People

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 1 or 2 postdocs to add to the team in 2021.
Postdocs with experience in mammalian cell culturing or chemical biology are preferred.
Interested postdoc candidates should email a brief cover letter and CV to Aditya.

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. 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
2020 - American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) 35 Under 35
2019 - Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity Initiative (ELBI) Fellow

Graduate Students & Postdocs

Neil Butler

NSF GRFP Honorable Mention
B.S., Penn State University
ndb(at)udel(dot)edu

Soumili Chattopadhyay

M.Tech., Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
B.Tech, MAKAUT, West Bengal
soumili(at)udel(dot)edu

Roman Dickey

B.S., Penn State University
rdickey(at)udel(dot)edu

Amanda Forti

B.S. University of Rochester
aforti(at)udel(dot)edu

Madan Gopal

(Co-advised by Wilfred Chen)
B.S. University of Texas
mgopal(at)udel(dot)edu

Michaela Jones

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

Sabyasachi Sen

B.S., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
sen(at)udel(dot)edu

Morgan Sulzbach

NSF GRFP Honorable Mention
B.S., University of Maryland - College Park
msulzbac(at)udel(dot)edu

Undergraduate Students

Ryan Buchser

Ishika Govil

Nathan Edwards

Sean Wirt

Natalie Fuhr

Past Mentees: (UG = Undergrad / G = Grad / T = Technician / P = Post-Doc)

Before Delaware:
Emily Niu - 2018 - UG - MIT
Aditya Jog - 2018 - UG - MIT
Lucas Brown - 2018 - T - Harvard Medical School
Karen Noguera - 2017-2018 - T - Harvard Medical School
Peter Smith - 2017-2018 - G - Harvard Biological and Biomedical Sciences
Devon Stork - 2016-2018 - G - Harvard Biological and Biomedical Sciences
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