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Barrick Lab :: Team

Past members of the Barrick lab      Interested in our research? Join Us

Principal Investigator

Lab Manager

Alexa Morton 🐿️ Lab Manager (07/2024 – present) Undergraduate Researcher (01/2023 – 05/2024) B.S. Biochemistry, University of Texas at Austin Email: alexa.morton@austin.utexas.edu Alexa completed her undergraduate honors thesis in the Barrick Lab after serving as a student leader of the 2023 UT iGEM team. As lab manager, she oversees day-to-day operations of the Barrick Lab, including daily transfers of the E. coli long-term evolution experiment (LTEE) and leading the undergraduate lab tech team. Her current research involves engineering bacteria to secrete antimicrobial peptides—particularly in the context of agricultural pathogen control and (more recently) the bee gut microbiome. When not hovering over a Bunsen burner or tracking down rogue shipments, Alexa enjoys audiobooks, hiking, going to the gym, and staring at random animals in nature.

Senior Researchers

Prof. Dennis Mishler ⚔ Assistant Professor of Practice and Research Educator for the Freshman Research Initiative (04/2013 – present) B.S. Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California at San Diego Ph.D. Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University Postdoc Emory University Dr. Mishler leads the "Microbe Hackers" undergraduate research lab and co-advises the UT Austin iGEM team with Professor Barrick. The Microbe Hackers most recent research has focused on "Caffeinated Coli", including a 2019 publication in AEM, among other projects. He is super proud of all of his students, but wants to give a shout out to the 2024 iGEM team members who were recognized with a Best Measurement award this past fall. Prior to coming to UT Austin, he worked in the fields of pre-mRNA splicing and synthetic riboswitches. He is an avid gamer and can be found regularly playing games throughout Austin. He annually attends the World Boardgaming Championships, where his main games include Here I Stand and Sekigahara

Dr. Lucio Navarro 🪲 Research Fellow (08/2023 – present) Jointly advised with Nancy Moran B.S. Biology, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Colombia. Ph.D. Entomology, Purdue University, Indiana. Lucio is a Molecular Entomologist with broad research interests in arthropod genomics, insect-microbial symbiosis and insect-plant molecular interactions. He currently works on developing symbiont-mediated RNAi to be used on various applications, including functional genomics and future insect pest management methods. In his free time, Lucio enjoys stargazing and playing on little projects with Raspberry Pi microcomputers.

Dr. Isaac Gifford 🐴 Research Associate (01/2025 – present) B.S. Microbiology, University of Texas at Austin Ph.D. Microbiology, University of California Davis Postdoc University of Texas at Austin Isaac’s primary research interests are the mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer and its role in genome evolution. He currently works with Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1 while his graduate work focused on molecular genetics of Frankia nitrogen-fixing symbioses. Isaac’s personal interests include game design and 21st century sequential art.

Postdoctoral Fellows

Dr. Patrick (PJ) Lariviere 🦉 Postdoctoral Fellow (08/2021 – present) Jointly advised with Nancy Moran B.A. Biochemistry, Bowdoin College Ph.D. Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Biology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine As a molecular microbiologist with industry experience, PJ is broadly interested in both studying and engineering biological systems involving bacteria. He is currently developing molecular tools for use in engineering symbionts of honey bees. Ultimately, PJ hopes these tools would be beneficial both in basic science research and real world applications, allowing for more robust study of bee genetics and protection against pathogens. PJ is also interested in studying the interaction between honey bees and their bacterial symbionts at a molecular scale. Outside of lab, PJ enjoys running, biking, playing/listening to music, and playing with his dog Duncan.

Dr. Korin Jones 🌔 Postdoctoral Fellow (09/2023 – present) Jointly advised with Nancy Moran B.A. Biology, Emory & Henry College Ph.D. Biology, Virginia Tech Korin is a microbial ecologist broadly interested in understanding the assembly of host associated microbial communities and the impacts that differences in community structure can have on hosts. He is currently exploring how differences in colonization timing interact with functional traits to determine strain-level competitive outcomes. He also has an interest in host specificity among closely related bacterial strains and how this influences differences in community composition between bumble bee and honey bee hosts. Korin’s hobbies include weightlifting, video games, and designing T-shirts and stickers.

Graduate Students

A H M Zuberi Ashraf 🐼 Microbiology Graduate Student (05/2022 – present) B.S. Biology (Biotechnology Concentration), Minor in Chemistry, Texas A&M University-Central Texas Email: ashraf.ahmz95@utexas.edu Zuberi is interested in evolution in symbionts and the different forces that drives it. He is currently working with the honeybee gut symbiont, Snodgrassella alvi. In the past, Zuberi worked as a MLS in a microbiology lab from Baylor Scott & White. During his undergraduate years, Zuberi studied the crop microbiome community in honeybees and how that affected honey composition. Outside of work, Zuberi loves to travel, go on hikes, and try the different types of food all over Austin

Anthony VanDieren 🦂 Microbiology Graduate Student (04/2023 – present) B.S.E.S. Entomology, University of Georgia B.S.A. Biological Science, University of Georgia B.S.A. Chemistry, University of Georgia Email: avandieren@utexas.edu Anthony is interested in insects and their corresponding symbionts which affect many aspects of their physiology. Currently, Anthony works with aphids and is attempting to engineer their vertically inherited symbionts. Before coming to UT, Anthony worked as an analytical chemistry lab technician for Henkel and served as a staff entomologist for the Cranbrook Institute of Science in Michigan. Anthony was also an undergraduate reasearcher working on kissing bugs and their gut symbionts. Anthony is a serious entomologist and enjoys finding, rearing, and preserving various exotic insects and arachnids when not in lab.

