The University of Washington’s Institute for Molecular Engineering and Sciences recognized outstanding graduate students in the spring with distinguished dissertation, scientific achievement and service awards. The awards were presented at the MolES graduation ceremony in June, where our Ph.D. graduates were also celebrated.
Distinguished Dissertation Awards
Sarah Wait, advised by Professor of Bioengineering Andre Berndt, was recognized for groundbreaking work in molecular biosensor engineering. Her dissertation tackled the longstanding challenge of efficiently exploring the vast sequence space of fluorescent sensor proteins to identify gain-of-function mutations. These biosensors are vital for monitoring calcium dynamics in live cells and organisms.
“Sarah’s work completely upended this approach,” Berndt said, “it replaced years of incremental progress with a transformative strategy.”
Ryan Cardiff, co-advised by Professor of Chemical Engineering James Carothers, was honored for his research in synthetic biology and metabolic engineering.
“Ryan’s achievements are academically inspiring and carry transformative implications for sustainable bioproduction,” Carothers said.
An honorable mention went to Marti Tooley, from Professor of Biochemistry Neil King’s lab, for a dissertation that advanced protein nanoparticle design. King said Tooley’s work demonstrated that icosahedral protein nanoparticles could be developed as an adjuvant material, expanding their potential beyond serving as vaccine platforms.
Scientific Achievement Awards
Ben Nguyen, who worked in Professor of Bioengineering and MolES Director Suzie Pun and Professor of Bioengineering Pat Stayton’s Labs, contributed to projects spanning immune modulation, kidney therapy, cancer therapy, and hemostasis. His advisors said they appreciated Nguyen’s “novel bioconjugation strategies” and his role as a mentor who trained younger scientists.
Justin Lee, also advised by Berndt, was honored for his innovative biosensor research and for developing open-source tools for reproducible analysis. Among his contributions was the development of two advanced hydrogen peroxide biosensors, providing new insights into redox biology.
Service Award
Ariel Lin, was recognized for her mentorship of undergraduate researchers and her work on the MolES outreach committee. “Her enthusiasm for research is contagious,” said her advisor, Professor of Chemistry Ashleigh Theberge.
The awards reflect the breadth of discovery, innovation, and mentorship taking place across UW’s MolES community.
The following students completed their Molecular Engineering PhDs during the ’24-’25 academic year:
Graduates:
•Ryan Cardiff, advised by James Carothers and Jesse Zalatan. His thesis, “Metabolic engineering tolls for sustainable bioproduction in bacterial systems,” was completed in the spring of 2025.
•Ellie James, advised by Abhi Nath and Mike Guttman. Her thesis, “Biophysical and mechanistic impacts of small molecule polyanionic aggregation modulators on tau4RD,” was completed in the spring of 2025.
•Justin Daho Lee, advised by Andre Berndt. His thesis, “Optogenetic protein sensors for spatiotemporally resolved observation of H2O2 in biological systems,” was completed in the spring of 2025.
•Yulai Liu, advised by David Baker and William Catterall. His thesis, “Bottom-up design of calcium channels from selectivity filters,” was completed in the fall of 2024.
•Cassandra Maranas, advised by Jennifer Nemhauser. Her thesis, “Variety is the spice of life: engineering tools for visualizing transcriptional heterogeneity and its effect on cell differentiation in Arabidopsis,” will be completed in the summer of 2025.
•Ben Nguyen, advised by Suzie Pun and Pat Stayton. His thesis, “Multiscale drug delivery challenges for cancer immunotherapy,” was completed in the winter of 2025.
•Marti Tooley, advised by David Baker. Her thesis, “Building and utilizing protein-based nanoparticles to modulate immune pathways,” was completed in the spring of 2025.
•Sarah Wait, advised by Andre Berndt. Her thesis, “Applications of machine learning in the optimization of genetically encoded optogenetic sensors,” was completed in the winter of 2025.