Sid Venkatesh
Assistant Professor, ISB
Affiliate Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology, University of Washington
PhD, Virology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA (2014)
PhD, Chemical Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA (2008)
BS, Chemical Engineering, University of Madras, Madras, India (2003)
Email: Sid.Venkatesh@isbscience.org
Omari Weems
Research Associate II
BS, Biomedical Engineering (Minor in Health and Medical Sciences), Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA (2021)
Research Interests: Tissue and organoid culturing, molecular biology, deciphering causal roles for gut microbes
Hobbies: Embroidery, mixology, scrolling on social media
Email: Omari.Weems@isbscience.org
Yoonjung Lee
Research Scientist
PhD, Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute for Science and Technology, Daejeon, South Korea (2021)
BM, Cello Performance, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA (2014)
Research Interests: Molecular biology, LC-MS/MS-based proteomics and metabolomics, and X-ray crystallography.
Hobbies: Cooking, Pilates, and reading books.
Email: Yoonjung.Lee@isbscience.org
Naomi Gutierrez
Undergraduate Intern
BA Candidate, Biology, Cerritos College, Norwalk, CA (Expected Graduation: 2031)
Research Interests: Molecular biology, Social anxiety disorder, ADHD, Autism, Chronic pain, Chronic migraines, Postpartum depression/Postpartum psychosis, and OCD.
Hobbies: Reading, cooking, listening to music, singing, volleyball, watching movies/TV.
Email: ngutierr@systemsbiology.org
Yewon Kang
Undergraduate Intern
BA Candidate, Biology and minor in Sociology, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY (Expected Graduation: 2026)
Research Interests: Molecular biology, microbiome metabolites, virome therapeutics.
Hobbies: Watching movies, gaming, crocheting.
Email: ykang@systemsbiology.org
Nathaniel Ritz
Postdoctoral Fellow
PhD, Anatomy and Neuroscience, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland (2023)
MSc, Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA (2014)
BS, Biology (Minor in Chemistry), University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA (2012)
Research Interests: The microbiota–gut–brain axis, social anxiety disorder, virome therapeutics, gut hydrogenotrophs
Hobbies: Dog life, rock climbing, bouldering development, sci-fi, skiing
Email: Nate.Ritz@isbscience.org
Jeremy Johnson
Senior Executive Assistant, ISB
Hobbies: Music, writing, cooking, baseball
