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Mark Blenner

Associate Professor, University of Delaware
NIH & AHA Postdoc Fellow, Harvard Medical School

PhD Chemical Engineering, Columbia Univeristy
BS Chemical Engineering, Manhattan College

Dr. Blenner's interest is generating systems level data and synthetic biology tools to speed the design, build, test cycle for yeast, mammalian cells, and microbial communities. His group is interested in solving problems in complex environments, such as biomanufacturing, and wild environments outside the lab. He views the most important part of his job as helping students develop as independent creative critical thinkers. Dr. Blenner has won numerous awards including the PECASE, the 2022 AIChE Division 15 Early Career Award, and the 2021 ACS BIOT Young Investigator Award

Members: Image

Graduate Students & Postdocs

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Ayushi Agrawal

PhD Student

Engineering Yeast for Natural Product

BS Chem. Eng., SRM

MS Chem. Eng., Rutgers

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Emily Doleh

PhD Student

Mammalian Synthetic Biology

BS Chem. Eng., Ohio State 

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VIjay Ganesan

PhD Student

Genetic Tools for Pathway Balancing

BS Chem. Eng., Anna U.

MS Chem. Eng., Rutgers

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Phil Gitman

PhD Student

GAANN Fellow

Engineering Synthetic Methylotrophy

BS Chem. Eng., UConn

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Spencer Grissom

PhD Student

NSF GRFP Fellow

Epigenetic Tools for Biopharmaceuticals

BS Chem. Eng., Maryland

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Richa Guleria, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow

Engineering Yeast for Oleochemicals

BS Biochemistry, Garhwal University

PhD Biotechnology, Jawaharlal Nehru 

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Postdoctoral Fellow

Jaya Gupta, PhD

Engineering Yeast for Oleochemicals

BS Biochemistry, Bundelkhand U.

PhD Biotechnology, Jawaharlal Nehru 

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PhD Student (w/ Kevin Solomon)

Alex Hansen

Microbiome of Plastic Degradation

BS Chem. Eng., UA Huntsville

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Ross Klauer

PhD Student (w/ Kevin Solomon)

CBI Fellow

Microbiome of Plastic Degradation

BS Chem. Eng., Rose Hullman

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PhD Student (w/ Wilfred Chen)

Derron Ma

Dynamic Regulation of Metabolism

BS Biosys. Eng., UC Davis

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Lummy Monteiro, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow

Microbiome of Plastic Degrading Insects

BS Biochemistry, U. Sao Paolo

PhD Biochemistry, U. Sao Paolo

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Austin Morgan

Microbiology PhD Student

Autonomous Stable Gene Circuits

BS BIochem, Truman State

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Postdoctoral Fellow

Chris Nauman, PhD

Engineering Macronutrientrs from Plastic

BS Molecular Biology, UMKC

PhD Molecular Biology, UMKC

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PhD Student

Phil O'Dell

Plant Natural Product Biosynthesis

BS Biochem, Miami University

MS Chem. Eng., Miami University

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PhD Student

Rachel Silvestri

Human Therapeutics from Yeast

 

BS Chem. Eng., Manhattan College

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Siva Somasundaram, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow

Engineering Yeast for Oleochemicals

BS Biotechnology, Pondicherry

PhD Biotechnology, Ulsan

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Michael Spagnuolo

Postdoctoral Fellow

Oleochemical Metabolic Engineering

BS Chem. Eng., Ohio State

PhD Chem. Eng., Clemson U.

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PhD Student (w/ Wilfred Chen)

NDSEG Fellow

Anthony Stohr

RNA-based Metabolic Biosensors

 

BS Chem. Eng., Northeastern 

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Derek Wu

PhD Student (w/ Kevin Solomon)

Plastic Biodegradation & Upcycling

 

BS Chem. Eng., UVA

Members: Our Team
Members: Our Team

Undergraduates

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Max Friedeman

Class of 2024

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Khiem Le

Class of 2023

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Dheeraj Pedada

Class of 2024

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Shirley Gotlieb

Class of 2024

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Jack Seiffert

Class of 2023

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Grace Shoemaker

Class of 2023 (UF)

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Rena So

Class of 2025

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Megan Tarr

Class of 2025 (BME)

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Jack Werb

Class of 2023

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Hanna White

Class of 2025

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Mekhi Willaims

Class of 2025

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Kayla Wolf

Class of 2025

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Suzi Zien

Class of 2023 (Biotechnology)

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Chitraksh Bhatt

Class of 2024

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Class of 2023

Nick Brennan

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Class of 2024

Ian Kang

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Zach Dixon

Class of 2025

Lab Alumni

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Zhiliang Yang

Postdoctoral Fellow

(2019-20)

Engineering Yeast for Natural Product Biosynthesis

Currently seeking a faculty position.

