Graduate mentoring philosophy: Teach students in accordance with their aptitude.

Postdoc / Scientist

Bio: Dr. Shrameeta Shinde is originally from India, where she completed her undergraduate studies. She then pursued a master's in molecular biology in the USA, followed by a PhD in Microbiology at Miami University. After graduation, she worked as a Research Scientist at Cemvita, developing nature-inspired solutions for sustainability. Currently, she is working under the guidance of Dr. Tang and Dr. Pakrasi. Outside of her research career, she is an avid traveler, passionate about exploring nature, discovering diverse cuisines, and capturing moments through photography. In addition to her scientific endeavors, she is a self-taught mandala and contemporary artist, and she seeks to cultivate spirituality in her life.

Bio: Dr. Shawn Xiao did his undergraduate degree (2017~2021) and PhD (2021~Aug 2025) in Chemical Engineering at Washington University. His work foucuses on metabolic analysis of engineered microbial hosts, pathway discovery, and integrative machine learning and genome scale modeling for computational strain design. Currently, he is a co-instructor for an EECE AI course.

Bio: Dr. Binbin Wang is an environmental scientist (PhD from Cornell University) whose research integrates biotechnology with data-driven analysis to tackle sustainability challenges. His work spans nutrient dynamics, metabolism, and algal ecology, microplastics degradation, and the development of biotechnological approaches for environmental remediation. Outside of research, Binbin enjoys playing soccer and running.  

PhD Students

Bio: Runyu Zhao (2020~present) did her UG in Chem Eng at University of California (Berkeley). She is interested in solving environmental challenges using biochemical technology and engineering tools. Her PhD thesis focuses on microbial community for biomanufacturing and plastic upcycling. Before returning to graduate school, Runyu had worked in a biotech company for genome analysis. Other than research, she loves books, music and cats.

Bio: Matt Lima (2020~present) did his undergraduate in biomedical engineering at Boston University, then spent some time working in immunology and synthetic biology research labs. He is currently a PhD student co-advised with Dr Pakrasi. His current research is focused on engineering the bacterium Vibrio natriegens, a chassis organism that shows encouraging ability for synthetic biology. Outside the lab, Matt likes to go running, read good (and some bad) books, eat lots of baked goods, and pet every dog possible.

Bio: Hakyung Lee (2021~present) did her BSc in Kyung Hee University and MSc in Seoul National University (both in environmental engineering) in Republic of Korea. Her PhD research interests are: molecular-level analysis of toxin from HAB (Harmful Algal Bloom) and its prediction model development from bench to full scale; algal process engineering and optimization; and waste utilizations for bio-productions. Her interests outside of research are: watching basketball and ice-skating games, traveling.

Bio: Bingdi Liu (2022~present) finished her master degree in Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering Deaprtment at Washington University (2019). Before starting her PhD study (2021), she worked as an RA for microbial community analysis in the Fangqiong Ling Lab at WUSTL. Her current research interests are metabolic analysis and genome-scale modeling. On holiday, she loves to go skiing and snorkeling.

Bio: Yufei Sun (2022~present) joined the Tang lab in 2022. He finished his BS in Chemical Engineering at Purdue University, and MS at Johns Hopkins University. His PhD research interests are metabolic analysis of microbes and also computational modeling. On weekends, he goes hiking, and skiing during winter.

Bio: Eunseo Lee (2023~present) did her BSc in Yonsei University(Bio-convergence major) in Republic of Korea. She joined the Tang Lab in 2023. Her PhD research interest as of now is alternative feedstock study for bio-productions. Her favorite activities are road trips, snowboarding and plating violin.

Bio: Vincent Xu (2024~present) did his BS in Chemical Engineering at Washington University. He became an EECE PhD student in the fall of 2024. His studies focus on bioprocess modeling and AI. He has a particular interest in applying integrative synthetic biology methods to develop sustainable energy options. In his free time, he likes to play basketball, go on hikes, and play viola.

Bio: Charandatta Muddana (2024~present) completed his undergraduate studies in Chemical Engineering at the National Institute of Technology (Warangal, India). His research interests lie in integrating multi-omics data with process modeling and AI to gain an in-depth understanding of bioprocesses. During his leisure time, he enjoys playing sports such as tennis and cricket, as well as reading comic books.

Bio: Ying Yu (2024~present) completed her undergraduate degree from Liverpool University and her master degree at University College London, UK. Her research interest is using synthetic biology to produce high-value chemicals and conducting metabolic analysis. In her free time, she enjoy going hiking with friends.

Bio: Pei-Ti Sun (2025-present) completed her BS in Biotechnology at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (Taiwan) and MS in Bioengineering at Imperial College London (UK). Afterwards, she worked as RA in Imperial College and Strain Engineer in a start-up. Her research interests focus on yeast fermentation, applications of synthetic biology and bio-manufacturing. Apart from research, she also enjoys singing, music, reading and traveling. 

Bio: My name is Gauri Desai (2025-present), and I am from India. I earned an undergraduate degree in microbiology from Mumbai University and subsequently pursued a master's degree in marine biotechnology from Goa University, India. After my master's, I joined IIT Bombay, where I worked on bacterial and human metabolomics. I am especially interested in applying metabolomics to understand bacterial metabolism as a whole. In my free time, I enjoy reading books (fiction always!), watching great movies, or binge-watching a series. I also love to try my hand at arts and crafts (I have a calligraphy/art page and lately have been trying crochet). 

Master Students

Bio:  Millie Savage (2025~present) graduated from Lincoln University. She will pursue an MS degree with thesis. Her studies focus on microbial fermetnations and plastic degradations. 

Visiting Students

Bio: Travis Barrett graduated from Lincoln University of Missouri with a BS in biology and minor in anthropology. His interests include paleogenetics, paleopathology, and the use of bioinformatics in evolutionary anthropology. In his spare time Travis also enjoys reading/watching horror-related content and drawing.

Bio: Wendy Li (2023~present) did her Undergraduate at University of Pittsburgh (CS & Math majors), and got her MS in CS from WashU (2023). She is currently a CS PhD student with Professor Yixin Chen. Her current research focus is developing novel ML and NLP tools for various bioinformatics tasks including AI-assisted biomanufacturing development and multiomics analysis. Outside of research, she loves travelling, music and dogs.

Undergraduate and High School Students

Bio: My name is Louis Niemeyer, and I’m a Chemical Engineering undergraduate entering my second year at Washington University. I’m interested in leveraging AI to automate data extraction and accelerate scientific discoveries. In my free time, I enjoy playing tennis, cooking, and spending time with friends and family.

 Bio: Roland Ding is currently a sophomore studying at Crescent School in Toronto. He has an interest in computer science and mechanical engineering and is working with Professor Tang on a research program regarding artificial intelligence and biomedical engineering. Roland also loves to play violin and incorporates music with his STEM skills to positively impact his community.

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Alumni

G: PhD student; MS: MS student;  T: technician; H: summer high school student; R: rotation students  

P: postdoc;  V: visiting scholar; U: summer undergraduate researcher

Note: Several REU students went to graduate schools at top universities

Jacob Rubens (MIT); Yogesh Goyal (Princeton); Madelyn Ball (University of Wisconsin, Madison); Huifeng Yu (Cambridge, UK): Xiaotong Duan (Stanford)