Principal Investigators
 | Karen McDonald, PhD kamcdonald@ucdavis.edu Biographical Sketch Professor, Dept. Chemical Engineering 3008 Bainer Hall Office Phone: (530) 752-8314 |
 | Somen Nandi, PhD snandi@ucdavis.edu Biographical Sketch Adjunct Professor, Dept. Chemical Engineering 1035 Academic Surge Office Phone: (916) 838-0918 Managing Director, Global Healthshare® Initiative 318A Life Sciences Building http://ghs.ucdavis.edu Office Phone: (530) 752-3613 |
Visiting Scholars
 | SangKyu Jung skjung@ucdavis.edu Jung is an associate professor at Hongik University and a visiting scholar at this lab. As a former PhD student in this lab, he graduated in 2012 under the guidance of Professor Karen McDonald and returned to this lab as a visiting scholar in March 2023. He is currently working on developing a scalable imaging system using microcontroller boards equipped with a camera and conducting image analysis to quantify duckweed growth. |
Project Scientists
Staff
Graduate Students
 | Varun Gore vdgore@ucdavis.edu I did my undergrad (B. Tech) in Chemical engineering at Vellore Institute of Technology, India. My initial research was in pharmaceutical recovery from waste water streams. My next project was designing an ohmic heating system for pasteurization. Currently working in developing tech-economic analyses. |
 | Katherine (Katie) Haddad (ELISA Queen) khaddad@ucdavis.edu Katie joins as a PhD student in the biomedical engineering graduate group after earning her B.S. in biomedical engineering from the University of Oklahoma. Her graduate work focuses on developing a platform for rapid production of plant-made biologics. |
 | Anindya Karmaker akarmaker@ucdavis.edu Anindya Karmaker is doing his PhD in Chemical Engineering. He earned his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degree in Chemical Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. His research interest is plant based pharmaceutical production, bioprocess simulation, downstream processing, assay development, process automation and advanced cell culture techniques. His current research work involves upstream and downstream processing of bFGF and AAT proteins. |
 | Lorenzo Rinarelli l.rinarelli@ucdavis.edu Lorenzo is a Master degree student in Agro-food Biotechnology in Verona (IT). He earned his Bachelor degree in Biotechnology in Pavia (IT) and he works as a research student in Davis. His previous experience mostly concerns plant biotechnology as he worked in molecular biology and protein purification of Zeaxanthin epoxidase. |
 | Tressa Smalley tnsmalley@ucdavis.edu Tressa is a PhD student in the Biochemistry, Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology graduate group at UC Davis. She earned her B.S. in Environmental Systems: Ecology, Evolution and Behavior at UC San Diego, and previously worked on harnessing microalgae for petroleum replacement products and recombinant protein production. Her current research focuses on utilizing the aquatic plant, duckweed, for recombinant protein production. |
 | Shanice Taylor sitaylor@ucdavis.edu Shanice is a PhD student in the Chemical Engineering department at the University of California, Davis. She earned her B.S. and M.S. in Chemical Engineering at Northwestern University, and has prior experience with bacterial synthetic biology. She worked as a pilot operations engineer at Edwards Lifesciences before returning to school. Her current research involves the purification of pharmaceuticals in transgenic plants within the scope of the CUBES II project. |
 | Justin Wong juhwong@ucdavis.edu Justin is a PhD student in the Chemical Engineering Department at the University of California, Davis. He earned his B.S. in Chemical Engineering at Northeastern University and worked as a bioprocess development engineer for Synlogic before returning to school. His current research focuses on using plant cell suspension cultures to produce cell cultured meat. |
Undergraduate Students
 | Tanya Chettri tchettri@ucdavis.edu Tanya is an undergraduate majoring in biochemical engineering. Her current research is focused on optimizing protein production of transgenic rice cells. She is a recipient of the Susan F. Regan Prytanean Award from UC Davis in recognition of students who demonstrate leadership and community service in projects promoting the wellbeing of woman. |
