Phillip A. Romero

Principal Investigator

Phil received his Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology and was a professor at University of Wisconsin, Madison from 2016 to 2024 prior to moving to Duke in August 2024. In his spare time, Phil enjoys going on runs and spending time with his family.

Research Scientists

SAMEER D’COSTA

Ph.D. at University of Chicago

JOB GRANT

Ph.D. at University of South Carolina

PETE HEINZELMAN

Ph.D. at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Fun fact: Pete grew a pumpkin that reached 115 lbs. in weight.

Graduate Students

NATHANIEL BLALOCK

B.S. at University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Fun fact: Nathaniel enjoys the challenge of running marathons as someone with Type I diabetes.

COBAN BROOKS

B.S. at Oregon State University

Fun fact: Coban grew up in Indonesia and holds triple citizenship.

CHASE FRESCHLIN

B.S. at Smith College

BRYCE JOHNSON

B.S. at University of Minnesota

MARK MAHNKE

B.S. at Texas A&M University

Fun fact: Mark is a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Undergraduates

NATE NOVY

B.S. at University of Washington

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PAUL PERKOVICH

Lab Alumni

B.S. at Northwestern University

BENJAMIN PERRY

B.S.E. at Duke University

Fun fact: Ben missed a meeting with the United States President due to COVID.

SRI SESHADRI

B.S. at Case Western Reserve University

Fun fact: I gave a TEDx Youth talk in 2014 titled "Some Shrooms, some Grass, and some Alcohol”

MEG TAYLOR

B.S. at Baylor University

Fun fact: Meg began college as a music major and still performs with Moment of Magic as Disney characters.

Doctoral Students

  • Leland Hyman- Scientist, Sherlock Biosciences

  • Jonathan Greenhalgh- Scientist, CleanJoule

  • Jacob Rapp

  • Nishit Banka

  • Juan Diaz

  • Andres Lira- PhD student, Huang and Martell labs, UW-Madison

  • Sophia Ulmer- PhD student, Raman Lab, UW-Madison

  • Sonali Gupta

Postdoctoral Scholars & Research Scientists

  • Aaron Lin - Scientist, Metagenomi

  • Mark Politz - Scientist, Benson Hill

  • Michael Rowse - Biology Faculty, IUPUC

Undergraduates

  • Ben Bremer - Researcher, Ascidian Therapeutics

  • Emily Hinds - Graduate Student, University of Chicago

  • Haiyang Zheng - Graduate Student, Baylor College of Medicine

  • Sarah Fahlberg - AI/ML Researcher, Nimble Therapeutics

Visiting Scholars

  • Sarah Fahlberg

Masters Students

  • Jerry Duan

  • Trent Hinkle- Researcher, Genentech

  • Kane Nania

  • Apoorv Saraogee - Researcher, Zymergen