From carbon-negative fermentation to cell & gene therapy.

Carbon-Negative Fermentation

Metabolic engineering and industrial biotechnology of clostridia for biofuels and advanced biorefinery products from CO₂ and sugars.

• Solventogenic and acetogenic clostridia paired in syntrophic co-cultures so the CO₂ and H₂ from one partner are fixed by the other, giving mixotrophic (sugar + gas) fermentation with superior carbon yields.
• Non-photosynthetic CO₂ fixation raising titers of solvents such as butanol, isopropanol, and hexanol.
• Routes to sustainable manufacturing that valorize industrial CO₂ rather than fossil feedstocks.

Genomics & Regulatory Networks

Experimental and computational genomics to study and reprogram prokaryotic sporulation and stationary-phase phenomena.

• RNA-seq with in-house pathway- and signaling-analysis tools to map regulatory programs.
• Gene-expression, genome-editing, and RNA-based synthetic-biology tools for solventogenic and acetogenic Clostridium species.
• ¹³C-metabolic flux analysis to resolve core metabolism and guide rational strain design.

Clostridial Stress Response

Unraveling the links between sporulation, solvent production, and stress response in solventogenic clostridia.

• How cells sense and adapt to solvent toxicity, oxidative stress, and other bioprocess stresses.
• Engineering robustness as a multigenic trait to raise product titers and process stability.
• Connecting the sporulation program with solvent formation and stress tolerance.

Synthetic Methylotrophy

Engineering E. coli to use one-carbon feedstocks, expanding the range of sustainable routes to fuels and chemicals.

• E. coli-based synthetic methylotrophy converting one-carbon substrates such as methanol into central metabolism.
• Pathway design and flux balancing to make one-carbon utilization efficient and stable.
• Complements clostridial CO₂ fixation as a second carbon-efficient manufacturing platform.

Microbial Interactions & Microbiomes

Fundamental cell-to-cell interactions in complex, multi-component microbial communities, and what they reveal about microbiomes.

• Syntrophic conditions give rise to previously unknown phenomena, including heterologous cell fusion.
• Intercellular exchange of proteins and nucleic acids via naturally released prokaryotic extracellular vesicles.
• Relevance to human, animal, and environmental microbiomes.

Stem-Cell Bioengineering

Hematopoietic stem-cell differentiation, plasticity, and hematology for regenerative medicine and cell & gene therapy.

• Understanding stem-cell development and its clinical applications.
• Genetic and genomic tools, plus experimental animal studies, to examine human stem- and progenitor-cell development.
• Advanced culture and assay methods, including flow cytometry/FACS and advanced microscopy.

Megakaryocytes, Platelets & Extracellular Vesicles

The biology of megakaryopoiesis and megakaryocytic extracellular vesicles (MkEVs) for therapy and cargo delivery.

• Megakaryopoiesis and in vitro platelet production for transfusion therapies.
• Megakaryocytic extracellular vesicles (MkEVs) and synthetic bio-nanoparticles for cell & gene therapies.
• Using MkEVs for cargo delivery to hematopoietic stem cells.

Cell-Culture Biomanufacturing

From the fundamentals of bioreactor hydrodynamics to models for continuous manufacturing.

• Seminal work on mixing, agitation, and hydrodynamics in cell-culture bioreactors.
• Dissecting and modeling perfusion bioreactors for continuous biomanufacturing.
• Multiparametric flow cytometry/FACS applied to cell-culture bioprocessing.