 | Yash Chopda ycchopda@ucdavis.edu Yash Chopda is a fourth year undergraduate student majoring in Food Science and Technology. |
 | Avani Sethi avasethi@ucdavis.edu Avani Sethi is an undergraduate student majoring in Medical and Molecular Microbiology at UC Davis and minoring in Computational Biology |
 | Saee Ranade sjranade@ucdavis.edu Saee Ranade is a second-year undergraduate student at UC Davis majoring in Biochemical Engineering |
 | Mayrene Huynh mjhuynh@ucdavis.edu Mayrene Huynh is an undergraduate student at UC Davis majoring in Food Science and minoring in Tech Management. Her current research work focuses on microcarriers for the scale up of cultivated meat |
 | Vincent Martin vcmartin@ucdavis.edu Vincent Martin is an undergraduate majoring in Biochemical Engineering. Their current research focuses on computational protein engineering for the purpose of vaccine development. |
 | Amir Salehzadeh aesalehzadeh@ucdavis.edu Amir Salehzadeh is an undergraduate majoring in Biotechnology. He is interested in strain optimization and scaling synthetic biology with bioreactors. |
Former Lab Members
| Name | Former Position | Thesis/Dissertation Title | Current Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lucas Arzola | Post-doctoral Scholar + Graduate Student (PhD) | Transient Expression of Recombinant Therapeutic Proteins and Vaccines Using Agroinfiltration in Nicotiana benthamiana | Director of Operations Puerto Rico Science and Technology Trust Parallel18 Program |
| Kalimuthu Karuppanan | Post-doctoral Scholar | Post-doctoral Scholar Oxford University, UK |
|
| Jose Antonio Rocha-Valadez | Post-doctoral Scholar | Bayer CropScience West Sacramento, CA |
|
| Remi Shih | Post-doctoral Scholar | ||
| Salem Alkanaimish | Graduate Student (PhD) | Bioprocess Engineering Approaches for Production and Purification of Recombinant Plant Made Human Butyrylcholinesterase | Assistant Professor University of Kuwait |
| Elizabeth Anthony Gill | Graduate Student (PhD) | Evaluation of Agrobacteria-mediated Transient Expression of Cell Wall Degrading Enzymes as a Biological Pretreatment Process for Cellulosic Biofuel Production | Electric Generation System Specialist at California Energy Commission, Sacramento, CA |
| Shivaun Archer | Graduate Student (PhD) | Effect of Light on the Production of Sulfolipids from Cyanobacteria | John and Jent Swanson Senior Lecturer Biomedical Engineering Cornell University Ithaca, NY |
| Nishant Bhatia | Graduate Student (PhD) | Ribosome Inactivating Proteins from Trichosanthes kirilowii Cultures | Director, Technology and Business Development Advent Engineering Services |
| Ching I. Chen | Graduate Student (PhD in Microbiology) | Analysis and Modelling for the Oscillatory Behavior of Saccharomyces Cerevisia in a Continuous Bioreactor System | Currently an Independent Consultant to Biotech Industry Formerly Director, Process Development and Manufacturing Tocagen, Inc San Diego, CA |
| Michael Cooney | Graduate Student (PhD) | Multivariable, Dynamic Model Development for Pure Continuous Cultures of E. Coli and C. Utilis | Tenured Researcher Hawaii Natural Energy Institute University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, Hawaii |
| Jasmine Corbin | Graduate Student (PhD) | Process Development for the Production of Recombinant Butyrylcholinesterase in Metabolically-Regulated, Transgenic Rice Cell Suspension Cultures | Scientist, Cell Culture Process Development Allakos Inc |
| Seher Dagdeviren | Graduate Student (MS) | Sulfolipid Production from the Cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 in Fed-Batch Photobioreactors | QC Supervisor Baxter International |
| Corey Dodge | Graduate Student (PhD) | Production of Recombinant Human Gelatin in Transgenic Rice Cell Cultures | Director, Upstream Process Development, Molecular Templates, Austin, TX |
| Sifti Duhra-Gill | Graduate Student (MS) | Transient Expression of an Anthrax Decoy Fusion Protein in Nicotiana benthamiana | Technician II, California Air Resources Board, Sacramento, CA |
| Iftikar Gohar | Graduate Student (MS) | Numerical Simulation of Natural Convection in Liquid Semiconductor Metals in Modified Bridgman Furnace | Van den Bergh Foods Columbia, Maryland |
| Annette Hagewiesche | Graduate Student (MS) | Plan II | Senior Engineer Recovery Sciences Genentech, Inc. South San Francisco, CA |
