Faculty Mentors
The Biotechnology Training Program draws on a highly skilled group of research faculty from across campus to serve as mentors for BTP trainees. These faculty members come together from many different schools and colleges at UW–Madison, including the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, the College of Engineering, the School of Medicine and Public Health, and the College of Letters & Science. Learn more about our active mentors in the directory below.
| Faculty Name | Faculty URL | Department Name | Research Interest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beebe, David J. | https://pathology.wisc.edu/staff/beebe-david/ | Biomedical Engineering | Investigating cellular scale phenomena from both a physical and biological sciences perspective |
| Bhattacharyya, Anita | https://www.waisman.wisc.edu/staff/bhattacharyya-anita/ | Cell and Regenerative Biology | Altered development of the cerebral cortex in neurodevelopmental disorders |
| Blackwell, Helen E. | https://www.chem.wisc.edu/users/blackwel | Chemistry | Bioorganic, Biopolymers & Biopolymer Mimics, Functional Materials, Quantitative Biology, Synthesis |
| Burton, Briana M. | https://burtonlab.bact.wisc.edu/ | Bacteriology | Combining in vitro and in vivo biochemistry, microscopy, microbiology and molecular biology to study the molecular mechanism of DNA translocation across membranes |
| Butcher, Samuel E. | https://biochem.wisc.edu/labs/butcher | Biochemistry | Structural biology of RNA interactions that regulate gene expression |
| Coon, Joshua J. | http://coonlabs.com/ | Chemistry | Bioanalytical chemistry, mass spectrometry |
| Coyle, Scott | https://biochem.wisc.edu/faculty/Coyle | Biochemistry | Understanding and engineering microscale molecular and cellular machines |
| Fox, Brian G. | http://www.biochem.wisc.edu/faculty/fox/ | Biochemistry | Biochemical, catalytic, and spectroscopic studies of redox active enzymes, and protein engineering |
| Gellman, Samuel H. | https://www.chem.wisc.edu/users/gellman | Chemistry | Organic molecules that mimic proteins in structure, folding, and function |
| Henzler-Wildman, Katherine A. | https://biochem.wisc.edu/faculty/henzler-wildman | Biochemistry | Dynamics and function of integral membrane proteins, secondary active transport, ion channels |
| Hoskins, Aaron A. | https://biochem.wisc.edu/faculty/hoskins | Biochemistry | Elucidating biochemical mechanisms in eukaryotic RNA metabolism with chemistry, biology, and single molecule analysis. |
| Keck, James | https://bmolchem.wisc.edu/staff/keck-james/ | Biomolecular Chemistry | Research in the Keck lab examines the structural mechanisms that drive DNA replication, replication restart, recombination, and repair reactions. |
| Keller, Nancy P. | https://medmicro.wisc.edu/people_faculty_profile.php?id=npkeller | Medical Microbiology & Immunology | Identifying the molecular genetic processes controlling natural product formation and virulence in fungi coupled with genome mining for new pharmaceuticals |
| Kirchdoerfer, Robert | https://biochem.wisc.edu/faculty/Kirchdoerfer | Biochemistry | Virus replication using structural biology and biochemistry |
| Kreeger, Pamela K. | https://pathology.wisc.edu/staff/kreeger-pam/ | Dept. of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine | Cellular engineering, systems biology, endocrinology, cancer, and women's health |
| Landick, Robert C. | https://biochem.wisc.edu/faculty/landick | Biochemistry | Mechanisms of gene regulation in bacteria with a primary focus on transcription |
| Li, Lingjun | https://pharmacy.wisc.edu/li-lab/ | Pharmaceutical Sciences | Mass spectrometry tools to measure neuropeptides important in food intake, neural network development, and response to environmental stresses |
| Martell, Jeff | http://chem.wisc.edu/users/jdmartell | Chemistry | Merging biomacromolecular and synthetic chemistry to make biomedical tools |
| McClean, Megan | http://mccleanlab.bme.wisc.edu/ | Biomedical Engineering | Systems biology, synthetic biology, cellular engineering, signal processing |
