Macrobes

We are!

The Macrobe + microbe interaction lab in the Department of Biology at the Pennsylvania State University. We use a combination of wet lab and computational approaches to understand what determines microbiome composition within a host, and how the relationship between the host and the microbiome affects host health and evolution.

Emily Davenport
Assistant Professor
Department of Biology
Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences and Institute for Computational and Data Sciences

Office: 305 Wartik Laboratory, Penn State University

Robert Nichols
USDA NIFA Postdoctoral Fellow [January 2020 - ]
Department of Biology

Office: 306 Wartik Laboratory, Penn State University

Davenport Lab publications:
- The relationship between the gut microbiome and host gene expression: a review. Human Genetics

Nur Shahir
Postdoctoral Fellow [June 2020 - ]
Department of Biology

Office: 306 Wartik Laboratory, Penn State University

Erica Ryu
PhD Student [February 2020 - ]
Department of Biology

Office: 306 Wartik Laboratory, Penn State University
Awarded the Dr. John Randall Shuman Troxell Memorial Scholarship in Biology (2022)
Awarded the J. Ben and Helen D. Memorial Fund Award (2022)
NSF GRFP Honorable Mention (2021)
NIH T32 CBIOS Training Grant Appointee (2021- 2022)

Davenport Lab publications:
- Host genetic determinants of the microbiome across animals: From Caenorhabditis elegans to cattle. Annual Review of Animal Biosciences
- Microbiome: Taming the beasts inside. eLife

Polina Tikhonova
PhD Student [March 2022 - ]
Bioinformatics and Genomics Interdisciplinary Program

Office: 306 Wartik Laboratory, Penn State University

Sean O’Rourke
Undergraduate Researcher [January 2021 - May 2021]
Technician [June 2021 - ]
Major: Biology - Neuroscience option

Office: 306 Wartik Laboratory, Penn State University

Aureo Zanon Undergraduate Researcher [July 2021 - ]
Major: Biology and Statistics; Minor: Math
Office: 306 Wartik Laboratory, Penn State University
Erickson Discovery Grant Awardee 2022

Meera Gupta Undergraduate Researcher [October 2021 - ]
Major: Accelerated Premedical-Medical Program
Office: 306 Wartik Laboratory, Penn State University

Mansi Chandra Undergraduate Researcher [June 2022 - ]
Juniata College, Major: Bioinformatics
Office: 306 Wartik Laboratory, Penn State University

Shanisa McGuire Undergraduate Researcher [June 2022 - ]
Major: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Molecular and Cellular Biology
Office: 306 Wartik Laboratory, Penn State University

You?
The lab is seeking undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate researchers. See the Openings page for more details.

Alumni

Yiyan Zhang
Undergraduate Researcher [January 2021 - July 2021]
Majors: Statistics - Biostatistics, Mathematics - System Analysis

Office: 306 Wartik Laboratory, Penn State University

Kyrah Williams Undergraduate Researcher [May 2021 - August 2021]
Major: Biology - Genetics

Office: 306 Wartik Laboratory, Penn State University

Jovial Joseph
Undergraduate Researcher [January 2021 - May 2022]
Major: Accelerated PreMedical-Medical Program

Office: 306 Wartik Laboratory, Penn State University
Eberly Undergraduate Research Support Awardee