Principal Investigator
Jeff Tabor, PhD
Professor of Bioengineering and Biosciences
Postdocs
Eric Wold, PhD
Rice Bioengineering
Developing inhibitors of bacterial two-component systems that regulate virulence and antibiotic resistance
Ryan Butcher, PhD
Rice Bioengineering
Developing fast genetically-encoded biosensors
Bryan Lakey, PhD
Rice Bioengineering
High-throughput characterization of response regulator DNA-binding specificity
Ya Zhang
Rice Bioengineering
Characterization of a novel bacterial neuropeptide sensor
Cristina Palma
Rice Bioengineering
Decoding bacterial stress responses using optogenetics and mathematical modeling
PhD Students
Tyler Lazar
Rice Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Multiplexed optogenetic control of bacterial metabolism
Elena Musteata
Rice Systems, Synthetic, and Physical Biology (SSPB)
Developing inhibitors of virulence-linked bacterial two-component systems
Caleigh Roleck
Rice Systems, Synthetic, and Physical Biology (SSPB)
Engineering bacteria to respond to host signals
Kevin Lorch
Rice Bioengineering
Screening the human gut microbiome for two-component system diagnostic biosensors
Maxwell Hunt
Rice Systems, Synthetic, and Physical Biology (SSPB)
Engineering lactic acid bacteria for diagnostic and therapeutic applications
Daniel Haller
Rice Systems, Synthetic, and Physical Biology (SSPB)
Undertanding sporulation in Bacillus subtilis through optogenetics
Mitch Syberg-Olsen
Rice Systems, Synthetic, and Physical Biology (SSPB)
Enzymatic DNA synthesis
Undergraduates
Rachel Wurmbrand
Rice Computer Science, '23
Hannah Li
Rice Biosciences, '25
Vedha Penmetcha
Rice Biosciences, '25
Jae Kim
Rice University, '25
Shereena Johnson
Rice Bioengineering, '25
Jacob Lei
Rice Bioengineering, '26
