Welcome Marissa!

We are so excited for our latest Life Science Research Professional, Marissa, to join. She is bringing 10+ years of experience with fungi and a deep passion for mycology! Can’t wait to learn from you!

Marissa is an enthusiastic bioscientist from Southern California. Passionate about all things mycology, she uncovered different architectures for the borosins, a family of autocatalytic α-N-methylated RiPPs first found in the jack-o-lantern mushroom (Omphalotus olearius), during her M.S. thesis work at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She explored high throughput methods, cell-free biosynthesis, and mutagenesis libraries as a train engineer at Zymergen, eXoZymes, and Anthology Biotechnologies. Recently, she worked with Pablo Cruz-Morales at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) to expand the molecular toolkit of Exophiala viscosa, and contributed to the basidiomycete strain collection via field sampling. Her favorite mushroom is Entoloma abortivum, a biocontrol basidiomycete parasitizing Armillaria hardwood pathogens and transforming them into the delicious “Shrimp-of-the-Woods”. She enjoys board games, brewing, swimming, and fungal forays. Marissa is excited to support the creation of a universal mushroom bioengineering toolkit here in the Hill-Maini lab!