Alumni - Voiniciuc Lab

Previous members at UF

If you are looking for current team members: click here.

Kathryn DeLuca

Position: Undergraduate research scholar (2023.10 – 2025.08)

Next Position: Junior Potato Breeder at Ohalo Genetics

🏆UF/IFAS Research Internship awardee and UF Scholars Program (2024-2025)

Kate joined us from the Biological Engineering program at UF and transferred to Plant Sciences after discovering a passion for Plant Biotechnology. She worked on several projects, including the production of novel antibacterial treatments.

Kathryn DeLuca - Undergraduate Research Intern

Lianna Larson

Position: Undergraduate research assistant (2022.08 to 2025.08)

🏆UF/IFAS Research Internship (2024-2025) awardee

Lianna was a valuable member of the Voiniciuc lab since her first semester at the University of Florida. She contributed to biological automation using the BOTany Foundry and the initial characterization of a novel peel1 mutant in Arabidopsis.

Hannah Zheng

Position: Undergraduate research assistant (2024.05 – 2025.08)

Next Position: UF College of Medicine physician shadowing; also started a nonprofit

Hannah joined our lab as a rising second-year Biology major at the University of Florida, with a passion for genetic innovations and their applications for sustainability. She delved into the intricate world of genetic design and its implications, providing valuable assistance to Talia Jacobson and to the Biofoundry.

Hannah Zheng - Undergraduate Research Intern

Ryan T. Cantrell

Position: Undergraduate student (Microbiology and Cell Science); Internship (2023.10-11); Undergraduate research credits (2024.08 – 2024.12)

Next Position: 🏆 2025 IFAS Summer Research Internship (UF Indian River REC)

Ryan completed a 4-week internship as a first-year microbiology and statistics major in the Fall of 2023. He assisted with molecular biology and yeast genetic engineering experiments and returned in fall of 2024 to work yeast glycoengineering through gene editing.

Outside the lab: Exploring the outdoors and a playing guitar.

John Williams

Position: PMCB Program Ph.D. Rotation (2024.08 – 2024.11)

Next position: Ph.D. Rotation with in the Nadakuduti lab (Environmental Horticulture)

John earned his BSc in Plant Science from the University of Florida, driven by a strong interest in biotechnology and plant breeding. He worked in peach and citrus breeding as a tissue culture technician and later contributed to maize genetics research. After graduation, he expanded his molecular biology experience as a technician in the Department of Oral Biology, before returning to plant sciences in the Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology program to pursue crop improvement through biotechnology.

Jon Golan

Position: Genetics and Genomics Program Ph.D. Rotation (2024.08 – 2024.10)

Next Position: PhD Student with Amor Menezes (College of Engineering)

🏆NSF GRFP Fellow

Jon was trained in entomology at the University of Georgia. While working in an aphid-symbiont lab, he developed my interest in microbiology and synthetic biology. He worked in the Voiniciuc lab for 8 weeks during his first rotation as a Ph.D. student in Genetics and Genomics.

Outside the lab: nature and reading

Victor Xu

Position: Visiting High School Student (2024.06 – 2024.10)

🏆Center for Precollegiate Training and Education (summer 2024)

Victor successfully completed a research exchange at the University of Florida on the automation of molecular biology procedures using liquid handling robots and won the Best Overall Poster Award at the closing ceremonies of the CPET (ufl.edu) program. Victor contributed some additional tasks towards Biofoundry while completing his high school degree in Canada in the fall of 2024.

Ania M. Granadino

🔊 (AHN-yah Gran-ah-dee-noh)

Position: Visiting Scholar (2024.01- 2024.04)

Next position: M.Sc. in Horticulture Science at the University of Georgia

Ania joined us as for a full-time research internship as a fourth year Agricultural Science and Production at Zamorano University. She aimed to broaden her knowledge of genetically modified organisms and plant molecular biology, exploring how this can be a valuable asset in addressing challenges related to agriculture.

Outside the lab: horseback riding and reading.

Yunhan Wang

Position: PMCB program Ph.D. rotation (2023.11 – 2024.02)

Next position: Ph.D. student in the Wang Lab (Plant Pathology)

Yunhan joined us for a 3-month rotation after completing her B.Sc. in Forest Science (University of British Columbia, 2020-2023), following a Bachelor of Agriculture in Forestry (Nanjing Forestry University, 2017-2020). She worked on bioengineering antimicrobial peptides in yeast.

Outside the Lab: watching concerts, detective novels

Madalen Robert

Position: Ph.D. Student (IPB Halle, Germany) and DAAD Visiting Scholar at UF (2020.02 – 2023.07)

Next Position: Sales and Scientific Advisor with Biotrend (CliniSciences Group)

Madalen developed carbohydrate binding modules (CBM) as tools for designer cell walls and now works in the industry.

Read more about the DAAD: German Academic Exchange Service

Samarth Raipal

Position: OPS Automation Assistant (2023.05- 2023.06)

As a Computer Science master’s student at the University of Florida, Samarth assisted us with the initial setup of the Opentrons OT-2 hardware and protocols.

Elyse Winne

Position: B.Sc. Student Internship and Supervised Research Credits (2022.09 – 2023.05)

Next position: UF/IFAS Summer Research Internship (Eric Triplett lab, UF) and OPS Research Assistant (Andrew Hanson lab, UF)

Elyse joined the lab as a third year B.Sc. in Microbiology student interested in using microorganisms as models for solving relevant issues in society. While working in the Designer Glycans lab, Elyse attended the 2023 NIAMRRE Annual Conference (Addressing the Gaps in Antimicrobial Resistance, AMR) and was awarded a competitive UF/IFAS Summer Research internship. In the future, she plans to pursue graduate studies and biological research in industry.

Read more about the paid UF/IFAS Summer Research program.

Lianna Larson

Position: B.Sc. Student Internship (2022.09 – 2023.05)

Lianna joined the lab as a first-semester B.Sc. Student in Biological Engineering and hopes to contribute to the development of biofuels. She contributed to the discovery and characterization of a new peeling walls mutant in Arabidopsis.

Julia Moncrieff

Position: B.Sc. Research Scholar and Supervised Research Credits (2022.09 – 2023.05)

Next position: Ph.D. student in Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of South Florida

🏆University Research Scholars Program First Semester Research Award

Julia joined us from the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Florida and aims to pursue a future career in biomedical research. She received the highly competitive URSP Research Award for her excellent work.

Alexa Young

Position: B.Sc. Student Internship (2023.01 – 2023.05)

Alexa spent a semester in our lab during the first year of her B.Sc. in Microbiology and Cell Science, minoring in Bioinformatics. She wants to learn more about the field of genetics and genetic engineering.

Dr. Fang Bai

Position: Biologist IV at UF (2022.09 – 2022.12)

Next position: Research Geneticist (USDA ARS)

Fang has been working on the genetic and epigenetic regulation of maize seed development in the Department of Horticultural Science since 2012 and assisted with the Designer Glycans lab start up at UF.

Publications: ResearchGate

Rafena Boyd

Position: B.Sc. Student Internship (2022.09 – 2022.12)

Rafena joined the Designer Glycans as a 4th year Microbiology and Cell Science B.Sc. student with a minor in African American Studies. Rafena gained experience with molecular biology, particularly cloning, and is interested to pursue a future career in medical pathology.

Tanya Lubbe

Position: B.Sc. Student Internship (2022.09 – 2022.10)

Tanya completed a short research internship as part of her third-year undergraduate studies in Microbiology and Cell Science. Tanya is interested in learning more about genetics and biochemistry, aiming to pursue graduate education abroad in the future in one of these fields.