| Bryce Hashimoto | Graduate Student (MS) | Development of a Transgenic Rice Cell Line for Production of Butyrylcholinesterase: A Protective Bioscavenger against Sarin | Sandia National Laboratories Kansas City, MO |
| Ting-Kuo Huang | Graduate Student (PhD) | Development of Plant Cell Suspension Cultures as a Bioproduction Platform of Recombinant Human Therapeutic Proteins | Senior Engineer Genentech South San Francisco |
| SangKyu Jung | Graduate Student (PhD) | Agrobacterium-Mediated Transient Expression of Plant Cell Wall Degrading Enzymes in Detached Sunflower Leaves | Associate Professor, Bio. and Chemical Engineering Hongik University Korea |
| Kirolos (Kiro) Kelada | Graduate Student (MS) | Techno-Economic Analysis and Probabilistic Risk Assessment of Intensely Sweet Protein Thaumatin Large-Scale Bioproduction | Process Technology Intern E. & J. Gallo Winery |
| Nathaniel Kingsbury | Graduate Student (PhD) | Selective Recovery from the Interstitial Spaces of Nicotiana species | Senior Engineer, Late Stage Development Kite Pharma Santa Monica, CA |
| Yen Ko | Graduate Student (MS) | Cyanobacteria Photoproduction in a Stirred Reactor | Unknown |
| Rajesh Krishnan | Graduate Student (PhD) | The Expression, Localization and Characterization of Recombinant Trichosanthin, a Type I Ribosome-Inactivating Protein, in Transgenic Tobacco | Director, Biologics Process Development Gilead Sciences Oceanside, CA |
| Ingrid Leth | Graduate Student (PhD) | Production of Agrobacterium tumefaciens for Large-Scale Transient Expression of Recombinant Proteins in Plants | Scientist I CBR International Boulder, CO |
| Ben Lindenmuth | Graduate Student (PhD) | In Planta Expression of Heterologous Cell Wall-Degrading Enzymes | Drug Substance Tech Lead Bayer Healthcare Berkeley, CA |
| Michael Lucas | Graduate Student (MS) | Production Manager ConAgra Foods |
|
| Kantharakorn (Korn) Macharoen | Graduate Student (PhD) | Process Intensification and Scale-up of Metabolically Regulated Rice Cell Culture Bioreactors for Biopharmaceutical Applications | Lecturer KMUTT Thailand |
| Christine Owlett | Graduate Student (MS) | Therapeutics from Plant Cell Suspension Cultures | Deceased |
| Sinyoung Park | Graduate Student (PhD) | Mammalian Cell Respiration and O2 /CO 2 Transfer in High-density Perfusion Culture with Microsparge Oxygenation and On-line Mass Spectrometry | Clinical Research Coordinator Breast Oncology Stanford University Stanford, CA |
| Kirti Patel | Graduate Student (MS) | Plan II | President and CEO Executive Board Director Eppendorf, Inc. |
| Michael Plesha | Graduate Student (PhD) | Development of a Viral Amplicon-Based Process for Production of Biopharmaceuticals in Plant Tissues | Principal Scientist, Pilot Plant Lead Bayer CropScience Sacramento, CA |
| Kittipong Rattanaporn | Graduate Student (PhD) | Quantitative RNA Analysis and Roles of Viral RNA Silencing Suppressors in Transient Therapeutic Protein Production in Plant Tissues using a Viral Amplicon-Based System | Associate Dean for International Relations Lecturer, Department of Biotechnology Faculty of Agro-Industry Kasetsart University Bangkok, Thailand |
| Melody (Trexler) Schmidt | Graduate Student (PhD) | A Cyclical Semi-Continuous Process for Production of Heterologous Proteins in Metabolically Regulated Plant Cell Suspension Cultures | Senior Scientist, Recovery Sciences Genentech, Inc. South San Francisco, CA |
| David Silberstein | Graduate Student (PhD) | Process Development and Characterization of Plant-Made, Oxidation Resistant, Recombinant Alpha-1 Antitrypsin | Scientist I BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. |
| Sara Sukenik | Graduate Student (PhD) | Transient Expression of an Anthrax Decoy Fusion Protein in Glycoengineered Plant Cell Suspension Cultures | |
| Masaru Shiratori | Graduate Student (PhD) | Studies of a TMV-Based Expression Vector in Plant Cell Cultures | Senior Engineer Genentech, Inc. South San Francisco, CA |
| John Thorup | Graduate Student (MS) | Purification and Identification of Ribosome Inactivating Proteins from Plant Cell Cultures of Trichosanthes Kirilowii | Senior Manager, Process Development Amgen Thousand Oaks, CA |
| Tiffany Tu | Graduate Student (MS) | Scale-up Simulation of Cellulase Enzymes Production for Biofuel Application: Fungal, Transgenic, and Transient Production of Cellulase Enzymes | Engineer Lumileds Milpitas, CA |
