Current Members

Members	Education Background	Research Interests
Professor	Liangcheng Du PhD, Royal Vet and Ag University, Copenhagen, Denmark Postdoc, University of California, Davis	Research in the Du group is at the interface of chemistry and biology. Specifically, we are studying the molecular mechanisms by which organisms (bacteria, fungi and plants) make structurally complex, biologically active natural products. Our goal is to use this knowledge to produce new bioactive products through genetic engineering. The studies involve tools and knowledge from biochemistry, molecular biology, genetics, and chemistry.
PhD Student	Vishakha Jayasekera BS, Institute of Chemistry Ceylon	Genome mining for new bioactive natural products; molecular mechanisms for biosynthesis and regulation.
PhD Student	Nike Idowu Osun State University	Molecular mechanisms for transport and biosynthesis of bioactive natural products.
PhD Student	Shankar Ganesh BS, MS, Amrita University	Metabolic engineering of biosynthetic gene clusters for new antibiotics and pathogenicty-related natural products.
PhD Student	Pinky Chowdhury BS, University of Chittagong; MS, Konkuk University	Synthetic biology in Lysobacter to produce new cyclic lipodepsipeptide antibiotics.
PhD Student	Ruth Sesi BS, University of Cape Coast	Genome mining for new bioactive natural products.
Undergraduate Student	Serena Jentz University of Nebraska-Lincoln	New bioactive natural products from Lysobacter.
Undergraduate Student	Emma Cook Tulsa Community College, Oklahoma	Effects of small signaling molecules on growth, antibiotic production, and gliding motility of Lysobacter.