
Mark Blenner
Thomas & Kipp Gutshall Career Development
Associate Professor, University of Delaware
NSF CREATE Biofoundry Director
Graduate Program Director
GAANN Inclusive Teaching in ChE Director
NIH & AHA Postdoc Fellow, Harvard Medical School
PhD Chemical Engineering, Columbia Univeristy
BS Chemical Engineering, Manhattan College
Dr. Blenner's interest is generating systems level data and synthetic biology tools to speed the design, build, test cycle for yeast, mammalian cells, and microbial communities. His group is interested in solving problems in complex environments, such as biomanufacturing, and wild environments outside the lab.
He views the most important part of his job as helping students develop as independent creative critical thinkers. Graduate students and typically create their projects under Dr. Blenner's guidance.
Dr. Blenner has won numerous awards including the PECASE, the 2022 AIChE Division 15 Early Career Award, and the 2021 ACS BIOT Young Investigator Award.
Graduate Students & Postdocs

Ayushi Agrawal
PhD Student
Engineering Yeast for
Natural Products
​
BS Chem. Eng., SRM
MS Chem. Eng., Rutgers

Patrick Beardslee
PhD Student
GAANN Fellow
Gene Therapy Manufacturing & Synthetic Biology​
​
BS Chem. Eng., Ohio State
Samuel Fine

PhD Student; CBI Fellow
(w/ Cathy Fromen)
Macrophage Engineering
& Synthetic Biology
​
BS Chem. Eng., Georgia Tech

Phil Gitman
PhD Student
DE Space Grant Graduate Fellow; GAANN Fellow
Engineering Synthetic Methylotrophy
​
BS Chem. Eng., UConn

Spencer Grissom
PhD Student
NSF GRFP Fellow
Epigenetic Tools for Biopharmaceuticals
BS Chem. Eng., Maryland
Palakar Mentor Award (2022)
TA Award (2023)
Amgen Intern (2023-24)

Postdoctoral Fellow
Richa Guleria, PhD
Engineering Yeast for Space Biomanufacturing
​
BS Biochemistry, Garhwal University
PhD Biotechnology, Jawaharlal Nehru

PhD Student; GAANN Fellow
(w/ Kevin Solomon)
Alex Hansen
Microbiome of Plastic Degradation​
​
BS Chem. Eng., UA Huntsville

Rachel Keown, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Phage Engineering
Metabolic Engineering of Yeast
​
BS, Biology, Acadia University
PhD Bioinformatics, UD
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Ross Klauer
PhD Student (w/ Kevin Solomon)
CBI Fellow; DENIN Fellow
Microbiome of Plastic Degradation
​
BS Chem. Eng., Rose Hullman
Palakar Mentoring Award (2023)
Qiagen Young Scientist Award (2022)

PhD Student
(w/ Wilfred Chen)
Derron Ma
Dynamic Regulation of Metabolism
​
BS Biosys. Eng., UC Davis

Chemistry PhD Student
CBI Fellow
​​
Tristan Mabee
Protein Engineering for
Plastics Degradation & Upcycling​
​
BS Chemistry, Elizabethtown Col.

Nathan Miller
PhD Student
​
Microbial Community Engineering for Plastic Biodegradation​
​
BS Chem. Eng., Arizona State

Austin Morgan
Microbiology PhD Student
Autonomous Stable Gene Circuits​
​
BS BIochem, Truman State
Pitch 90 Winner (2023)

Phil O'Dell
PhD Student
Yeast Metabolic Engineering of Plant Natural Products
​
BS Biochem, Miami University
MS Chem. Eng., Miami University
​

Postdoctoral Fellow
ASEE eFellows
​
Jenna Ott
Microbial Community Engineering for Plastic Biodegradation​
​
BS Chem Eng., UC Santa Barbara
PhD Chem. Eng., Princeton University
NSF GRFP
​
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PhD Student
CBI Fellow
Topher Pirner
Mammalian Synthetic Biology
​
​
BS Chem. Eng., Rose Hulman

Postdoctoral Fellow
Prem Pritam
Metabolomics and Metabolic Engineering
​
BTech Biotechnology, RAU Pusa
PhD Chem. Eng., IIT Bombay

Rachel Silvestri
PhD Student
Yeast Engineering for
Protein Secretion
BS Chem. Eng., Manhattan College
Rishabh Shah

