CABBI Research

Conversion: Turning Plants into High-value Chemicals

The scientists in this theme will further develop a versatile, automated “biofoundry” for rapidly engineering microbial strains that can efficiently produce diverse, high-value molecules such as biodiesel, organic acids, jet fuels, lubricants, and alcohols. Using the design-build-test-learn framework, research in the Conversion theme will overcome the challenges associated with driving biological systems to produce non-natural compounds.

Check out a video of an integral part of the CABBI Conversion theme: the Illinois Biological Foundry for Advanced Biomanufacturing (iBioFAB) >>>

STRAIGHT FROM THE SCIENTISTS: Research Profiles Offer Insight into CABBI Work

Read Postdoc Arian Ghorbanpour’s research profile by Jenna Kurtzweil >>>

Read Postdoc Jing-Jing Liu’s research profile by Jordan Goebig >>>

Read Co-PI Yong-Su Jin’s research profile by Emily Scott >>>

Read Postdoc Tong Si’s research profile by Jordan Goebig >>>

Huimin Zhao: Theme Leader

Zhao, the Steven L. Miller Chair of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is also a Professor of Chemistry, Biochemistry, Physics, and Bioengineering. He has 17-plus years of experience directing research projects funded by DOE, NSF, NIH, DOD, the U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust, and various companies. His research develops and applies synthetic biology approaches to engineer functionally improved or novel proteins, pathways, and genomes. An expert in industrial biotechnology, Zhao received his Ph.D. in Chemistry in 1998 from the California Institute of Technology.

His Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering page >>>

His lab page >>>

Joshua Rabinowitz: Deputy Theme Leader

Rao, a Professor of Chemistry and the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics at Princeton University, is an expert in chemical biology. He aims to achieve a quantitative, comprehensive understanding of cellular metabolism as it relates to disease — as well as small molecules that can be the basis of many important pharmaceuticals and other biochemicals. His research is in technology development , metabolic regulation in model microorganisms , biofuel production, metabolic impact of viral and malaria infection , and cancer cell metabolism. Rabinowitz received his Ph.D. in Biophysics in 1999 at Stanford University.

His Chemistry page >>>

His lab page >>>

Christopher Rao: Deputy Theme Leader

Rao, a Professor and and Robert W. Schaefer Scholar of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, researches the rational engineering of non-model, living organisms for production of chemicals and fuels from plant biomass. His lab uses genetics, biochemistry, mass spectrometry, microscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance on the experimental side to bioinformatics, finite element analysis, molecular dynamics, and stochastic and multi-scale simulation on the modeling/theory side. He received his Ph.D. in 2000 in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.