Professor, McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering
halper@che.utexas.edu
+1 512 471 4417

Expertise: Our group focuses on engineering biology to produce organic molecules of interest such as biofuels, commodity and specialty chemicals and protein pharmaceuticals.  Specifically, our lab alters cells and “hijacks” the basic metabolism to convert cellular systems into industrially-relevant biochemical factories.  We utilize a variety of host systems including microbial (eg. Eschericia coli), fungal (eg. the yeasts Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Yarrowia lipolytica), and mammalian cells (eg. Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells and human HEK293).  To accomplish these tasks, traditional pathway engineering approaches are merged with novel synthetic biology tools, protein engineering strategies, systems biology paradigms and applied genetic engineering capabilities.  Our research group focuses on the integration and implementation of these tools and knowledge for the design, production, and elicitation of phenotypes relevant to biotechnological processes and medical interest.  In addition, we are heavily invested in developing novel synthetic biology approaches aimed at increasing our capacity to engineer cells.

Professor, Department of Molecular Biosciences, College of Natural Sciences
andy.ellington@austin.utexas.edu
+1 512 232 3424, +1 512 471 6445

Expertise: Directed evolution; ribozymes; biotechnology; chemical and biological warfare detection

Professor and Cockrell Family Regents Chair in Engineering No. 9, Department of Molecular Biosciences, College of Natural Sciences
gg@che.utexas.edu
+1 512 471 6975

Expertise: Engineering and preclinical/clinical development of human enzyme therapeutics for cancer treatment. Development of methods for the molecular-level understanding of antibody responses to immune challenge. Analysis of the antibody repertoire elicited by viral infection (e.g. HIV-1) and vaccination to aid the development of more efficient vaccines. Engineering of antibody therapeutics displaying enhanced ability to recruit cytotoxic leukocytes and blood proteins (complement) for the effective clearance of pathogens.

Dean, School of Undergraduate Studies
iversonb@austin.utexas.edu
+1 512 750 0519

Expertise: Biotechnology; bioorganic chemistry; organic chemistry; molecular biology; drug and diagnostic development

Professor, McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering
maynard@che.utexas.edu
+1 512 471 9188

Expertise: Control of cellular immunity through manipulation of T cell receptor interactions; Reverse-engineer pathogenic strategies used by bacterial pathogens for biotechnological applications; Apply protein engineering approaches to issues in structural biology

Professor, Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering
mohanty@mail.utexas.edu
+1 512 471 3077

Expertise: Transport of simple and complex fluids in complex microstructured materials for applications in energy, environment and biotechnology