People

Dr. Karmella A. Haynes, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
Assistant Professor,
Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering
Emory University and Georgia Tech

Faculty Affiliations
Winship Cell and Molecular Biology Research Program
Georgia Tech Bioengineering Graduate Program
Emory GDBBS Genetics and Molecular Biology, Cancer Biology

Education
B.S., Biology, Florida A&M University (1999)
Ph.D., Molecular Genetics, Washington University in St. Louis (2006)

ORCID | SciENcv biosketch
E-mail
: kahayne at emory dot edu

Bio: Karmella Haynes is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Emory University. She earned her Ph.D. studying epigenetics and chromatin in Drosophila at Washington University, St. Louis. Postdoctoral fellowships at Davidson College and Harvard Medical School introduced her to synthetic biology. Her Davidson HHMI postdoc fellowship project on bacterial computers was recognized as “Publication of the Year” in 2008 by the Journal of Biological Engineering. Today, her research aims to apply the intrinsic properties of chromatin, the DNA-protein structure that packages eukaryotic genes, to engineer proteins and nucleic acids that control cell development. After Dr. Haynes joined the faculty at the Emory School of Medicine in 2019, she received an NIH R21 grant (2019) to develop new protein engineering and computational tools for cancer epigenetics, and launched the annual NSF-funded AfroBiotech conference series (2019). She is a founder and instructor of the Cold Spring Harbor Summer Course on Synthetic Biology (2013 – present), a member of the national Engineering Biology Research Consortium (EBRC, 2014 – present), past advisor and current Judge Emeritus for the annual International Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) competition (2007 – present), and a member of the NIH National Scientific Advisory Board for Biosecurity (2021). She was named one of 1000 Inspiring Black Scientists by Cell Mentor (Cell Press 2020), was a featured guest on PBS NOVA (2020) and PRI’s Science Friday (2016), was profiled in Forbes magazine (2020), received Color Magazine’s Women of Color: Innovator in STEM award (2021), and was elected into the 2023 American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows.

Kierra Franklin

Graduate PhD Student, GA Tech/ Emory BME
B.S., Chemical Engineering (2017)
Authorships | ORCID
 
Seong Hu Kim

Graduate PhD Student, GA Tech/ Emory BME
B.S., Biomedical Engineering (2021)
ORCID
Ranjit Pelia

Graduate PhD Student, Emory GMB
B.S., Biology (2017)
M.P.H., Public Health (2022)
ORCID
Maya Jaffe

Undergraduate Researcher, Georgia Tech BME
Biomedical Engineering (c/o 2023)
Authorships
Jedidah Titus

Undergraduate Researcher, Georgia Tech BME
Biomedical Engineering (c/o 2024)

Rotation Students – Summer 2023

No rotation students at this time.

Haynes Group Yearbook – Alumni & Past Members

Emory & Georgia Tech: 2019 – present

Dr. Natecia Williams
Assistant Scientist 2019-22
Biomed. Eng.
Authorships | ORCID
Dr. Cara E. Shields
PhD 2020-21, Postdoc 2021-22
Cancer Biol., Biomed. Eng
Authorships | ORCID
Lauren Hong
UG Researcher 2020-22
B.S. Biomed. Eng.
Authorships | ORCID
James Harrison Priode
Research Specialist I 2019-22
Biomed. Eng.
Authorships | ORCID
Dr. Isioma Enwerem-Lackland
Postdoc 2020-22
Biomed. Eng.
Authorships | ORCID
Melinda Yang
UG Researcher 2021
B.S. Biol. & Quant. Sci. 2022
~~~
Szeyu Tong
UG Researcher 2021
B.S. Biol. & Comp. Sci. 2024
ORCID
Chavis Ferguson
UG LGS-SOAR Fellow 2021
B.S. Engineering 2021
~~~
Paige Steppe
UG Researcher 2020-21
B.S. Chem. & Biomol. E. 2021
Authorships | ORCID
Tamara Lambert
Student Research Asst. 2019
Biomed. Eng.
~~~

Arizona State University: 2011 – 2019

Dr. Cassandra Barrett
Grad Student 2015-19
Ph.D. Biol. Design 2019
Authorships | ORCID
Fatima Hamna
Grad Student 2018 – 19
M.S. Biomed. Eng. 2019
Authorships
Dr. Stefan Tekel
Grad Student 2015-19
Ph.D. Biol. Design 2019
Authorships | ORCID
Daniel Vargas
Graduate Student 2015-19
M.S. Biol. Design 2019
Authorships
Jiaqi Wu
UG Researcher 2015-18
B.S. Comp. Sci. 2018
Authorships | ORCID
Jennifer DelGado
UG Researcher 2018
B.S. Forensic Science 2019
~~~
Morgan Milke
UG Researcher 2018
B.S. Biology 2021
~~~
Gabriela Palomo
UG Researcher 2018
B.S. Biology 2020
~~~
Christina Smith
UG Researcher 2017-18
B.S. Biology 2020
Authorships
Cassidy Slusser
UG Researcher 2018
B.S. Biology 2020
~~~
Luis Sanchez De La
Vegas Covarrubias

UG Researcher 2018-19
B.S. Gen.Cell&Dev.Bio. 2021
~~~
Dr. Rene Daer
Grad Student 2012-17
Ph.D. Biol. Design 2017
Authorships | ORCID
Ernesto Luna Melendez
UG Researcher 2016-17
B.S. Med. Biochem. 2017
Authorships
David Nyer
Research Tech 2014-17
Authorships
Jimmy Xu
UG Researcher 2014-17
B.S. Biomed. Eng. 2018
Authorships
David Barclay
UG Researcher 2013-16
B.S. Biomed. Eng. 2016
~~~
Brady Dennison
UG Researcher 2016
B.S. Biomed. Eng. 2017
Authorships
Theodore Kyriacou
UG Researcher 2016
B.S. Biomed. Eng. 2017
~~~
Jan Simper
UG Researcher 2014-16
B.S. Biomed. Eng. 2016
~~~
David Tze
UG Researcher 2015-16
B.S. Biomed. Eng. 2016
~~~
Cameron L. Gardner
UG Researcher 2014-15
B.S. Biomed. Eng. 2015
~~~
Ryan Muller
UG Researcher 2012-15
B.S. Biochem. 2015
Authorships | ORCID
Behzad Damadzadeh
Grad Student
M.S. Biomed. Eng. 2014
~~~
Dr. Hiram Rivera-Passapera
UG Researcher 2013-14
B.S. Biomed. Eng. 2014
~~~
Caroline Hom
UG Researcher 2011-13
B.S. Biomed. Eng. 2014
Authorships
Amanda Ispas
UG Researcher 2012-13
B.S. Biomed. Eng. 2013
~~~
Dr. Brady Laughlin
UG Researcher 2011-14
B.S. Biomed. Eng. 2014
~~~