PhD Student
Dynamic Pathway Assembly​
​
BS Chem. Eng., Rutgers

Anthony Stohr
PhD Student (w/ Wilfred Chen)
NDSEG Fellow
RNA-based Metabolic Biosensors​
BS Chem. Eng., Northeastern
Frasier Russel Teaching Fellow
Undergraduates
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Zach Dixon
Class of 2025
![20240108_150755[1] - Aidan Gensure.jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/fdf344_da5ce74a348c4a608261e51a6059bf0e~mv2.jpg/v1/crop/x_0,y_381,w_1951,h_1951/fill/w_220,h_220,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/20240108_150755%5B1%5D%20-%20Aidan%20Gensure.jpg)
Aiden Gensure
Class of 2025

Shirly Gottlieb
Class of 2026

Helena Hansen
Class of 2026

Julia Jeskey
Class of 2026

Susan Kuhn
Class of 2026

Caleb Lawson
Class of 2025

Sam McDonald
Class of 2026

Hamza Alam
Class of 2027

Class of 2025 (Biology)
Marissa Brown

Class of 2027
Eleanor Cook

Lauren DeSantis
Class of 2026

Ben McClaine
Class of 2027

Agni Miraji-Khot
Class of 2027

Amelia Owen
Class of 2028

Liv Quick
Class of 2026

Rena So
Class of 2025

Megan Tarr
Class of 2025 (BME)

Hanna White
Class of 2025

Andrew Weismann
Class of 2028

Mekhi Williams
Class of 2025

Kayla Wolf
Class of 2025

Magda Zdanowicz
Class of 2027 (App. Biotech)

Neta Zilbershot
Class of 2026
Lab Alumni

Zhiliang Yang
Postdoctoral Fellow
(2019-20)
Engineering Yeast for Natural Product Biosynthesis
Currently seeking a faculty position.

Weigao Wang
Graduate Student
(2015-21)
Enzyme & Secretion Engineering ​
Currently a Postdoc at Stanford

Allison Yaguchi
PhD Student
(2014-2020)
Aromatic metabolism in oleaginous yeast​
Currently a Postdoc at NREL

Charles Wang
MS Student
(2018-20)
Mammalian Artificial Chromosome
Currently at Unknown

Difeng Gao
Postdoctoral Fellow (2015-18)
Yarrowia Metabolic Engineering
Currently at Biomedican, Inc.

Murri Shabbir Hussain
PhD Student
(2013-2018)
Genetic Tools for Yarrowia
Currently at Abbott Biosciences

Gabriel Rodriguez
Postdoctoral Fellow
(2014-17)
Yarrowia Metabolic Engineering
Currently at Ginkgo Biosciences

A. Nolan Wilson
PhD Student
(2009-14)
Metabolic Modeling
Currently at NREL

Max Hilbert
PhD Student
(2018-2021)
Enzyme Immobilization
Currently at Unknown

Molly Wintenberg
PhD Student
(2016-2022)
Microbial Radiation Biosensors
Currently NRC Fellow at NIST

Mike Spagnuolo
PhD Student
(2015-2022)
Engineering Yeast for Biopolymers
Currently Postdoc in the Blenner Lab

Dyllan Rives
PhD Student
(2016-2022)
ER Stress in CHO Cells
Currently Seeking a Position
Engineering Macronutrients from Plastic
​
BS Biophysics, Michigan
PhD Biophysics, Michigan

Jason Karslake, PhD
Plastic Waste Upcycling
Currently at Molecular Templates
Postdoc
(2020-2022)

Jyoti Singh, PhD
Postdoc
(2020-2022)
Microbiome Engineering & Plastic Biodegradation
Currently at Unilever

VIjay Ganesan
PhD Student
(2017-2023)
Genetic Tools for Pathway Balancing
Currently at Sandia National Lab

Postdoc
(2023)
Michael Spagnuolo
Oleochemical Metabolic Engineering
Currently at US Army DEVCOM
Chris Nauman, PhD
Postdoc
(2021-2024)

Engineering Macronutrientrs from Plastic
Sceintist, Siemans Healthcare

Postdoc
(2022-2024)
Jaya Singh, PhD
Engineering Yeast for Oleochemicals
Postdoc in Eric Young Lab

Postdoc
(2023-2024)
Patrick Beardslee, PhD
Engineering Yeast for Oleochemicals
Scientist, Mosaic Biosciences