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 his Ph.D. in 2013 from the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign under the direction of Professor Wilfred A. van der Donk. 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
Katie Kuo is from Palo Alto, CA and graduated with a BS in Chemistry from Emory University. She stayed as a lab technician for three years, working under Professor Dennis Liotta in his drug development lab. She is currently a first year graduate student in the Chemistry and Biochemistry PhD program with a focus in chemical biology. Katie is working on elucidating the small molecules that mediate the microbe-microbe interactions in bacteria isolated from patients with Cystic Fibrosis (CF). She hopes to characterize chemotype to phenotype and phenotype to genotype relationships mediating the community interactions of microbial community inhabiting the lungs of CF-afflicted patients under physiologically relevant conditions.
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.
Andrew McAvoy is from LaBelle, Florida, and graduated with a BS in Microbiology and Cell Science from the University of Florida. After graduating from UF, he continued to work under Dr. Janet Yamamoto for a year and a half as a lab technician assisting with a pre-clinical vaccine trial for FIV (feline immunodeficiency virus). He is currently a first year graduate student in the Chemistry and Biochemistry PhD program. Andrew is interested in learning how to use analytical chemical methods to tackle complex biological problems.
Undergraduate Students
Apurva Routhu is from Lawrenceville, Georgia, and she is pursuing a degree in biochemistry at Georgia Tech. She's always enjoyed studying chemistry and learning about how the world works, and she hopes investigating life's mysteries has a place in her future. Outside of science, she loves to read classic literature and to dance. Apurva is studying biosynthesis of small molecule natural products from Cystic Fibrosis-associated human microbiome
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.
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 with Katie to investigate the community interactions and the associated genotypes, chemotypes and phenotypes of the microbial isolates from the cystic fibrosis patients.
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. Her love for learning has inspired her to take several challenging courses, including Magnet Biochemistry, Magnet Chemistry, AP Biology, Post AP DNA and Genetics, and AP Calculus AB/BC. 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.