B.S.,
M.S.,
I am a 4th year graduate student in the Da Silva lab pursuing a PhD in Biochemical Engineering. My current research efforts entail metabolic engineering of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (italics) to construct strains capable of synthesizing precursors important to the biorenewable chemicals industry.
B.S. : Hanyang University
M.S. : University of Califronia, Irvine
My projects are the biosynthesis of polyketides and ethanol in yeast. Target polyketide molecules are 6-methyl salicylic acid, a patulin precursor, and dihydromonacolin L, a lovastatin precursor. Ethanol project focuses on the utilization of pentoses for the production of ethanol in yeast.
Education
B.S., Chemical Engineering, 2010, Autonomous University of Barcelona.
M.S., Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, 2010-Present, University of California-Irvine.
Contact information
rubenf@uci.edu
Current Research
My research is integrated into the NSF research center called CBiRC, which aims to transform the chemical industry by integrating biological and chemical catalysis processes for the production of biorenewable chemicals. The center focuses its resources on the optimization of bio-based chemicals production from carbohydrate feedstocks with the objective of increasing the sustainability and productivity through microbial genetic engineering. Getting into more detail, I am currently working on engineering Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains for the high-level synthesis of short-chain carboxylic acids through metabolic engineering and molecular biology tools. The first approach towards this goal is the expression of a heterologous fatty acid synthase (FAS) system in yeast as well as the design, development and the evaluation of new gene integration strategies.
B.S., Washington State University, Chemical Engineering, 2007
M.S., University of California, Irvine, Chemical Engineering, 2008
As a graduate student in the lab of Professor Nancy Da Silva, Chris specializes in the synthesis of commodity chemical precursor molecules from bio-based resources. The primary focus of his research is to develop a sustainable and efficient system for the production of short chain fatty acids from baker’s yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Chris works in conjunction with the Center for Biorenewable Chemicals (CBiRC), an engineering research center funded by the National Science Foundation. He has been a member of the center’s Student Leadership Council since 2008 and served as president from the fall of 2009 through 2011.