| James Wong | Graduate Student (PhD) | Classification of Process Trends Based on Fuzzified Symbolic Representation and Hidden Markov Models | Senior Software Developer OSIsoft San Leandro, CA |
| Qing Xie | Graduate Student (MS) | Recombinant Alpha-1-Antitrypsin Production in Transgenic Tobacco Cells | Biocatalytic South San Francisco, CA |
| Yongao (Mary) Xiong | Graduate Student (PhD) | Process Development and Characterization of Plant Recombinant Fc-Fusion Therapeutics | Scientist I, Downstream Process Development LakePharma, Inc. |
| Greg Young | Graduate Student (PhD) | Thermal and Stress Analysis of Single Crystal Growth in a Horizontal Bridgman Furnace | Emeritus Professor and Department Chair, Chemical Engineering Department San Jose State University San Jose, CA |
| Liz Zapalac | Graduate Student (MS) | Purification of Alpha-1-Antitrypsin using a Three-Step Chromatography Process - Factors Effecting Dynamic Binding Capacity, Production Rate and Costs | Senior Plant Engineer Bayer Corporation Berkeley, CA |
| Rupak Goswami, PhD | Visiting Scholar | ||
| Hiroto Hirano | Visiting Scholar | ||
| Pauline Famy | Visiting Scholar | ||
| Oscar A. Ortega-Rivera | Visiting Scholar | ||
| Alexandra Ramirez Celis | Visiting Scholar | ||
| Trenton Smith | Visiting Scholar | ||
| Seongwon Jung | Undergraduate Student; Junior Specialist | ||
| Dylan Estrada | Undergraduate Student | ||
| Olivia Hart | Undergraduate Student | ||
| Anika Varma | Undergraduate Student | ||
| Erik Knapp | Graduate Student (MS) | ||
| Matthew McNulty | Graduate Student (PhD) | Plant Molecular Pharming Techno-Economic and Virus-Based Nanomaterial Approaches to Limited Resource Recombinant Protein Manufacturing | Consultant N-Side Cambridge, MA |
| Brandon Pizarro | Graduate Student (MS) | Techno-Economic Analysis of Domestic Industrial Scale Plant-Based Production of Resveratrol for Novel Biopolymer Application | Ph.D Student at USC, Zeno Group |
| Patrick Negulescu | Graduate Student (MS) | Techno-Economic Analysis of Large-Scale Cultivated Meat Production |
Former undergraduate researchers:
Karen has supervised the following students in undergraduate research projects (ECH199, PUFF program, NSF REU, MORE program, McNair Scholars program, NSF LURE, NSF CREATE-REU, UCD GREAT etc.)
An asterisk (*) indicates that the student went on to graduate school
Mark Johnson*, Darrell Lewis-Sandy, Sara Stokes, Monica Gomes, Richard Cheung, Caroline Crispino, Tuyen Do, Yvette Mangaladin, Anh Nguyen, Mondana Panymanian, Eunice Tan*, Ruth Chan (MORE), Arlene Adela, James Fred Johnson*, Michelle Bishop*, Rachael Balog, Dave Reichmuth*, Casey Bunker*, Cynthia Buenviaje*, Michael Costello, Nicole Dennis, Richard St. John*, Tracy Horsfield, Yea-Lian Huang, Linda Leong, Khan Nguyen, Katrina Meehan, David Mills*, Phuong Anh Nguyen, Bill Ristenpart* (PUFF), James Corpuz, Chris Humphrey, Michael Stoner*, Devin Eselius, Danielle Coutts, Shaelyn Hurst (McNair Scholar), Ruth Chan, Christine Owlett*, Shane Hall, Annie Chou (MORE), Megumi Noguchi, Tammy Adamson (LURE), Phillip Tuet, Jolie Wu, Mark Sanford, Andrew Tung, Diemchi Nguyen, Jennifer Mikovich, Jeff Luk*, Ming-Wai Chen, Debby Kolbeck, Sandra VanDusen, Kali Campbell, Jennifer Chen, Lo-Ming (Alison) Hong*, David Trombly*, Javier Lacayo, Nathan Parker, Drew Erlich, (Vista) Li, Tammy Chan, Fareed Rudy Mohammed, Quyen Truong*, Kaushal Parikh*, Stacey Cox*, Michael Cheung, Marisa Harano* (MORE), Yanto Yanto*, Javier Cardenas*, Sinath Prom*, Randy Cross, Yevgeniya Mulina, Jeremy Lee*, Joel Thomas*, Jeffrey Upton, Marissa Roush, Yuchen Gu, Christian Millsop, Helena Keller* (Michigan Technological University) Li Qian (Grace) Bai, Allen Reed, Dane Emmerson, Debika Mitra* (CREATE-REU, Georgia Tech), Anh (Annie) Tran, Junxing (Cici) Chen, Huang (Sunny) Yan, Anna Iris Correa Muler (CREATE-REU, University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez), Derrick Hicks* (Integrated Studies Honors Thesis, PUF award), Alexandra Moskaluk * (BioChE Honors Thesis, UC Davis Veterinary School), Thuy Thanh Le*, Jacob Partlow, George Correra, Jerrine Wong, Kaylee Thatcher, Jack Morel, Darwin Constantino, Vincent Reyes, Katie Mains (BioChE Honors), Mathew (Peter) Kedzierski (BioChE Honors), Anthony Tsai * (UC Irvine), Ben Chang (ChE Honors), Zachary Kyser, Aaron Hwong, Kevin Tom (BioChE Honors), Jessie Delzio (BioChE Honors), Jacqueline Kelly, Vuthithorn Chinthammit, Min Du, Joshua McMillan, Garrett Barton, Kostyantyn (Stan) Luferov,