Dr. Karmella A. Haynes, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
Assistant Professor, W. H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering
Emory University School of Medicine
Faculty, Winship Cell and Molecular Biology Research Program
Faculty, Georgia Tech Bioengineering Graduate Program
Faculty, Emory GDBBS Genetics and Molecular Biology Program
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), and received Color Magazine’s Women of Color: Innovator in STEM award (2021).
 | Dr. Natecia Williams, Ph.D. Senior Research Specialist B.A., Biochemistry (2004) Ph.D., Neuroscience (2013) ORCID |
 | James Harrison Priode Research Specialist I B.S., Biochemistry (2018) ORCID |
 | Dr. Cara Shields, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Research Fellow B.S., Molecular Biology (2016) Ph.D., Cancer Biology (2021) ORCID |
 | Kierra Franklin Graduate PhD Student, GA Tech/ Emory BME B.S., Chemical Engineering (2017) ORCID |
 | Seong Hu Kim Graduate PhD Student, GA Tech/ Emory BME B.S., Biomedical Engineering (2021) ORCID |
 | Lauren Hong Undergraduate Researcher, Georgia Tech BME Biomedical Engineering (c/o 2022) |
 | Maya Jaffe Undergraduate Researcher, Georgia Tech BME Biomedical Engineering (c/o 2023) |
Rotation Students – Spring 2022
No rotation students this semester
Haynes Group Yearbook – Alumni & Past Members
Emory & Georgia Tech: 2019 – present
 |  |  |
| Dr. Isioma Enwerem-Lackland Postdoc 2020-22 Biomed. Eng. 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 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 ORCID | Fatima Hamna Grad Student 2018 – 19 M.S. Biomed. Eng. 2019 Co-Author 2020 | Dr. Stefan Tekel Grad Student 2015-19 Ph.D. Biol. Design 2019 ORCID |
 |  |  |
| Daniel Vargas Graduate Student 2015-19 M.S. Biol. Design 2019 Co-Author 2018 | Jiaqi Wu UG Researcher 2015-18 B.S. Comp. Sci. 2018 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 Co-Author 2019 |
 |  |  |
| 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 ORCID |
 |  |  |
| Ernesto Luna Melendez UG Researcher 2016-17 B.S. Med. Biochem. 2017 Co-Author 2018 | David Nyer Research Tech 2014-17 1st Author 2017 | Jimmy Xu UG Researcher 2014-17 B.S. Biomed. Eng. 2018 ~~~ |
 |  |  |
| David Barclay UG Researcher 2013-16 B.S. Biomed. Eng. 2016 ~~~ | Brady Dennison UG Researcher 2016 B.S. Biomed. Eng. 2017 Co-Author 2018 | 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 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 Co-Author 2017 | Amanda Ispas UG Researcher 2012-13 B.S. Biomed. Eng. 2013 ~~~ | Dr. Brady Laughlin UG Researcher 2011-14 B.S. Biomed. Eng. 2014 ~~~ |
Haynes Lab | Emory 