Yanyao grew up in Ma‘anshan, a small city close to Nanjing. He graduated with a B.S. in Chemistry from Nanjing University and did organic chemistry research at the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry (SIOC). In Fall 2022, Yanyao joined the Gerdt Lab, focusing on chemical signaling in Capsaspora owczarzaki. In his free time, he enjoys […]

Jack Egnatz was born in Chicago and grew up in northwest Indiana. He is a senior studying Biochemistry and plans on applying to medical school in the spring. He joined the Gerdt lab group in the summer of 2022 and will continue working there until he graduates in the spring of 2023. He is currently […]

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.

Chengqian Zhang was born in the northeast of China and graduated from the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, China. He joined the Gerdt group in Fall 2021. As an undergraduate, he was interested in synthesizing nature product molecules. Now he’s working on isolating and analyzing new natural products that influence anti-bacteriophage defense […]

Ruibao Li comes from south China and studied choanoflagellates for his Ph.D. in University of Cologne, Germany. He subsequently studied the toxins and evolution of cyanobacteria as a postdoc, combining bioinformatics and molecular experiments. He joined the Gerdt group in November 2021 to study host-microbe (choanoflagellate-bacteria) interactions. In his leisure time, he likes to play […]

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 […]

Eleanor Goldstone is working on getting a degree in chemistry with a minor in mathematics. She joined Gerdt’s lab the summer before starting college in June of 2021. Her research is centered on studying the three-way interaction between protists, snails, and parasites. During her free time, Eleanor likes to experiment in the kitchen and bring […]

Marian is a nature loving person who hails from Ghana. She earned her master’s degree from Illinois State University where her research was on synthesizing a protease inhibitor for Human T-cell Leukemia virus. She joined the Gerdt lab in December 2020. Marian is very interested in medicinal chemistry and so she’s excited to research into microbial […]

Zhiyu was born in northwest China and obtained his bachelor degree in Chemistry at Peking University, Beijing. He joined the Gerdt group in Fall 2019, where his research focuses on the bacteriophage defense mechanisms and the influence of natural products on bacteriophage infectivity. He has a lot of hobbies, such as playing basketball, going to […]

Soniya is originally from Andhra Pradesh, India. She received her integrated master’s degree in chemistry at IIT Bombay. She joined the Gerdt Lab as a Ph.D. student in 2019 to study bioactive metabolites produced by bacteria in different environments. In her free time, she likes to dance or watch dance videos but hates running. She […]