| Palecek, Sean P. | https://engineering.wisc.edu/directory/profile/sean-palecek/ | Chemical and Biological Engineering | Studying how cell-cell adhesive interactions affect disease pathogenesis and how adhesive and mechanical signals combine with chemical signals to regulate stem cell fate choices |
| Peters, Jason | https://genetics.wisc.edu/staff/peters-jason-2/ | Genetics | Developing innovative CRISPR tools for exploration of gene function in bioenergy-relevant alpha-Proteobacteria and antibiotic resistant ESKAPE pathogens |
| Pfleger, Brian F. | https://engineering.wisc.edu/directory/profile/brian-pfleger/ | Chemical and Biological Engineering | Developing microorganisms capable of producing small molecules of significant social, economic, and scientific value from renewable resources |
| Raman, Srivatsan | http://www.ramanlab.org/ | Biochemistry | Synthetic and systems biology, Protein design, Directed evolution of proteins and biosynthetic pathways |
| Rey, Federico | https://bact.wisc.edu/people_profile.php?t=rf&p=ferey | Bacteriology | A major focus of my group is to understand how variations in the gut microbiome modulate the effects of diet and host’s susceptibility to cardiometabolic disease |
| Saha, Krishanu | http://sahalab.bme.wisc.edu/ | Biomedical Engineering | Quantitative and bioengineering methods to advance the next generation of cell and gene therapies |
| Sheets, Michael D. | https://bmolchem.wisc.edu/staff/sheets-michael-d/ | Biomolecular Chemistry | RNA regulation of cell fate and function |
| Sherer, Nathan | https://mcardle.wisc.edu/nathan-sherer/ | Oncology | Cell biology of HIV replication |
| Shusta, Eric V. | https://engineering.wisc.edu/directory/profile/eric-shusta/ | Chemical and Biological Engineering | In vitro models of the blood-brain barrier, drug delivery to the brain, and protein engineering |
| Simcox, Judith | https://biochem.wisc.edu/faculty/simcox | Biochemistry | Inter-organ communication through lipid derived metabolites |
| Skala, Melissa | https://morgridge.org/research/medical-engineering/multiscale-imaging/ | Biomedical Engineering | Methods to understand and combat cancer using photonics-based technologies |
| Smith, Lloyd M. | http://www.chem.wisc.edu/users/smith | Chemistry | Developing novel methods and approaches for the analysis and manipulation of biomolecules |
| Speidel, Michael A. | https://www.medphysics.wisc.edu/wp/blog/staff/speidel-micheal-a/ | Medical Physics | X-ray fluoroscopy and angiography, device guidance during cardiac interventions, dose reduction, and scanning-beam digital x-ray technology |
| Sridharan, Rupa | https://crb.wisc.edu/staff/sridharan-rupa/ | Cell and Regenerative Biology | Epigenetic control of cell identity in pluripotency, development and disease |
| Van Lehn, Reid | https://directory.engr.wisc.edu/che/Faculty/Van-lehn_Reid/ | Chemical and Biological Engineering | Developing and applying molecular simulaton techniques to characterize, predict, and engineer the physicochemical properties of synthetic and biological soft materials |
| Wang, Jue D. (Jade) | https://wanglab.bact.wisc.edu/ | Bacteriology | Bacterial Stress Response, Nucleotide Signaling, Mutagenesis, Antibiotic Resistance |
| Wang, Tina | http://chem.wisc.edu/users/twang495 | Chemistry | Protein folding and directed evolution, Geneticallyencodable sensors |
| Weeks, Amy | https://biochem.wisc.edu/faculty/Weeks | Biochemistry | Spatially-resolved mapping of post-translational modifications, Protein engineering, Chemoproteomics |
| Wright, Elizabeth | https://biochem.wisc.edu/faculty/wright | Biochemistry | Structural biology via cryo-electron microscopy, with a focus on pathogenic targets. |
| Zanni, Martin | https://zanni.chem.wisc.edu/ | Chemistry | Developing and utilizing ultrafast multidimensional spectroscopies to study topics in biophysics and materials science |
| Hernandez, Laura | https://erp.wisc.edu/staff/hernandez-laura/ | Endocrinology and Reproductive Physiology Program | Understand how autocrine and paracrine factors in the mammary gland regulate mammary gland development, as well as milk synthesis and secretion |
