Alex Maynard

Biography

     I received my Bachelors degree in Biochemistry from the University of Akron in 2019. After graduating, I joined Dr. Adeline Hajjar’s lab at the Cleveland Clinic. Utilizing gnotobiotic mouse models, I studied the complex interactions between the gut microbiome, immune system, and gut environment, in cystic fibrosis. I am now in the BMSE PhD program and joined the Wilson Lab in 2023. 

Research

     My research focuses on improving optogenetic protein design and building a system of rules to select the best optotool insertion sites in any protein of interest. To accomplish this goal, I am utilizing the MAGESTIC plasmid to design a high-throughput CRISPR workflow that would allow the insertion of any protein domain into every insertion site within reach in any gene of interest in the same reaction. We intend to use this method to screen every essential gene in the yeast genome designing hundreds of new optotools.