felting and […]

Lorin is from Iowa. She received her B.A. in chemistry and biochemistry from Cornell College. After joining the Gerdt lab in 2022, she studies how structurally diverse lipids impact the phenotype of Capsaspora owczarzaki (one of the closest unicellular relatives of animals). In her free time, Lorin enjoys baking, walking/running, reading, and playing games.

Olivia was born in Zionsville, Indiana and graduated from Zionsville High School. She is majoring in biochemistry with a minor in Spanish. She joined Gerdt’s lab in Fall 2021 and is focusing on the influences of microbial natural products on bacteriophage infectivity. In her free time, Olivia enjoys reading Stephen King novels, hiking, watching movies […]

Henry is from Indianapolis, IN, and graduated from North Central High School. He is majoring in biochemistry and is minoring in french and physics. His project entails small molecule inhibitor screening to elucidate the cellular mechanism by which Capsaspora aggregates. His hobbies include rock climbing, playing tennis, watching movies and cooking.

Bryan was born in Indianapolis, IN, graduated from Zionsville high school, and earned a bachelor’s degree at Indiana State University. As an undergraduate, he performed research on metal-carbene complexes using computational methods such as Natural Bond Orbitals (N.B.O.) and Natural Resonance Theory (N.R.T.). In the Gerdt lab, his research focus is on chemical signaling and […]

Kyoung Jin studied isolation and identification of secondary metabolites from medicinal plants and earned his Ph.D. at Sungkyunkwan University, South Korea. He joined the Gerdt group as a postdoctoral associate in March 2020. He focuses on purifying and identifying natural products produced by symbiotic microorganisms. He likes to watch sports and drama, listen to music […]

Ria is an organic chemist who loves exploring the interface between biology and organic chemistry. She got her undergrad degrees in both chemistry and biology at New Mexico Tech where she helped to design and synthesize a library of anti-cancer compounds. Ria joined the Gerdt lab in December 2019. She is excited to expand her […]

Catherine is a microbiologist by training, but she also has extensive research experience in immuno-oncology, pharmacology, 3D culture and next generation sequencing. Catherine joined the Gerdt lab in July 2019. She is excited to build the lab and make some cool discoveries. During her free time, you would see her and her family taking walks […]