We take pride in being an interdisciplinary, collegial, collaborative, and diverse group of scientists.

If you’re interested in joining us, please view the Contact page.

The group holding up paintings they did of jellyfish
The group plus some partners, dogs, and kids standing together in our research building.
The group standing inside on the stairs of our building.
The group plus partners and kids at a retreat dinner
Esther and Robyn celebrating their successes with cake!
The group standing on the stairs outside a Rice building
Smiling headshot of Caroline Ajo-Franklin in a lab with many wires, wearing a blue dress with a pink cardigan.

Dr. Caroline Ajo-Franklin, Primary Investigator

I lead a group that forges new understanding and engineering strategies to interface microorganisms and materials. READ MORE

BioElectricians

&

BioMaterialists

Please click on headshots to learn more about our team and their projects.

Headshot of Jayashree in front of flowers
Dr. Jayashree Soman

Lab Manager Extraordinaire

Profile photo of Biki Kundu in a tan blazer in front of a brick wall.
Biki Kundu

Synthetic metabolism & respiration

Olivia sitting on a bench in front of a campus wearing a blue Spelman scarf
Olivia Suggs

Fundamental assembly of Engineered Living Materials

Headshot of Marimikel Charrier who has brown and green hair in a jean jacket with funny pins
Marimikel Charrier

Extracellular structures for materials

Headshot of Tianmin wearing a red striped shirt and a straw hat.
Tianmin Yang

Environmental cell signalling

Headshot of Matt Carpenter in a black suit with a blue checked shirt and blue tie
Matthew Carpenter

Electron transfer for biosensing

Headshot of Bobby Tesoriero in a tux
Bobby Tesoriero
Headshot of Sizhe wearing a grey jacket and standing in front of a snowy mountain range.
Sizhe Liu

Synthetic biology engineer

Headshot of Robyn Alba in a dark sweater against a blue fence
Robyn Alba

Bioelectronics & Biosensors

Headshot of Siliang Li in blue winter coat against a snowy forest
Dr. Siliang Li

Probiotic diagnostics & therapeutics

Headshot of Marko wearing a coat and hoodie in front of a blue sky.
Dr. Marko Chavez

Characterizing bioelectronic materials

Headshot of Ha Chau Chloe Nguyen wearing a blue blouse on a white background
Ha Chau (Chloe) Nguyen

Engineered Living Materials

Headshot of Carol De Groote Tavares in a red graduation cap
Carol De Groote Tavares

Electrogenetics in L. plantarum

Headshot of Chris Geiger sitting outside in a dark blue shirt
Dr. Chris Geiger

Tracking electrons within & between microbes

Nicole Harris smiling in a headshot with her hair up, wearing a blue plaid blazer and a white collared shirt
Nicole Harris

Engineering & characterizing living materials

Graphic of a black cell with wifi signal coming out of it.

Cartoon of a cell with an electrical signal through it on a grey spot

Headshot of Wen-Chia holding up a peace sign
Wen-Chia Chen

Syn Bio, Bioelectronic pathway, & Microbiology

Cartoon of two cells connected by squiggle lines and arrows through it on a grey spot

Cartoon of four cells connected with dotted lines on a grey spot

Picture of nine people from Caroline Ajo-Franklin's group in the early days at the Molecular Foundry

Alumni