People

Faculty

Rodolphe Barrangou

Todd R. Klaenhammer Distinguished Scholar in Probiotics Research

Hometown: Paris, France

Past Education: BS Biological Sciences, Rene Descartes University, Paris, France; MS Biological Engineering, University of Technology in Compiegne, France; MS Food Science, NC State University; PhD Functional Genomics, NC State University; MBA, Executive Business Administration, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Rodolphe has worked on beneficial microbes, focusing on the occurrence and diversity of lactic acid bacteria in fermented foods and as probiotics. Using functional genomics, he has focused on uncovering the genetic basis for health-promoting traits, including the ability to uptake and catabolize non-digestible carbohydrates. He spent 9 years at Danisco-DuPont, characterizing probiotics and starter cultures, and established the functional role of CRISPR-Cas, as adaptive immune systems in bacteria. He has focused on establishing the molecular basis for their mechanism of action, as well as developing and applying CRISPR-based technologies for genotyping, building immunity and genome editing.

Staff

Sarah O’Flaherty

Hometown: Wicklow, Ireland

Past Education: BA (Mod) Microbiology, Trinity College Dublin Ireland; PhD Microbiology National University of Ireland, University College Cork, Ireland

Sarah’s graduate research concerned the study of bacteriophage and lysins as potential anti-microbial agents against Staphylococcus aureus. Sarah moved to the United States from Ireland after obtaining her Ph.D and joined the laboratory of Dr. Todd R. Klaenhammer as a postdoctoral research associate where she researched functional genomics of lactic acid bacteria and probiotic-host interactions. Currently as a senior research scientist, she continues research on functional genomics, probiotic-host interactions, developing the murine research platform, and is the lead scientist for the vaccine program which focuses on mucosal vaccine delivery systems using lactic acid bacteria.  Her research also involves methods to improve on existing genetic systems and to identify new antigen and therapeutic targets. Sarah provides research assistance and supervision to staff, postdoctoral researchers and graduate and international visiting students across various research topics.

Matthew Foley

Hometown: Buffalo, New York

Past Education: Microbiology & Immunology BS, University of Rochester; Microbiology & Immunology PhD, University of Michigan

After his PhD, Matthew worked as a postdoctoral fellow studying Clostridium sp. and bile salt hydrolases. He joined the Barrangou Lab in 2021 as a staff scientist. Matthew is interested in understanding how CRISPR-Cas can be used to promote bacterial engraftment and ameliorate disease, and how bile acid altering enzymes can be used to manipulate the bile acid pool, microbiota, and host physiology. Outside of the lab he loves cooking and weightlifting.

Stefanie Andersen

Hometown: Smithfield, Utah

Past Education: Professional and Technical Writing, BA, Utah State University; Bioinformatics, MR, North Carolina State University

Stefanie Andersen is a Bioinformatics Specialist in the Barrangou Lab, where she curates, analyzes, and secures genomic data while mentoring students in computational biology. She is particularly interested in microbial systems biology, with a focus on community dynamics and host-microbe interactions. Stefanie began her career as a Technical Writer before transitioning into bioinformatics. Her graduate research focused on parsing metagenomic data to identify known and novel bacterial strains containing CRISPR arrays. After earning her master’s degree in Spring 2020, she worked as a Software Engineer at Collaborations Pharmaceuticals, a machine learning–driven drug development company focused on rare diseases. She rejoined the Barrangou Lab in 2024, bringing a blend of industry experience and research expertise to support and scale the lab’s computational efforts.

Graduate Students

Kalani Gast

Hometown: Fort Pierce, FL

Past Education: BS Microbiology and Cell Science, University of Florida

Kalani completed a Bachelor’s in Microbiology and Cell Science at the University of Florida. As an undergraduate, she studied the effect of the herbicide Paraquat on the gut microbiome in Drosophila melanogaster. She transitioned into industry by working as a microbiologist screening foods for pathogens that cause food-borne illness. Kalani joined the lab in July 2021, and is currently interested in probiotic bacteria, CRISPR-Cas systems, bacteriophage, and the gut microbiome.

Ourania (Rania) Raftopoulou

Hometown: Athens, Greece

Past Education: BSc in Crop Science & MSc in Food Science, Agricultural University of Athens, Greece

Rania completed her Bachelor’s in Crop Science at the Agricultural University of Athens in Greece. As an undergraduate, her research focused on the identification of endemic epiphytic yeasts from pistachio nuts that could be applied as biological agents for the control of aflatoxins. Afterward, she completed her MSc in Food Science at the same university in Greece. Her Master’s was focused on two main objectives: a) creating machine learning models for the estimation of chicken spoilage through multispectral imaging and, b) evaluating the growth of Listeria monocytogenes in chicken nuggets using mathematical models. Rania started her Ph.D. in Microbiology in 2019 and worked for three years on assessing the impact of the biofilm lifestyle on the virulence of Listeria monocytogenes and its behavior on apples. She joined our lab in April 2022 and is currently working on bioengineering probiotic bacteria using CRISPR.

