Gerdt Laboratory

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 natural product discovery in the Gerdt lab. During her free time, she loves to cook, read poetry, watch movies or listen to music.

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 and spending time with her friends.

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, when Catherine feels motivated, you would see her taking walks in her neighborhood (with the intention of meeting cats and deer) and working out at the gym. Otherwise she likes to watch dramas and play games at home. Last but not least, as a Malaysian, she likes to travel where delicious food leads.

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 it into the lab.

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 research beyond cancer cells and learn more about this interesting field. During her free time, if there is any, Ria enjoys making pottery as well as rock-hounding and lapidary.​

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 table tennis, jog, and watch movies and soccer matches.

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 in his free time. He is interested in running, scuba diving, and travel and he loves nature.

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 also likes free food!!

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 chemotaxis in microorganisms. He is also interested in green chemistry and is passionate about bringing more diversity to the S.T.E.M. fields by being a role model to other black people considering S.T.E.M. endeavors. In his spare time, he loves to be around people and is a huge basketball fan.

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 the gym, practicing piano and guitar, watching movies and travelling. 

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 systems. His hobbies are jazz music, old movies, and detective novels.

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