Postdoctoral Researchers
Alyssa Ekdahl, Ph.D.
she/her
alyssa.ekdahl@utexas.edu
CPE 5.406
Member since fall 2019
NSF Graduate Research Fellow
Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin (2024)
B.S. Chemical Engineering, Oregon State University (2015)
Research interests: RNA regulatory networks, RNA design, pathogenic sRNA characterization, bioinformatics
Alexandra Lukasiewicz, Ph.D.
they/them
ajlukasiewicz@utexas.edu
CPE 5.406
Member since spring 2019
NSF Graduate Research Fellow
Ph.D. Cell and Molecular Biology, The University of Texas at Austin (2024)
B.S. Environmental Resource Management- Ecology Focus,
The Pennsylvania State University- University Park (2013)
Research interests: Post-transcriptional regulation in pseudomonas aeruginosa, systems biology, bioinformatics
Lucas Miller, Ph.D.
he/him
lgmiller@utexas.edu
CPE 5.406
Member since fall 2019
NSF Graduate Research Fellow
Ph. D. Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin (2024)
B.S. Chemical Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (2019)
Research interests: RNA modifications, protein-RNA interactions, protein engineering, bioinformatics, computational biophysics
Blanca Quiñones Díaz, Ph.D.
she/her/ella
blanca.quinonesdiaz@austin.utexas.edu
CPE 5.406
Member since spring 2021
Ph.D. Biochemistry, University of Puerto Rico-Medical
Sciences (2020)
B.S. Industrial Chemistry, University of Puerto Rico at Humacao (2015)
Research interests: Environmental stressors and disease, RNA regulation dynamics, epitranscriptomics
Graduate Students
Matthew Burroughs
he/him
mrburroughs@utexas.edu
CPE 5.406
Member since fall 2019
NSF Graduate Research Fellow
B.S. Chemical Engineering, North Carolina State University (2019)
Research interests: RNA modifications, air pollution stress, protein engineering, RNA modification detection methods
Ryan Buchser
he/him
buchser@utexas.edu
CPE 5.406
Member since fall 2021
B.S. Chemical Engineering, University of Delaware (2021)
Research interests: RNA-protein interactions, global RNA regulatory networks, bacterial stress granules
Antonio Cordova
he/him
acordova4144@utexas.edu
CPE 5.406
Member since spring 2021
NSF Graduate Research Fellow
B.S. Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University (2020)
Research interests: High-throughput screening, RNA-based method and tool development, RNA structure and function, RNA drug discovery, RNA and protein-based regulation of stress responses
Kobe Grismore
he/him
kobegrismore@utexas.edu
CPE 5.406
Member since fall 2022
NSF Graduate Research Fellow
B.S. Chemical Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD (2022)
Research interests: Systems biology, protein-metabolite interactions, metabolic engineering, gene regulation
Morgan Stephens
she/her
mlsteph@utexas.edu
CPE 5.406
Member since fall 2024
B.S. Chemical Engineering, North Carolina State University (2024)
Research interests: RNA modifications, environmental stress, epitranscriptome changes linked to stress and senesence
Kathleen Taylor
she/her
katiet@utexas.edu
CPE 5.406
Member since fall 2022
B.S. Chemical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology (2022)
Research interests: Epitranscriptomics, RNA-protein interactions, post-transcriptional circuitry, disease-relevant proteins and environmental stressors
Agata Turula
she/her
agataturula@utexas.edu
CPE 5.406
Member since fall 2022
B.E. Chemical Engineering, The City College of New York (2022)
Research interests: RNA regulatory networks, RNA design, pathogenic sRNA characterization, bioinformatics
Undergraduate Students
Irene Alapatt
she/her
Biochemistry
Expected graduation: May 2027
Irene likes spending time with family and friends, nature activities, traveling, and watching horror movies.
Kritika Bisht
she/her
Expected graduation: May 2025
Kritika enjoys painting, hiking, playing the piano, and watching murder mysteries. She also loves playing board games.
Santino Hassett
he/him
Chemical Engineering
Expected graduation: May 2026
Santino likes to watch horror movies and comedy shows, going to the gym, and art.
Jennah Johnson
she/her
Chemical Engineering
Expected graduation: May 2025
Jennah loves shopping, drawing, and sports (volleyball and the Green Bay Packers).
Laci Moline
she/her
Biology
Expected graduation: May 2027
Laci likes to watch Survivor and trivia shows like Jeopardy, collecting lego sets, running, and working out.
Sahana Suraj
she/her
Chemical Engineering
Expected graduation: May 2025
Sahana enjoys art, dancing, and traveling.