Tyler de Jong 🪗 Cell and Molecular Biology Graduate Student (01/2024 – present) B.S. Biochemistry, University of Texas at Austin Email: tylerdejong@austin.utexas.edu Tyler is interested in gene accordions: adaptation systems used by microbes to rapidly diversify and evolve genes via recombination-driven expansions and contractions.To characterize these systems, he is replicating the process through the directed evolution of fluorescent proteins in the naturally competent bacterium ADP1. Before starting graduate school, Tyler worked at a clinical reference lab processing COVID-19 tests and then as a research associate in Nancy Moran’s lab studying the honeybee gut microbiome. Outside of the lab, Tyler enjoys taking walks in Austin's different Greenbelts and hanging out with his cat.

Pranesh Rao 🐧 Cell and Molecular Biology Graduate Student (02/2024 – present) B.E. Biotechnology, Mumbai University M.S. Biotechnology, Texas A&M University - College Station Pranesh is interested in studying the omics of microbial evolution dynamics and developing computational/deep learning genomics research tools. He is currently working on studying evolution dynamics of LTEE E. coli populations using DNA barcoding and high-throughput sequencing techniques. He is also working on supplementing the breseq computational pipeline. Pranesh has experience working in the R&D of molecular diagnostics and carrier screening assays for genetic disorders at Asuragen (Bio-techne), Austin, TX. He is an avid soccer fan and spends a lot of his free time playing, watching or thinking about soccer (or football as he prefers to call it). He also enjoys hiking, biking, and occasionally painting/sketching.

Kathleen Sotelo 🐶 Microbiology Graduate Student (01/2025 – present) B.S. Biology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, University of Texas at Austin Email: ksot6127@utexas.edu Kathleen is interested in further studying symbionts found within insects and how they can influence their hosts. Currently she is working on genetically manipulating honeybee symbionts to secrete peptides that protect their host from pathogens. During and post-undergrad she worked in Nancy Moran’s lab where she aided in projects involving honeybee gut microbiome, took part in characterizing novel Orbaceae species found in the gut of Drosophila, and was in charge of lyophilizing bacterial strains utilized in previous work published by the lab. Outside of work her hobbies include reading, playing video games, and spending time with her dog.

Ira Zibbu 🐁 Cell and Molecular Biology Graduate Student (01/2025 – present) BS-MS in Biology with a minor in Data Science, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram Email: irazibbu@utexas.edu Personal Website: https://ira-zibbu.github.io/ Part evolution enthusiast, part computer nerd, Ira is broadly interested in combining the open-ended nature of experimental evolution with the power of next-generation sequencing and molecular biology to ask questions about how microbes evolve. At the Barrick Lab, she is working to understand how selection, mutation, contingency and drift interact to shape the structure and function of bacterial genomes, and how in turn certain genomic configurations can preclude or promote specific future evolutionary paths. In the context of the LTEE, Ira is looking at large scale genome rearrangements to understand how they evolved, and the effects they have had on the populations. As an undergraduate, Ira hopped around a lot, tinkering with projects on insect ecology, differential equation models of chemotaxis, synthetic biology, and machine learning for protein-ligand affinity predictions. Ira strongly believes that the scientific process benefits from removing barriers to participation, and has interests in teaching, mentoring and outreach. In her spare time, she likes going to the gym, biking on her beloved cycle, musical theater, philosophy of science, contemporary fiction and cooking.

Undergraduate Researchers

Meghna Vergis 🐰 Student Researcher (01/2024–present) B.S. Biology (in progress) I'm investigating how Acinetobacter baylyi strains interact with oil and evolving strains of A. baylyi BD4rev to be more efficient at consuming oil. I have been involved in the Microbe Hackers FRI stream for the past year, where I engineer the bacteria that live on blue-green algae to glow in the presence of water contaminants. I like listening to music, cooking, and doing crafts in my free time.

Krisha Chaudhari 🪼 Undergraduate Researcher (01/2023 – present) B.S. Computational Biology I am an undergraduate investigating effectiveness of novel antibacterial peptides and secretion of these peptides in insect gut symbionts to better understand peptide delivery in insect gut. I was also part of the 2023 iGEM team which introduced me to the world of research and how exciting it is. I am particularly interested in synthetic biology to create new functionalities or improve existing ones. When I am not in lab I like to try new foods and spending time with my cats.

Vibhav Iyengar 🦧 Undergraduate Researcher (01/2023 – present) B.S. Computational Biology and Plan II (in progress) I'm a senior majoring in Computational Biology and Plan II. I joined the Barrick Lab through the 2023 iGEM team and have since continued working on engineering bacteria to secrete, novel, antimicrobial peptides. Additionally, I'm working on bioinformatics research using Long-Term Evolution Experiment (LTEE) sequencing data to study E. coli ribosome evolution. In my free time, I enjoy traveling, road cycling and hanging out with my cat and dog.

Undergraduate Lab Technicians

Anna Grove 🙈 Undergraduate Lab Technician (07/2024 – present) B.S. Neuroscience and B.S. Physics (in progress) Anna is currently a 3rd year undergraduate student pursuing a B.S. in Neuroscience and B.S. in Physics at UT. She has particular interest the neurobiology of diseases and neuro regeneration. Outside of school she enjoys going to the gym, reading, and traveling.