People

My research uses synthetic genomic approaches to explore fundamental questions about genome-phenotype relationships within and between species, as well as to help understand the evolutionary history of life and its diversity. Synthetic genomics is a nascent biological discipline centered on the synthesis of chromosomes and genomes. By enabling new scales and scopes of genetic manipulation, synthetic genomics has the potential to address longstanding biological questions that might not otherwise be answerable.

Email: ian.ehrenreich@usc.edu

Education:

NIH NRSA Postdoctoral Fellow – Princeton University (2008-2011)

Ph.D.; Genetics – North Carolina State University (2008)

B.A.; Human Biology – Stanford University (2002)

Email: alessandrocoradini@gmail.com

I am interested in the context dependent effects of genetic perturbations across genetic backgrounds and environments.

Email: ilangold@usc.edu

Education: 

M.A.; Sociology – University of California, Los Angeles (2014)

B.A.; Anthropology – New York University (2009)

Email: halejj@usc.edu

I am interested in using synthetic genomics to understand minimal gene sets for life and organellular genetics in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Email: chull@usc.edu

Education: Carthage College, B.A.

Synthetic biology – building genomes to answer fundamental biological questions.

Email: dlusk@usc.edu

Education:

B.S.; Biochemistry – University of California, San Diego (2020)

Email: zkrieger@usc.edu

Education:

B.S.; Biological Sciences – University of Washington (2019)

Email: cjnevill@usc.edu

I am interested in using synthetic biology to understand genetic diversity in the context of fungal persistence in mammalian cells.

Email: babernar@usc.edu

Education: 

B.S.; Biological Sciences – Chapman University (2021)

I am interested in investigating the genes underlying fungal persistence in the organs of mammalian hosts.

Email: yunsuneo@usc.edu

Education: 

B.S.; Biological Sciences – University of Southern California (2023)

I am interested in using chromosome synthesis to study genetics and molecular evolution across yeast genera.

Email: shyang@usc.edu

Education: 

Senior – B.A.; Biological Sciences – University of Southern California (2024)

I am a junior majoring in human biology and minoring in healthcare studies. I’m pre-med now, but I was deciding between research and medicine earlier on in college when I joined the lab. Although my interests are shifting more towards medicine/healthcare related stuff recently, I still find work in figuring out why genetic information is arranged the way it is in chromosomes pretty cool.

Email: jytian@usc.edu

Education: 

Junior – B.S.; Human Biology – University of Southern California (2025)

Email: arelygil@usc.edu

Education: 

University of Southern California

My name is Nicolette Romo-Zelada and I am a junior studying Biological Sciences (Biotechnology). I hope to graduate with a Progressive Master’s Degree in Biotechnology and eventually earn a PhD.

Email: romozela@usc.edu

Education: 

Junior – B.S.; Biological Sciences (Biotechnology) – University of Southern California (2025)