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.
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.
Principal Investigator: Aditya M. Kunjapur2019 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
Undergraduate Students
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 |
Delaware January 2019 Team
L to R: Aditya Kunjapur, Sean Wirt, Natalie Fuhr, Morgan Sulzbach, Ryan Buchser, Sunny Sen, and Neil Butler. HMS Summer 2018 Team
L to R: Karen Noguera, Devon Stork, Aditya Jog, Lucas Brown, Emily Niu, and Aditya Kunjapur. |