| Hernandez, Reinier | https://www.medphysics.wisc.edu/blog/staff/hernandez-reinier/ | Medical Physics | Radiochemistry applications in biomedical research, Targeted radionuclide therapy and theranostics, Radio-immunooncology, Neutron capture therapy |
| Cavagnero, Silvia | https://www2.chem.wisc.edu/users/cavagner | Chemistry | Protein folding and aggregation in the cellular environment using spectroscopic techniques |
| Lim, Ci Ji | https://biochem.wisc.edu/faculty/Lim | Biochemistry | Mechanism of human telomere maintenance, Structural biology and biophysics |
| Handelsman, Jo | https://wid.wisc.edu/people/jo-handelsman/ | Plant Pathology | Genetic and biochemical processes underlying interactions within plant and human microbiomes |
| Majumder, Erica | https://bact.wisc.edu/people_profile.php?t=rf&p=emajumder | Bacteriology | Ecology of microplastics and harmful algal blooms, Interactions of microplastics and microbial communities in wastewater treatment plants, bioremediation of heavy metal contaminated groundwater |
| Hai, Aviad | http://hailab.bme.wisc.edu | Biomedical Engineering | Engineering minimally invasive tools to access the nervous system for neurobiological studies of brain function |
| Anantharaman, Karthik | https://bact.wisc.edu/people_profile.php?t=rf&p=kanantharama | Bacteriology | Sulfur metabolism in environmental and human microbiomes |
| Meyer, Mark | http://markmeyerlab.nutrisci.wisc.edu/ | Nutritional Sciences | Vitamin D metabolism, inflammatory disease, gene expression regulation, bioinformatics, genome-editing |
| Ong, Irene | https://www.obgyn.wisc.edu/categories/ong-research-team | OBGyn and Biostatistics and Medical Informatics | Data mining, artificial intelligence, machine learning, probabilistic methods, dynamical models, inductive logic programming, and statistical relational learning with applications to biological and medical data |
| Majumder, Kinjal | https://mcardle.wisc.edu/faculty/kinjal-majumder/ | Oncology | Mechanisms of virus localization to cellular DNA breaks |
| Chevrette, Marc | https://cmb.wisc.edu/staff/chevrette-marc/ | Plant Pathology | Understanding the ecology and evolution of genes involved in secondary metabolism and exploring how microbial metabolites influence the intricate network of microbiome interactions |
| Dudley, Quentin | https://engineering.wisc.edu/directory/profile/quentin-dudley/ | Chemical & Biological Engineering | The Dudley lab researches sustainable production of useful biomolecules with a particular focus on cell-free and plant synthetic biology |
| Gisriel, Christopher | https://biochem.wisc.edu/people/gisriel/ | Biochemistry | The Gisriel Lab investigates the molecular mechanisms, diversity, and evolution of the photosystems involved in oxygenic photosynthesis by using structural biology techniques |
| Ngo, Mai | https://engineering.wisc.edu/directory/profile/mai-ngo/ | Chemical & Biological Engineering | The Ngo lab leverages tools from tissue engineering, cell engineering, and synthetic biology in order to study how communication between different cell types influences tissue form and function |
| Xu, Duo | https://biochem.wisc.edu/people/xu-duo/ | Biochemistry | The Xu Lab is broadly interested in understanding the protein-protein interactions at the host-pathogen interface |
| Anderson, Matthew | https://genetics.wisc.edu/staff/anderson-matt/ | Genetics | Utilization of Candida albicans to address how genetic diversity contributes to variation in species populations |
| Bartholomay, Lyric | https://www.vetmed.wisc.edu/lab/bartholomay/dr-lyric-bartholomay/ | Pathobiological Sciences | Tracking and testing interventions for endemic and emerging vector-borne diseases in existing and invasive species of mosquitoes and ticks |
| Chaudhari, Snehal | https://biochem.wisc.edu/people/chaudhari/ | Biochemistry | Interactions of the gut microbiome with the host, intestinal metabolism in health and disease |
