Olga Vinogradova

Background

I am a third year undergraduate in Chemical Engineering with an intended minor in Energy Engineering. I also have an interest in bioprocesses and bioengineering. I joined the lab in Spring 2015 and intend to stay here until I graduate. Originally, I hail from Russia and therefore I find that Pennsylvania does not have enough snow for my liking. In my free time, such as it is, I enjoy skiing, hiking local trails, and exploring places in general.

Research Project

Currently, I am working on rebuilding the platform for membrane protein expression in Rhodobacter sphaeroides. In previous years, I have worked on biofilm formation and dispersal for Dr. Thomas Wood learning the tricks of the research trade. During summer 2014, I studied toxin antitoxin (TA) system Hha and TomB as a method for biofilm dispersal.

Olga completed here honors thesis entitled “Improving Membrane Protein Expression In Rhodobacter Sphaeroides”, May 2016. She is running off to China and then visiting relatives in Russia, before coming back to consolidate the materials from this project to send them to her mentor Mustafa Erbakan, who is continuing his research as a faculty member in Turkey.