Research Team
Nicholas R. Sandoval
Principal Investigator, Assistant Professor
Postdoctoral Research
University of Delaware; Newark, DE; Mentor: Prof. ET Papoutsakis
Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical Engineering; December 2011
University of Colorado; Boulder, CO; Advisor: Prof. RT Gill
Master of Science in Chemical Engineering; December 2008
University of Colorado; Boulder, CO
Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering; May 2006
University of Colorado; Boulder, CO; summa cum laude
Nancy Kim
Graduate Student, Bioinnovations
B.A.: Molecular, Cellular, & Developmental – Biology, University of Colorado at Boulder
Current Status: 4th year, Bioinnovation PhD program
Research: Engineering a butanol responsive transcription factor-based biosensor for high-throughput screens to identify a high producing 1-butanol strain in Clostridium acetobutylicum
Interests: Learning to speak Dominican Creole from Rochelle. 'Sa ka fet?' ('What’s up?')
Rochelle (Carla) Joseph
Graduate Student, Chemical Engineering
B.S.: Chemistry, Grambling State University
Current Status: 3rd year, Chemical Engineering PhD
Research: I am interested in developing tools for high-throughput genetic and metabolic engineering in multiple Clostridium species
Interests: Jill of all trades; Expert of Plantains (Fried plantains, Baked Plantains… I really love plantains)
Danqia Peng
Graduate Student, Chemical Engineering
B.S.: Chemical Engineering, North Carolina State University
Current Status: 2nd year, Chemical Engineering PhD
Research: Developing tools for rapid Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cell line engineering using variety of CRISPR systems to produce stable antibody in a long-term culture
Interests: Swimming, watching films, and cooking
Rani Brooks
Graduate Student, Bioinnovations
B.S.: Biology, Cornell
Current Status: 2nd year graduate student, Bioinnovations PhD
Research: Cell-Free Bacteriophage Production for Novel Therapeutics
Interests: ukulele, banjo, bass, baking
Susan Kelley
Graduate Student, Chemical Engineering
B.S.: Chemical Engineering, Drexel University
Current Status: 2nd year, Chemical Engineering PhD
Research: Interested in directed evolution and engineering of Clostridium for improved characteristics
Interests: felting cute animals and pottery
Mitchell Wheeler
Graduate Student, Chemical Engineering
B.S.: Chemical Engineering, UMass Amherst
Current Status: 1st Year Graduate Student, Pre-Candidate for PhD
Research: Building synthetic promoteres to optimize for CHO cells for improved heterologous protein expression.
Interests: Surfing, Skiing, Soccer, Cooking
Lab Alumni
Claire McGraw
Post-Doc
Current Status: Faculty at Delgado Community College
B.S: Chemical Engineering, Arizona State University 2012
Ph.D.: Chemical Engineering, Tulane, 2018
Research: Studying glycosylation patterns of monoclonal antibodies as a marker for genomic instability in Chinese hamster ovary cells.
Interests: I love to garden, crochet and hang out with my dogs!
Caroline Duncan
Undergraduate Researcher
Current Status: Masters Student in Biomedical Engineering
Research: Directed evolution and genetic editing of Clostridium for levulinic acid tolerance
Interests: Watching Game of Thrones, playing with my cat, and painting
Catherine Barkach
Master's Student
Current Status: Masters Student in Chemical Engineering Engineering
Research: CRISPR editing in Clostridium
Interests: TBD
Riley Sinnott
Undergraduate Researcher
Current Status: Junior in Chemistry
Research: Promoter engineering
Interests: TBD
Katie Hall
Undergraduate Researcher
Current Status: Chemical Engineer, B.S.E.
Research: CHO cell line engineering
Interests: TBD
Michael Morton
Undergraduate Researcher
Current Status: Graduated B.S.E. 2018
Research: energy production, both fossil fuels and renewable sources
Interests: He currently serves as a senator on Tulane's Undergraduate Student Government and is president of the School of Science and Engineering Student Government. He is from Laplace, Louisiana, where he attended St. Charles Catholic High School.
Nick Watts
Undergraduate Researcher
Current Status: Graduated Chemical Engineer, B.S.E. 2018
Research: Strain engineering for biofuels production
Interests: Avid College Sailor, served as the Team Captain for two years. Currently serving as Vice President for the Tulane University Student Chapter of AICHE. From Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts.
Andrew Wierdak
Undergraduate Researcher
Current Status: Graduated Chemical Engineer, B.S.E. 2018
Research: I am interested in research in energy.
Interests: A fun fact about me is that I am a radio DJ.