| Dinh, Huy Q. | https://mcardle.wisc.edu/faculty/huy-dinh/ | Oncology | Understanding how tumor heterogeneity changes toward finding immunotherapeutic biomarkers and targets by leveraging computational biology |
| Drummond-Barbosa, Daniela | https://genetics.wisc.edu/staff/drummond-barbosa-daniela/ | Genetics | Investigating how stem cell lineages are regulated by physiology and metabolism in Drosophila melanogaster |
| Gaglia, Marta | https://mmi.wisc.edu/staff/gaglia-marta/ | Medical Microbiology & Immunology | Virus-cell interactions in infections with the human respiratory virus influenza A virus and the human oncogenic virus Kaposi’s sarcoma associated herpesvirus |
| Fan, Jing | https://nutrisci.wisc.edu/jing-fan/ | Nutritional Sciences | Metabolic underpinnings of immune cell function and fate |
| Gitter, Anthony | https://biostat.wiscweb.wisc.edu/staff/gitter-anthony/ | Biostatistics and Medical Informatics | Computational approaches to reconstruct signaling pathways and transcriptional regulatory networks from multiple types of high-throughput data |
| Goldsmith, Randall | https://chem.wisc.edu/staff/goldsmith-randall/ | Chemistry | Novel mechanistic studies of homogeneous catalysts, investigation of electronic properties of conjugated polymers relevant for organic photovoltaic devices, and analysis of protein conformational dynamics |
| Gong, Shaoqin (Sarah) | https://www.ophth.wisc.edu/blog/staff/gong-shaoqin-sarah/ | Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences | Biomaterials-multifunctional drug nanocarriers, theranostic nanomedicines, and tissue engineering scaffolds, and functional devices |
| Sauer, John-Demian (JD) | https://mmi.wisc.edu/staff/sauer-john-demian-jd/ | Medical Microbiology & Immunology | Our lab is interested in how intracellular pathogens parasitize host cells and how the host, in turn, recognizes these pathogens and defends against them |
| Wheeler, Deric | https://www.humonc.wisc.edu/team_member/wheeler/ | Human Oncology | The Wheeler lab uses state of the art molecular biology, proteomics and mouse modeling to understand how tumors become resistant to cancer drugs |
| Hershey, David | https://bact.wisc.edu/directory/david-hershey/ | Bacteriology | Mechanisms of surface colonization in bacteria, Assembly of complex polysaccharides, Regulation of motility behaviors |
| Hess, Gaelen | https://bmolchem.wisc.edu/staff/hess-gaelen/ | Biomolecular Chemistry | High-throughput functional genomics to investigate DNA repair and pathogenic effectors |
| Kuchnia, Adam | https://nutrisci.wisc.edu/adam-kuchnia/ | Nutritional Sciences | Muscle and protein metabolism, nutritional management in clinical populations |
| Laporta Sanchis, Jimena | https://admin.cals.wisc.edu/people/faculty/?username=jlaporta | Animal & Dairy Sciences | Investigates environmental and management factors affecting mammary gland development and function and early-life experiences programming the developing fetus for life |
| Leone, Vanessa A | https://admin.cals.wisc.edu/people/faculty/?username=valeone | Animal & Dairy Sciences | Mechanism of how diet-induced gut microbes shape and maintain host circadian clock function in the context of gut mucosal health with a specific emphasis on antimicrobial peptides |
| May, Elebeoba | https://mmi.wisc.edu/staff/may-elebeoba-chi-chi/ | Medical Microbiology & Immunology | Engineering solutions to address challenges in the areas of chronic infection and disease, biodefense, and the growing field of biomanufacturing |
| Mo, Charlie | https://bact.wisc.edu/directory/charlie-mo/ | Bacteriology | Exploring the interface between CRISPR-Cas systems and bacterial variation and selection |
| Neugebauer, Monica | https://biochem.wisc.edu/ | Biochemistry | Discovery, characterization, and evolution of enzymes for biocatalysis and chemical biology |
| Notbohm, Jacob | https://engineering.wisc.edu/directory/profile/jacob-notbohm/ | Engineering | The Notbohm Research Group studies mechanics of soft materials, Current areas of interest are in mechanics of fibrous materials, cell-matrix interactions, and collective cell migration |
