People

Principal Investigator

Dr. Sergio Muñoz-Gómez
samunozg{at}purdue[dot]edu

EMBO Postdoctoral Fellow (2021-2022), Université Paris-Saclay, France.
Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (2013-2018), Dalhousie University, Canada.
B.Sc. Honors in Biology (2007-2013), Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia.

Sergio is an evolutionary microbiologist and cell biologist whose main interests revolve around understanding the origin and diversification of eukaryotic cells and their symbiotic organelles. See my CV here.

Postdoctoral Researchers

Dr. Shahed U. A. Shazib
sshazib{at}purdue[dot]edu

Postdoctoral Scholar (2022-2023), The Ohio State University, USA.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2020-2022), Smith College, USA.
Research Professor (2017-2020), University of Ulsan, South Korea.
Ph.D in Biology (2011-2017), University of Ulsan, South Korea.
B.Sc & M.Sc in Microbiology (2006-2010), University of Chittagong, Bangladesh.

Shahed is an evolutionary cell biologist. His research aims to explicate the evolution of eukaryotes, and microbial interactions through single-cell omics and phylogenetic reconstruction. At the ECSO lab, Shahed will work on the origin and evolution of eukaryotes and their organelles. See Dr. Shazib’s personal website here.

Dr. Dongseok Kim
kim4472{at}purdue[dot]edu

M.Sc & Ph.D in Biological Sciences (2017-2023), University of Sungkyunkwan, South Korea.
B.Sc. in Biological Sciences and Computer Engineering (2010-2017), University of Sungkyunkwan, South Korea.

Dongseok is an evolutionary biologist with a primary focus on unraveling the evolutionary questions of eukaryotic cells. His research encompasses a wide range of techniques, including genomics and various wet laboratory experiments, all aimed at addressing fundamental questions related to the origin of life and the evolution of complex cellular structures. See Dr. Kim’s CV here.

Dr. Sandra Gomez Gutierrez
sgomezgu{at}purdue[dot]edu

Ph.D. in Plant Pathology – Concentration in Computation for Life Science (2019-2025), Purdue University, USA.
B.Sc. in Agronomic Engineering (2013-2018), Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Colombia.

Sandra is a plant pathologist and computational biologist with a primary interest in studying the evolutionary history of nascent genes and their implications for adaptation in microbial populations. At the ECSO Lab, she will investigate the energetic costs associated with the origin of new genes to better understand the short- and long-term evolutionary consequences of increased cellular complexity.

Dr. Megan Sorensen

EMBO & MSCA Postdoctoral Fellow (2022-2025) Heinrich-Heine University, Germany.
Postdoctoral Researcher (2020-2022) Stockholm & Uppsala University, Sweden.
PhD (2015-2020) University of Sheffield, UK.
MSc by Research (2014-2015), University of York, UK.
BA Natural Sciences (2010-2013) University of Cambridge, UK.

Megan is an evolutionary biologist whose research interests are primarily focused on the evolution of photosynthetic endosymbioses and organelles. Her research utilises protist systems that can provide exciting insights into these evolutionary transitions.

Research Assistants

Penelope Vu, MSc
vu22{at}purdue[dot]edu

MSc in Botany and Plant Pathology (2019-2022), Purdue University, USA.
BSc in Crop Sciences with Honors (2014-2019), Vietnam National University of Agriculture, Vietnam.
YSEALI Academic Fellow in Environmental Issues (2017), University of Hawai’i, USA.

Graduate Students

Ella Stone, BSc
egstone{at}purdue[dot]edu

B.Sc. in Microbiology with Honors (2020-2024), Purdue University, USA.

Ella is a microbiologist whose research focuses on the costs and benefits of phagocytosis in prokaryotic versus eukaryotic cells. She’s very excited to learn a large variety of new techniques in the ECSO lab. Outside of the lab, she loves to rock climb, play board games, and chill with her two cats.

Matheus Sanita Lima, MSc
msanital{at}purdue[dot]edu

Matheus Sanita Lima is a 4th-year PhD candidate at the Smith Lab, Western University (London, Canada). He studies organelle genome evolution across the eukaryotic tree of life. He investigates how/whether the pervasive transcription of organelle noncoding DNA can be interpreted as an evolutionary force shaping organelle genomes. He is a Visiting Scholar at the ECSO Lab through the MITACS Globalink Research Award and the NSERC International Alliance (Catalyst grant modality). He is the host of WBESS - Western Biology Evolution Seminar Series.

Undergraduate Students

Betsy Varghese
bvarghe{at}purdue[dot]edu

Purdue University (2023 - Present)
Ivy Tech Community College (2021 - 2022)

Oakley Harrison
oaharris{at}purdue[dot]edu

Purdue University (2021 - Present)

Allison Clark
clark870{at}purdue[dot]edu

Purdue University (2024 - Present)

Former Lab Members

Konrad Schwartz
schwarkc{at}purdue[dot]edu

B.Sc. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (2019-2023), Centre College, USA.