BEN HACKEL

Associate Professor
Department of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science

PhD, Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2009

hackel@umn.edu
research.cems.umn.edu/hackel

Research Interests

Protein engineering technologies to develop physiological molecular targeting agents for molecular diagnostics and targeted therapy with a focus on oncology and infectious disease.

Bio

In his research, Ben Hackel applies protein engineering technologies to develop physiological molecular targeting agents for molecular diagnostics and targeted therapy, with a focus on oncology and infectious disease. His lab balances (1) fundamental study of molecular evolution and protein biophysics, which empowers protein engineering efforts; and (2) application of these advances to develop non-invasive diagnostics and therapeutics for clinical challenges in oncology and infectious disease.

TRINITY HAMILTON

Associate Professor
Department of Plant and Microbial Biology

PhD, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Montana State University, 2012

trinityh@umn.edu
the-fringe-lab.com 

Research Interests

Microbial photosynthesis and global biogeochemical cycles; genomic, functional, and evolutionary studies of complex microbial ecosystems, microbial ecology, and evolution including Earth’s earliest phototrophs and their contribution to biogeochemical cycling: past, present, and future.

Bio

Trinity Hamilton’s research focuses on microbial photosynthesis and global biogeochemical cycles. In their work, the Hamilton lab studies the functions and interactions of microorganisms in natural and engineered systems and how microbial communities respond and adapt to environmental change. Trinity is particularly interested in life at the fringe, including redox gradients and temperature extremes. Her lab uses traditional microbiology and molecular techniques, as well as next generation -omics approaches in combination with high resolution geochemical and geological data.

WILL HARCOMBE

Associate Professor
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior

PhD, Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Texas Austin, 2009

harcombe@umn.edu
wrharcombe.org

Research Interests

Cooperation and conflict, eco-evolutionary feedback, microbial communities, microbial interactions, and systems biology; interplay between ecological and evolutionary processes across multiple levels of biological organization with computational approaches to quantitatively investigate how behavior of metabolic networks influences the emergent properties of complex cells and ecosystems.

Bio

In his work, Will Harcombe uses synthetic communities to mechanistically dissect the interplay between ecological and evolutionary processes across multiple levels of biological organization. His lab uses computational approaches to quantitatively investigate how the behavior of metabolic networks influences the emergent properties of complex systems from cells and ecosystems.

BO HU

Professor
Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering

PhD, Biological Systems Engineering, Washington State University, 2007

bhu@umn.edu
bohu.cfans.umn.edu

Research Interests

Development of bioprocessing technologies to convert agricultural residue and waste materials to value-added chemicals and biofuels. Research areas include biomass utilization, industrial fermentation, waste management and treatment.

Bio

Bo Hu is interested in biomass utilization, industrial fermentation, waste management and treatment. His research primarily focuses on the development of bioprocessing technologies to convert agricultural residue and waste materials to value-added chemicals and biofuels. The Bo lab has established several new cultivation methods, such as solid state cultivation, pelletized cultivation of fungi and algae, and cultivation of lichen biofilm.

WEI-SHOU HU

Professor
Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science

PhD, Biochemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1983

acre@cems.umn.edu
hugroup.cems.umn.edu

Research Interests

Cell culture technology, tissue engineering, and metabolic engineering; emphasis on the application of engineering analysis to biochemical and cellular systems and on the incorporation of physiological insight into the quantitative modeling of biological systems.

Bio

Wei-Shou Hu’s interests encompass cell engineering, tissue engineering and metabolic engineering. The emphasis of his research is on the application of systems analysis to biochemical and cellular systems and on the incorporation of physiological insight into the quantitative modeling of biological reactions. The systems employed in his work include mammalian cells, differentiated tissue cells and microorganisms. Current research efforts in the Hu lab emphasize employing genomic and proteomic tools in those research projects and exploring novel modeling approaches for quantitative description of cellular processes.

SATOSHI ISHII

Associate Professor
Department of Soil, Water, and Climate

PhD, Soil Science (major) and Microbial Ecology (minor), University of Minnesota, 2007

ishi0040@umn.edu
ishii-lab.umn.edu

Research Interests

Applied microbiology and biotechnology with focus on nitrogen pollution and occurrences of pathogens: microbiological (single-cell isolation), analytical (stable isotope analysis, microsensor measurements), molecular biological (gene manipulation), omics technologies (genomics, metagenomics, meta transcriptomics, high-throughput sequencing, bioinformatics), and engineering (bioreactors, mathematical modeling).

Bio

Satoshi Ishii aims to solve environmental problems by applying microbiology and biotechnology approaches. The current focuses of his work are (1) nitrogen pollution and (2) the occurrences of pathogens in various environments (soil, water, sediment, etc). The Ishii lab uses multiple approaches to answer fundamental and applied scientific questions, including microbiological, analytical, molecular biological, omics technologies, and engineering approaches.