| O'Connor, David | https://pathology.wisc.edu/staff/oconnor-david/ | Pathology and Laboratory Medicine | The overarching goal of the O'Connor lab is to contribute meaningfully to the global response to viral infections impacting human health |
| Ortega Obando, Martha Sofia | https://admin.cals.wisc.edu/people/faculty/?username=ortegaobando | Animal & Dairy Sciences | Genetic regulation of fertility with an emphasis in preimplantation embryonic development and placentation in the bovine |
| Osorio, Jorge | https://www.vetmed.wisc.edu/people/osorio/ | Pathobiological Sciences | Molecular approaches to unravel host-pathogen interactions for emerging diseases and biodefense pathogens |
| Putnam, Andrea | https://bmolchem.wisc.edu/staff/putnam-andrea-2/ | Biomolecular Chemistry | Developmental Biology and Regenerative Medicine, RNA Biology |
| Rhoads, Timothy | https://nutrisci.wisc.edu/tim-rhoads/ | Nutritional Sciences | Caloric restriction, metabolism, biology of aging, systems biology, gene expression regulation |
| Roy, Sushmita | https://biostat.wiscweb.wisc.edu/staff/roy-sushmita/ | Biostatistics and Medical Informatics | Developing and applying computational methods based on statistical machine learning for understanding gene regulatory networks that control gene expression patterns in living cells |
| Salgado-Pabon, Wilmara | https://www.vetmed.wisc.edu/people/wsalgado/ | Pathobiological Sciences | Pathogenesis of Staphylococcus aureus with an emphasis on the contribution of enterotoxins and cytolysins to the pathophysiology of severe disease, including but not limited to sepsis, pneumonia, and infective endocarditis |
| Shanmuganayagam, Dhanansayan (Dhanu) | https://www.surgery.wisc.edu/staff/dhanansayan-dhanu-shanmuganayagam/ | Surgery | Development and utilization of pigs as homologous models to close the translational gap in human disease research, taking advantage of the overwhelming similarities between pigs and humans in terms of genetics, anatomy, physiology, and immunology |
| Solis-Lemus, Claudia | https://plantpath.wisc.edu/faculty/claudia-solis-lemus/ | Plant Pathology | Development of statistical models to answer biological questions, balancing biological interpretability, theoretical guarantees, and computational tractability |
| Grant, Tim | https://biochem.wisc.edu/people/grant/ | Biochemistry | Studying the structure and dynamics of biological macromolecules using cryo-EM |
| Donohue, Timothy | https://bact.wisc.edu/directory/timothy-j-donohue/ | Bacteriology | Our laboratory analyzes networks that microbes use to grow or produce bioproducts from renewable resources |
| LaFoya, Bryce | https://biochem.wisc.edu/people/lafoya-bryce/ | Biochemistry | Stem cells, brain development and regeneration, membrane and cytoskeleton dynamics, Danionella fish and Drosophila, super-resolution microscopy |
| Kalogriopoulos, Nicholas | https://apps.pharmacy.wisc.edu/sopdir/nicholas_kalogriopoulos/ | Pharmaceutical Sciences | Unravel the molecular and cellular mechanisms of GPCRs in health and disease with a focus on cancer/immunology and develop technologies that are widely adopted across fields and disciplines to broadly impact biological and therapeutic research |
| Ponik, Suzanne | https://crb.wisc.edu/staff/ponik-suzanne/ | Cell and Regenerative Biology | Breast cancer, cell interactions with the extracellular matrix, and immune modulation in the collagen-dense tumor microenvironment |
| Stanic, Aleksandar | https://www.obgyn.wisc.edu/directory/profile/46689171 | Obstetrics and Gynecology | The immunology underlying reproductive disorders, with a special interest into the role of lymphocytes in the establishment and maintenance of pregnancy |
| Witzenburg, Colleen | https://engineering.wisc.edu/directory/profile/colleen-witzenburg/ | Biomedical Engineering | Cardiovascular Biomechanics and Physiolog, Computational Modeling, Tissue Growth, Remodeling, and Failure, Soft tissue Characterization and Mechanical Testing, Congenital Heart Disease |
| Wei, Wei | https://biochem.wisc.edu/people/wei-wei/ | Biochemistry | Deorphanizing biochemical pathways that regulate nutrient metabolism in mammals |