John Beckley

Hometown: Congers, NY

Past Education: BS Biochemistry Boston College; MS Microbiology Illinois Institute of Technology

John completed his Bachelor’s in Biochemistry at Boston College and spent over 10 years in the food and beverage industry before transitioning back to academia for his Master’s in Microbiology at the Illinois Institute of Technology.  Working as a food safety consultant, he provided scientific and regulatory support for the industry in the US and abroad.  John joined the lab in August 2022 and is currently interested in developing CRISPR technology, engineering bacteriophages, and studying the gut and soil microbiomes.

Emma Gray

Hometown: Efland, North Carolina

Past Education: BS Microbiology, BS Mathematics, Minor in Biotechnology, NC State University

Emma completed Bachelor’s degrees in Microbiology and Mathematics at NC State University before transitioning to industry and working as a production scientist in a fermentation department. As an undergraduate she participated in a summer research experience learning about modeling biological systems, and spent a semester searching for an elusive RNase P gene in the genome of an archeote. She joined the lab in January 2023 and is working on better understanding lactobacillus-bacteriophage dynamics.

Grace Fuller

Hometown: Biloxi, Mississippi

Past Education: BS in Environmental Biology from the University of Southern Mississippi; MS in Agronomy with an emphasis in Weed Science from Mississippi State

As an undergraduate student at the University of Southern Mississippi, Grace performed a point-center quarter analysis of Ragland Hills, a mixed forest outside of Hattiesburg, MS.  During her time as a graduate student at Mississippi State, she researched the allelopathic potential of chromosome substitution (CS) cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) lines. After receiving her master’s degree, she worked in the Biology Department of Mississippi State as a lab manager. There, Grace worked on transforming Elephant Grass (Miscanthus ssp.) to increase its efficacy as a bioenergy crop. Grace joined the lab in March 2023, and is interested in learning more about and developing genome editing tools.

Jiyong (Tim) Shin

Hometown: Seoul, South Korea

Past Education: BS Food Science and Biotechnology, Kyung Hee University, South Korea; MS Food Science and Human Nutrition, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Tim completed a Bachelor’s in Food Science and Biotechnology at Kyung Hee University in South Korea. As an undergraduate, his research focused on developing various amplification-based detection methods for lactic acid bacteria strains and allergens. Following that, he completed his MS in Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His Master’s research was centered on developing CRISPR/Cas12a-based systems for detecting antimicrobial-resistant bacteria. Tim joined the lab in August 2023 and is currently interested in the applications of the CRISPR-Cas system in probiotic bacteria.

Sydney Baker

Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina

Education: AS,  Wake Technical Community College; BS in Microbiology and Minor in Biotechnology, North Carolina State University

Sydney completed a Bachelor’s degree in Microbiology at North Carolina State University in 2024. She joined the CRISPR Lab in May 2023 as an undergraduate researcher and continued as a Ph.D. student in July 2024. Sydney’s undergraduate research involved characterizing and testing CRISPR-Cas systems, as well as engineering a portable delivery mechanism for said systems. Her current research focuses on testing the functionality of novel CRISPR-Cas effectors in vitro, as well as better characterizing understudied CRISPR-Cas systems in clinically relevant Clostridium spp. 

Emily Gentry

Hometown: Summerfield, North Carolina

Education: BS in Biochemistry and Minor in Microbiology, North Carolina State University

After graduating with her BS in Biochemistry, Emily worked in the pharmaceutical industry as a formulation scientist, where she developed inhalation therapies for the generic drug market—aiming to improve access to affordable medications. During her undergraduate studies, she conducted research on the Zika virus, investigating its effects on Vero cells in efforts to develop an effective vaccine.  Emily is looking forward to researching endogenous CRISPR-Cas systems in probiotic bacteria.

Undergraduate Students

Vincent Gierie

Hometown: Wilmington, North Carolina

Education: BS in Genetics, Minor in Biotechnology, North Carolina State University

Vincent is currently working towards his Bachelor’s Degree in Genetics. He joined the lab in April 2025 as an undergraduate researcher. He is fascinated by gene editing systems like CRISPR and recombinases and their future applications in health and industry.

Katherine Elsner

Hometown: Sycamore, Illinois

Education: BS in Molecular and Structural Biochemistry, Minor in Biotechnology, North Carolina State University

Katherine is working towards a Bachelor’s degree in biochemistry, with specific interests in processes concerning bacteria and viruses. She became an undergraduate researcher in the lab June of 2025. She is intrigued by bacteriophages and CRISPR systems. She currently also works as an undergraduate researcher in a plant virus lab and has been there since January of 2025.

Elijah Wilson

Hometown: Mint Hill, North Carolina

Education: BS in Chemical Engineering, Minor in Biotechnology, Minor in Physics, North Carolina State University

Elijah is currently working toward completing his Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering. He joined the lab in October 2025 as an undergraduate researcher. He is particularly interested in CRISPR-Cas9 systems and their application to medicine, specifically drug development.

Former Lab Members