Group Leader
Professor Garg received a Bachelors in Engineering in Biotechnology from University Institute of Technology and Masters in Science from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. During her masters, she spent several months in Berlin, Germany while conducting research with Professor Marion Ansorge Schumacher at Technical University, Berlin as an DAAD Fellow. Garg obtained her Ph.D. in 2013 from the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign under the direction of Professor Wilfred A. van der Donk and Professor Satish Nair. She then joined Professor Pieter C Dorrestein's research laboratory as a postdoctoral research associate at the University of California, San Diego. Garg joined the faculty at GeorgiaTech in 2017.
Graduate Students
Jiangpeiyun (Joy) Jin is from Chengdu, China. She graduated with a BS in Mathematics and Chemistry from Gordon College. She is currently a fourth-year graduate student in the Chemistry and Biochemistry PhD program. Joy is interested in solving biological problems using analytical chemistry skills. She is currently studying metabolomic features of cystic fibrosis associated pathogens.
Alex Doty is from Gainesville, GA, and graduated with a BS in Biochemistry with a minor in Mathematics from College of Charleston. After graduation he worked as an ORISE fellow and Battelle contractor at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A CDC he was involved in monitoring trans fatty acids using mass spectrometry, method development for top-down analysis of parathyroid hormone via mass spectrometry, and quantification of various protein hormones with chemiluminescent immunoassays. Alex is currently interested in studying metabolites associated with coral reef disease and elucidating the small molecule mediated communication between corals and endosymbiotic algae using untargeted tandem mass spectrometry.
Mónica Monge Loría is from Costa Rica. She graduated with a BS in Chemistry from UCR, Rodrigo Facio. She is currently a third-year graduate student in the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department. Mónica is studying metabolites associated with the coral holobiont using analytical chemistry tools.
Atharva Kulkarni is from India and graduated with a B.Tech in Pharmaceutical Technology from the Institute of Chemical Technology. He is currently a second-year graduate student in the Chemistry and Biochemistry PhD program. His interests lie in studying the metabolic environment born out of the complex interactions in microbial communities.
Daniel Hicks is from Macon, Georgia and graduated with a BS in Biochemistry from Georgia Institute of Technology. He is currently a first-year graduate student in the Chemistry and Biochemistry PhD program. He is interested in studying host microbiome interactions during bacterial infection using analytical chemistry techniques.
Eunice A. Lazau is from Buford, Georgia, and graduated with a BS in Biochemistry from Georgia Institute of Technology. After graduating, she worked as an ORISE fellow at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analyzing cardiovascular biomarkers using mass spectrometry. She is currently a second-year graduate student in the Chemistry and Biochemistry PhD program. Eunice is interested in using analytical chemistry to unveil intricate biological mechanisms and improve human health.
Undergraduate Students
Gabriel Foster is from Cedartown, Georgia, and is currently pursuing a degree in Biochemistry. His interest in chemistry is a result of his love of nature and his curiosity to learn how it all functions. When he isn’t studying, you can usually find Gabriel writing or exploring nature.
Former members
Graduate Students
Dr. Jessica Deutsch is from Naperville, IL, and graduated with a BS in Biochemistry from the University of Notre Dame. At ND she worked on the detection of glycolytic metabolites and modifying membranes for protein purification under the direction of Dr. Zachary Schultz and Dr. Merlin Bruening. She received her PhD in Chemistry and Biochemistry in 2024. In the Garg lab, she studied the small molecule mediated cross-talk between microbial communities in coral reef disease.
Dr. Nicole Aiosa is from Jacksonville, Florida and graduated with a BS in Biology and a minor in Chemistry from the University of South Florida. She received her PhD in Chemistry and Biochemistry in 2024. In her time at the Garg Lab, Nikki studied the interaction between the host microbiome and Burkholderia during infection. She is currently
an LDP at BASF.
Dr. Andrew McAvoy is research scientist from LaBelle, Florida. He completed his BS in Microbiology and Cell Science at the University of Florida and received his PhD in Chemistry and Biochemistry from Georgia Tech in 2023. In his time at the Garg lab, he use analytical chemical methods to study complex biological systems, such as the lung microbiome of CF patients.
