Kalkreuter Lab

Undergraduate Researcher

Lauren Duenas

Lauren Duenas, a fourth-year student from the suburbs of Chicago, IL, is currently pursuing her Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry. Her past research in molecular biology was centered on the engineering of Cas9 proteins to enhance their efficiency and functionality. Lauren is passionate about exploring biological chemistry and eager to contribute to advancements in drug discovery.

Graduate Researcher

Micah Harris

Micah is a first-year graduate student from Melbourne, Florida. He received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of South Florida in 2024 where he performed undergraduate research on discovery of deep-sea natural products.

Graduate Researcher

Asher Paul

Asher is a first-year graduate student from Mumbai, India. He received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry with a minor in microbiology in 2021 and Masters degree in Chemistry from Institute of Chemical Technology in 2023 where he did a review on synthesis of nucleic acid related products. He is interested in the biosynthesis of natural products and the enzymology associated with them.

Graduate Researcher

Ben Sweeney

Ben Sweeney is a first year graduate student from Chicago, Illinois. He graduated from Northern Illinois University in 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry where he performed undergraduate research on macular degeneration. He is especially interested in protein engineering and drug discovery.

Undergraduate Researcher

Maynor Zeron

Maynor Zeron was born and raised in Miami. He is Majoring in Biochemistry with the hopes of one day obtaining a Ph.D. in Biochemistry.

Join Us!

We are actively recruiting exceptional undergraduate and graduate students as well as postdocs to join the lab!

Areas include:

Synthetic Biology

Chemical Biology

Natural Products

Protein Engineering

Enzymology

Microbiology

Bioinformatics

Structural Biology

Postdoctoral candidates:

Send a cover letter, a CV, a writing sample, and the names of three recommenders.

Graduate students:

Reach out directly to schedule a meeting to discuss if and only if you have already been accepted into the program.

If you have not joined the department, please send an application to the department. I cannot directly accept students.

Undergraduate students:

Send a cover letter and a transcript.