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

Graduate Students

Bio: Alyssa Worland is the fifth year PhD student and joined Dr. Tang's lab in December of 2018. She is interested in the use of metabolic flux analysis to advance industrial biotechnology. Currently, she is working on analysis and engineering of the oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica to convert cheap feedstock to valued products as well as developing methods for product recovery. Outside of the lab or studying, she loves traveling, hiking and spending time with friends.

Bio: Shawn Xiao did his undergraduate degree in Chem Eng at Washington University. He is currently the third year PhD student in EECE at WashU. He works on metabolic analysis of engineered microbial hosts, pathway discovery, and integrative machine learning and genome scale modeling for computational strain design.

Bio: Runyu Zhao 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: Hakyung Lee (Nationality: Republic of Korea) did her BSc in Kyung Hee University and MSc in Seoul National University (both in environmental engineering). 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: Yufei Sun joined the Tang lab in 2022. He did his BS 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 (Nationality: Republic of Korea) did her BSc in Yonsei University(Bio-convergence major). 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: Wenyu Li did her Undergrad at University of Pittsburgh (CS & Math majors), and got her MS in CS from WashU. She is currently a first-year CS PhD student co-advised 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.

Bio: Matt Lima did his undergrad 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: Vincent Xu did Chemical Engineering at Washington University. He will become 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 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: Bingdi Liu did her UG in Plant Pathology at Shenyang Agricultural University and MS in EECE at WUSTL. Before starting her PhD study, she worked as RA for microbial community analysis. Her current research interests are metabolic analysis and genome-scale modeling. On holiday, she loves to go skiing and snorkeling.

Bio: Garrett Roell graduated from the Tang Lab in 2023. He is currently an assistant professor at University of Hawaii. He is continuing his PhD research and collaborating with Dr. Tang on genome scale modeling, database construction, and machine learning.

************************************************************

Current UGs and Visiting Students 

Bio: My name is Jared Campbell, and I am from Saint Louis, MO. I am a senior undergraduate student majoring in biology. I am next aiming to get a degree in physical therapy. However, the internships that I have been involved in over my undergraduate years have piqued my interest in Ph.D. doctoral research studies as well.

Bio:  Millie Savage is a biology UG student from Lincoln University. Her studies focus on microbial fermetnations and biomass characterization.

Bio: Cynthia Ding from Duke University has scientific interests in biochemistry, neuroscience, medicine and environment engineering. She loves to use music as a means of bringing wellness to those in need. 

High School Student

 Bio: Roland Ding is currently a rising sophomore studying at Crescent School in Toronto Canada. 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.

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)