Mark Blenner
Thomas & Kipp Gutshall Career Development
Associate Professor, University of Delaware
Graduate Program Director
GAANN Inclusive Teaching in ChE Director
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. Graduate students and typically create their projects under Dr. Blenner's guidance.
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
Graduate Students & Postdocs
Ayushi Agrawal
PhD Student
Engineering Yeast for
Natural Products
​
BS Chem. Eng., SRM
MS Chem. Eng., Rutgers
Patrick Beardslee
PhD Student
GAANN Fellow
Gene Therapy Manufacturing & Synthetic Biology​
​
BS Chem. Eng., Ohio State
Samuel Fine
PhD Student; CBI Fellow
(w/ Cathy Fromen)
Macrophage Engineering
& Synthetic Biology
​
BS Chem. Eng., Georgia Tech
Phil Gitman
PhD Student
DE Space Grant Graduate Fellow; GAANN Fellow
Engineering Synthetic Methylotrophy
​
BS Chem. Eng., UConn
Spencer Grissom
PhD Student
NSF GRFP Fellow
Epigenetic Tools for Biopharmaceuticals
BS Chem. Eng., Maryland
Palakar Mentor Award (2022)
TA Award (2023)
Amgen Intern (2023-24)
Postdoctoral Fellow
Richa Guleria, PhD
Engineering Yeast for Space Biomanufacturing
​
BS Biochemistry, Garhwal University
PhD Biotechnology, Jawaharlal Nehru
PhD Student; GAANN Fellow
(w/ Kevin Solomon)
Alex Hansen
Microbiome of Plastic Degradation​
​
BS Chem. Eng., UA Huntsville
Rachel Keown, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Phage Engineering
Metabolic Engineering of Yeast
​
PhD Bioinformatics, UD
Ross Klauer
PhD Student (w/ Kevin Solomon)
CBI Fellow; DENIN Fellow
Microbiome of Plastic Degradation
​
BS Chem. Eng., Rose Hullman
Palakar Mentoring Award (2023)
Qiagen Young Scientist Award (2022)
PhD Student
(w/ Wilfred Chen)
Derron Ma
Dynamic Regulation of Metabolism
​
BS Biosys. Eng., UC Davis
PhD Student
​
Wren Mallikarjunan
Metabolic Engineering for
Plastics Upcycling​
​
BS Chem. Eng., Georgia Tech.
Nathan Miller
PhD Student
​
Microbial Community Engineering for Plastic Biodegradation​
​
BS Chem. Eng., Arizona State
Austin Morgan
Microbiology PhD Student
Autonomous Stable Gene Circuits​
​
BS BIochem, Truman State
Pitch 90 Winner (2023)
Phil O'Dell
PhD Student
Yeast Metabolic Engineering of Plant Natural Products
​
BS Biochem, Miami University
MS Chem. Eng., Miami University
​
Postdoctoral Fellow
​
Jenna Ott
Microbial Community Engineering for Plastic Biodegradation​
​
BS Chem Eng., UC Santa Barbara
PhD Chem. Eng., Princeton University
NSF GRFP
​
PhD Student
CBI Fellow
Topher Pirner
Mammalian Synthetic Biology
​
​
BS Chem. Eng., Rose Hulman
Postdoctoral Fellow
Prem Pritam
Metabolomics and Metabolic Engineering
​
BTech Biotechnology, RAU Pusa
PhD Chem. Eng., IIT Bombay
Rachel Silvestri
PhD Student
Yeast Engineering for
Protein Secretion
BS Chem. Eng., Manhattan College
TBD
Engineering Yeast for Oleochemicals
​
BS Biochemistry, Bundelkhand U.
PhD Biotechnology, Jawaharlal Nehru
Anthony Stohr
PhD Student (w/ Wilfred Chen)
NDSEG Fellow
RNA-based Metabolic Biosensors​
BS Chem. Eng., Northeastern
Frasier Russel Teaching Fellow
Undergraduates
Zach Dixon
Class of 2025
Aiden Gensure
Class of 2025
Shirly Gottlieb
Class of 2026
Helena Hansen
Class of 2026
Julia Jeskey
Class of 2026
Susan Kuhn
Class of 2026
Caleb Lawson
Class of 2025
Sam McDonald
Class of 2026
Hamza Alam
Class of 2027
Class of 2025 (Biology)
Marissa Brown
Class of 2027
Eleanor Cook
Lauren DeSantis
Class of 2026
Agni Miraji-Khot
Class of 2027
Liv Quick
Class of 2026
Rena So
Class of 2025
Megan Tarr
Class of 2025 (BME)
Hanna White
Class of 2025
Mekhi Williams
Class of 2025
Kayla Wolf
Class of 2025
Neta Zilbershot
Class of 2026
Lab Alumni
Zhiliang Yang
Postdoctoral Fellow
(2019-20)
Engineering Yeast for Natural Product Biosynthesis
Currently seeking a faculty position.
Weigao Wang
Graduate Student
(2015-21)
Enzyme & Secretion Engineering ​
Currently a Postdoc at Stanford
Allison Yaguchi
PhD Student
(2014-2020)
Aromatic metabolism in oleaginous yeast​
Currently a Postdoc at NREL
Charles Wang
MS Student
(2018-20)
Mammalian Artificial Chromosome
Currently at Unknown
Difeng Gao
Postdoctoral Fellow (2015-18)
Yarrowia Metabolic Engineering
Currently at Biomedican, Inc.
Murri Shabbir Hussain
PhD Student
(2013-2018)
Genetic Tools for Yarrowia
Currently at Abbott Biosciences
Gabriel Rodriguez
Postdoctoral Fellow
(2014-17)
Yarrowia Metabolic Engineering
Currently at Ginkgo Biosciences
A. Nolan Wilson
PhD Student
(2009-14)
Metabolic Modeling
Currently at NREL
Max Hilbert
PhD Student
(2018-2021)
Enzyme Immobilization
Currently at Unknown
Molly Wintenberg
PhD Student
(2016-2022)
Microbial Radiation Biosensors
Currently NRC Fellow at NIST
Mike Spagnuolo
PhD Student
(2015-2022)
Engineering Yeast for Biopolymers
Currently Postdoc in the Blenner Lab
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
Jason Karslake, PhD
Plastic Waste Upcycling
Currently at Molecular Templates
Postdoc
(2020-2022)
Jyoti Singh, PhD
Postdoc
(2020-2022)
Microbiome Engineering & Plastic Biodegradation
Currently at Unilever
VIjay Ganesan
PhD Student
(2017-2023)
Genetic Tools for Pathway Balancing
Currently at Sandia National Lab
Postdoc
(2023)
Michael Spagnuolo
Oleochemical Metabolic Engineering
Currently at US Army DEVCOM
Chris Nauman, PhD
Postdoc
(2021-2024)
Engineering Macronutrientrs from Plastic
Sceintist, Siemans Healthcare
Postdoc
(2022-2024)
Jaya Singh, PhD
Engineering Yeast for Oleochemicals
Postdoc in Eric Young Lab
Postdoc
(2023-2024)
Patrick Beardslee, PhD
Engineering Yeast for Oleochemicals
Scientist, Mosaic Biosciences