Dr. Ipsita Mohanty is from India and completed her Bachelors and Masters in Chemistry from IIT Kharagpur in 2017. Currently, she is a fifth-year PhD Candidate in the Chemistry and Biochemistry PhD program and is working towards using a integrative ‘-Omics’ approach to study marine natural products in Agarwal Lab and Garg Lab. She is also interested in understanding how these bioactive molecules are naturally synthesized by the sponge host and it's associated microbes. She is excited to work on this harmonious integration of biology and chemistry.
Thomas Cantrell is from Atlanta Georgia. He has a diverse background in research including work in prebiotic organic synthesis, astrobiology, microfluidics, and in situ cell culturing. He loves bringing his background in biochemistry, engineering and computer programming to the table while solving new and exciting questions in the field of small molecule natural product research. Moving forward, he would like to establish himself in this field and develop technical expertise that will facilitate a future in understanding marine microbial communities, bioprospecting of novel antibiotics, industrially relevant thermostable enzymes and other biotechnologies.
Postdoctoral Research Scientists
Hanan Albataineh is from Jordan and has a BS degree in Pharmacy and an MS degree in Pharmacognosy from the Jordan University of Science and Technology. In 2017, Hanan joined the lab of Prof. Dr. D. Cole Stevens at the University of Mississippi, where she investigated the chemical space and biosynthetic potential of different predatory myxobacteria. Hanan joined the Garg lab in 2022 to study bacterial-algal chemical interactions by applying untargeted LC-MS metabolomics techniques.
Dr. Olakunle A. Jaiyesimi is a Pharmacist from Nigeria. He obtained a Master degree in Pharmacognosy in 2015 from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria and a PhD in 2019 from the University of Sao Paulo in Ribeirão Preto, Brasil under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Leonardo Gobbo Neto. Having studied the application of untargeted metabolomics to the discovery of bioactive natural products, he joined the Garg Lab in 2019 to study the chemical interactions between microorganisms and their hosts using metabolomics and transcriptomics approaches in coral reef diseases and human infectious diseases.
Undergraduate Students
Paxton Threatt is from St. Augustine, Florida, and he is a chemistry major with a Pre-Health concentration. His interest in chemistry stems from his curiosity in how the world operates on a molecular level. Paxton is currently examining the genotype corresponding to specific microbial interactions of bacteria strains derived from cystic fibrosis patients.
David Fogg is from Minneapolis, MN. He is a senior Biochemistry major is currently in the process of applying to medical school. David also does Army ROTC, tutors and is an undergraduate TA. Currently, David is studying the metabolomic differences between clinically obtained and naturally occurring strains of bacteria.
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Tyler Seladi was born & raised in Canton, Georgia. His major is biochemistry with a business option. Tyler is interested in studying the pharmaceutical side of chemical studies. Tyler is working to investigate the community interactions and the associated genotypes, chemotypes and phenotypes of the microbial isolates from the cystic fibrosis patients. |
Research Experiences for Undergraduate (REU) program students
Leah Hampton, originally from Houston, Texas, is currently pursuing a degree in Chemistry at Emory University. At Emory, Leah serves as an undergraduate teaching assistant in an Organic Chemistry Lab where she assists students in understanding mass spectrometry among other concepts. Leah is thrilled to learn more about the uses of analytical chemistry and hopes to one day pursue a PhD as well as a JD to study intellectual property law.
James Westphalen is currently pursuing degrees in Marine Biology and Chemistry at Roger Williams University. At Roger Williams, James works in the Aquatic Diagnostic Lab to identify pathogenic bacteria in oysters. He is interested to learn about the process of carrying out research projects in chemistry. He hopes to pursue a masters degree in Marine Biology.
High School Interns
Kseniya Spikina is a current senior at the Wheeler High School Center for Advanced Studies. She has had a love for science since middle school, but her passion for biochemistry and biology stems from her classroom experiences at Wheeler. Outside of school, Kseniya has dedicated a large portion of her time to co-founding the club, Future Physicians of America, which aims to expose high school students to the medical field, while providing meaningful service-learning opportunities with hospitals, nonprofits, and assisted living centers. Her future plans include majoring/minoring in psychology and biochemistry. She works jointly with Armando and Katie in the Garg Lab interrogating microbe-microbe interactions.