Welcome: Shreya, Deniz, Adrian

We are excited to host our first set of rotation students from the Bioengineering PhD program (Shreya, Deniz), who will be with us for the winter quarter. We are also excited to welcome Adrian Gardar Lopez as a visiting PhD student from the Cruz-Morales lab at DTU Biosustain, who will be with us for the next three months (Jan-April). They will all work on our new project developing and applying synthetic biology tools in edible mushrooms.

Welcome: Peter!

We are excited that our first PhD student has joined the lab: Peter Allen from the Stanford Biology Program. Peter has a background in mammalian cell engineering but has fallen in love with the beautiful world of fungi! Looking forward to seeing what Peter cooks up over the next several years!

Lucky us… read more below:

Peter began his research career as a technician in the Manguso Lab at the Broad Institute in Cambridge, MA, where he developed novel cell engineering therapies to treat cancer. At Stanford, Peter was inspired by the transformative potential of synthetic biology to tackle major challenges posed by the climate crisis. Drawn to fungi for their fascinating blend of basic biology and practical applications, he joined the Hill-Maini Lab. Peter is passionate about developing synthetic biology tools to unlock the untapped functional diversity of the fungal kingdom, with a focus on enabling fine-tuned control over hyphal structure using optogenetic tools. Outside the lab, Peter enjoys reading classic novels, embarking on long backpacking adventures, and perfecting his cooking skills. His favorite mushroom is Podoserpula pusio, the Pagoda Fungus, admired for the stunning multi-tiered fruiting bodies that inspire its name

Hill-Maini Lab is live

Exciting times… our lab at Stanford is live! While we await construction to be completed in the Clark Center, we are temporarily housed in the Shriram center. We got some great used equipment at a local garage sale.