KUNJAPUR LAB
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Our Team
The Kunjapur Lab is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment.
​We celebrate the different backgrounds and perspectives that every lab member brings to our team.

We are hiring! We are looking for a lab manager and 3-4 graduate students to start in the 2022-2023 academic year:


Postdocs who have backgrounds in the following areas are welcome to apply anytime:
Immunology, Protein Engineering, Chemical Biology, or Mammalian Cell Culturing
PD applicants can email Dr. Kunjapur directly with their CV and a brief cover letter.

If you are a prospective graduate student who has an engineering undergraduate degree and is interested in our lab, then apply to the Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering PhD program.
If you are a prospective graduate student who has an undergraduate degree in the natural sciences and is interested in our lab, then apply to the Microbiology Graduate Program.
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Principal Investigator: Aditya M. Kunjapur

2019     Assistant Professor, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware
2018     Post-Doc, Genetics, Harvard Medical School (Advisor: George Church)
2015     PhD, Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Advisor: Kristala Prather)
2010     BS, Chemical Engineering, University of Texas (Advisor: Bruce Eldridge)

     Aditya is from Houston, Texas, and interned for 5 summers with Shell and ExxonMobil during his undergraduate years. His interest in biomolecular engineering was sparked by a desire to develop renewable liquid transportation fuel alternatives, and he is always excited to discover what chemicals can be formed from renewable sources using biocatalysis. During his post-doc, he became fascinated by the enormous potential and creative opportunities to harness designer bacteria for biomedical applications. Whether for healthcare or sustainability purposes, Aditya is most interested in adding new functional group chemistries to metabolites and proteins. When outside of lab, Aditya enjoys playing board games, watching basketball/football, and traveling.
     For more info on how Aditya became interested in synthetic biology, see this blog post from 2015.

Recent Awards
2022 - NIH Director's New Innovator Award
2022 - Office of Naval Research Young Investigator
2021 - New Innovator Award from the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research
2021 - Langer Prize for Innovation and Entrepreneurial Excellence
2020 - American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) 35 Under 35
2019 - Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity Initiative (ELBI) Fellow 
Graduate Students & Postdocs
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Shelby Anderson

NIH CBI Fellow
​B.S., Georgia Institute of Technology

sander(at)udel(dot)edu
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Neil Butler

NSF GRFP Honorable Mention 
​B.S., Penn State University

ndb(at)udel(dot)edu
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Avaniek Cabales
B.S., Rutgers University
avaniekc(at)udel(dot)edu

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Austin Desmarais
B.S. & B.A., Alma College
ades(at)udel(dot)edu

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Roman Dickey 
​B.S., Penn State University
​rdickey(at)udel(dot)edu
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Amanda Forti 
NSF Graduate Research Fellow
B.S. University of Rochester
​aforti(at)udel(dot)edu

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Madan Gopal

​(Co-advised by Wilfred Chen)
B.S. University of Texas

mgopal(at)udel(dot)edu
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Saloni Gupta
B.S., Visvesvaraya NIT
salonig(at)udel(dot)edu

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Surendar Jakka
Ph.D., Indian Inst. of Science
srjakka(at)udel(dot)edu

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Michaela Jones
NIH CBI Fellow, ​NSF GRFP Honorable Mention
B.S., Cornell University
majones(at)udel(dot)edu
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Chris Mayhugh

​NIH CBI G1/G2 Fellow
B.S. University of Alabama

cmayhugh(at)udel(dot)edu
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Priyanka Nain
Ph.D., Indian Inst. of Tech - Delhi
prinain(at)udel(dot)edu

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Amanda Rosier

Ph.D., University of Delaware
amandaro(at)udel(dot)edu

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Sabyasachi Sen
B.S., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
sen(at)udel(dot)edu
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D'Jana Wyllis
NIH CBI Fellow, GEM Fellow
​B.S., Columbia University

djanaw(at)udel(dot)edu

 
Undergraduate Students
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Josh Bryan
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Anu Buddhikot
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Ishika Govil
Barry Goldwater Scholar

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Miyu Mudalamane
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Vishal Somasundaram
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Abby Spangler
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Alexander Tiso

Past Mentees from Delaware: (UG = Undergrad / G = Grad / T = Technician / P = Post-Doc)
Sean Wirt - 2019-2022 - UG - MIT (Ph.D.)
Shalom Fadullon - 2021 - UG - Northeastern (Ph.D.)
Khai Khee Kho - 2020-2022 - UG - Minnesota (Ph.D.)
Soumili Chattopadhyay - 2020-2021 - G - VaxCyte
Nathan Edwards - 2020 - UG - Delaware (M.S.)
Ryan Buchser - 2019-2021 - UG - UT-Austin (Ph.D.)

Before Delaware:
Emily Niu - 2018 - UG - Then: MIT - After: Bain & Company
Aditya Jog - 2018 - UG - MIT
Lucas Brown - 2018 - T - Then: Harvard - After: Rice University
Karen Noguera - 2017-2018 - T - Then: Harvard - After: U. Indiana - Bloomington
Peter Smith - 2017-2018 - G - Harvard Biological and Biomedical Sciences
Devon Stork - 2016-2018 - G - Then: Harvard - After: Tenza Bio
Jason Hyun - 2014-2015 - UG - Then: MIT - After: Manus Biosciences
Asmawaw Wassie - 2013 - UG - Then: MIT - After: MIT Biological Engineering PhD
Nikita Khlystov - 2012-2014 - UG - Then: MIT - After: Stanford Chemical Engineering PhD
Spencer Wenck - 2012-2013 - UG - Then: MIT - After: Boston Consulting Group
Bernardo Cervantes - 2012 - UG - Then: Berkeley - After: MIT Microbiology PhD
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Delaware January 2019 Team
L to R: Aditya Kunjapur, Sean Wirt, Natalie Fuhr, Morgan Sulzbach, Ryan Buchser, Sunny Sen, and Neil Butler.

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HMS Summer 2018 Team
L to R: Karen Noguera, Devon Stork, Aditya Jog, Lucas Brown, Emily Niu, and Aditya Kunjapur.
Snapshots of the Team

2022

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2021

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2020

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Before the COVID-19 pandemic began

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After the pandemic began

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2019
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Location
The Kunjapur Lab
Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
University of Delaware
150 Academy Street
​CLB 358/362/245/254/126
Newark, DE 19716

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