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Weigao Wang

Graduate Student
(2015-21)

Enzyme & Secretion Engineering 

Currently a Postdoc at Stanford

 

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Allison Yaguchi

PhD Student
(2014-2020)

Aromatic metabolism in oleaginous yeast

Currently a Postdoc at NREL

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Charles Wang

MS Student
(2018-20)

Mammalian Artificial Chromosome

Currently at Unknown

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Difeng Gao

Postdoctoral Fellow (2015-18)

Yarrowia Metabolic Engineering

Currently at Biomedican, Inc.

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Murri Shabbir Hussain

PhD Student
(2013-2018)

Genetic Tools for Yarrowia

Currently at Abbott Biosciences

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Gabriel Rodriguez

Postdoctoral Fellow
(2014-17)

Yarrowia Metabolic Engineering 

Currently at Ginkgo Biosciences

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A. Nolan Wilson

PhD Student
(2009-14)

Metabolic Modeling

Currently at NREL

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Max Hilbert

PhD Student
(2018-2021)

Enzyme Immobilization

Currently at Unknown

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Molly Wintenberg

PhD Student
(2016-2022)

Microbial Radiation Biosensors

Currently NRC Fellow at NIST

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Mike Spagnuolo

PhD Student
(2015-2022)

Engineering Yeast for Biopolymers

Currently Postdoc in the Blenner Lab

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Dyllan Rives

PhD Student
(2016-2022)

ER Stress in CHO Cells

Currently Seeking a Position

Engineering Macronutrients from Plastic

BS Biophysics, Michigan

PhD Biophysics, Michigan

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Jason Karslake, PhD

Plastic Waste Upcycling

Currently at Molecular Templates

Postdoc

(2020-2022)

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Jyoti Singh, PhD

Postdoc

(2020-2022)

Microbiome Engineering & Plastic Biodegradation

Currently Assistant Professor at 

Members: Our Team

Additional Lab Alumni

Clemson Students: Hayden Tharpe, Meredith Bailey, Taylor Cook, Erika Arvay, Lauren Gambill, Adam Beitz, Sarah Smith, Tatum Sass, Amy Rees, Julia Martone, Sierra Gurtler, Ahmad Alquza, Tara Richbourg, Scott Anglin, Dubby Wiseman, Sam Williams, Rachel Ham, Valarie Peters, Vaishnavi Kanduri, Mariana Holladay, Simon Ciprari, Jude de Konig, Will Burnette, Patrick Dayton, Chlo Forenzo, Cooper Tillman, Joel Watkins, David Kindervater, Matt Brabender, Brice Martin, Lane Norris, Tae Watts, Anna Delahunt, Sarah Dorsey, Sara Edgecomb, Samantha Hutter, Luke Mabry, Kaitlyn O'Neill, Melissa Nolan, Gabby Mochizuki, Caroline Peak, Mitchell Angove, Lexie Adams (Miami), Nicky Franaszek, Zach Williamson, Sean Miller, Morgan Usher, Mia Maciorowski, Cheyanne Brady, Camillo Susecum, Braxton Baird, Grant Smith, Peyton Hudson, Jennifer Cabezas, Sarah Smith, Jillian Laird, Danielle Acker, Elizabeth Huntley, Jenna Schoefield (MSU), Jack Tabb, Erin Mihealsick, Alana Robinson, Phillip Baker, Kaitlyn Scola, Robert Barrett, Vineeth Sama, Tanner Karp, Kylie Burkes, Caroline Moody (NCSU), Emma Ressler, Michael Xie (Ohio), Shanna Pearce, Will Hardy, Mary Kate Rumph, Tiffany Yu, Jeremy Fowler, Sarah Knowles, Parker Hume, Julia Borglin, Jessica Zielinski, Kyle Pazzo, Hayden Campbell, Justin James, Jacob Livingston, Jeanette Rodriguez, Meg Wilkes, Andrew Dippre, Joseph Whitaker, Charlie Kessler, Kyle Reed, Katie Stahel, Megan Stahlberger, Mohit Gahndi, Patricia Jokl, Joseph Redzikowski, James Foster, Thomas Pavelka, Lauren Reed, Thomas Stanton, Joy Jones, Dennish Parekh, Syed Bukhari, Yancy Appling, David Carey

Delaware Students: Kritee Sangroula, Joseph Castenda (CCNY), Grace Shoemaker (UF)Rainer Hlibok, Allie Platchek, Samanthan Burger, Audrey Cicerchia, Luis Garcia Osorio, Toni Akin Adenikan, Lydia Kowalski

Members: List
Members: Members_Page
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