Meet the Team

Julius Fredens

Assistant Professor, Biochemistry

Julius holds a Presidential Young Professorship at NUS and is a Principle Investigator in the NUS Synthetic Biology Translational Research Programme.

He received his PhD from University of Southern Denmark, where he developed SILAC for quantitative proteomics in C. elegans, under the supervision of Nils Færgeman. As a postdoc with Jason Chin at LMB in Cambridge, he co-authored the first synthetic E. coli genome with a compressed genetic code, and demonstrated its genetic resistance to bacteriophage.  Julius is interested in synthetic biology with applications in therapy, biotech, and sustainable production. Not to mention jazz and bread baking.

jfredens [at] nus.edu.sg

Julius Fredens

Assistant Professor, Biochemistry

Julius holds a Presidential Young Professorship at NUS and is a Principle Investigator in the NUS Synthetic Biology Translational Research Programme.

He received his PhD from University of Southern Denmark, where he developed SILAC for quantitative proteomics in C. elegans, under the supervision of Nils Færgeman. As a postdoc with Jason Chin at LMB in Cambridge, he co-authored the first synthetic E. coli genome with a compressed genetic code, and demonstrated its genetic resistance to bacteriophage.  Julius is interested in synthetic biology with applications in therapy, biotech, and sustainable production. Not to mention jazz and bread baking.

jfredens [at] nus.edu.sg
Pramila Baban Ghode

Pramila Baban Ghode

Postdoc

Pramila received her PhD in Biological Sciences from NUS in 2016, focusing on assessing molecular genetic basis of drug resistance and X-ray crystal structure elucidation of novel target proteins in tuberculosis. Her interests include redesigning organisms by genome engineering using Synthetic Biology approaches for healthcare and environmental applications.

pramila [at] nus.edu.sg

Bhushan Vishal

Bhushan Vishal

Postdoc

Bhushan received his Ph.D. in biological sciences from NUS in 2017, where he researched yield enhancement in rice. Interests and expertise include the improvement of healthcare and related biotechnology applications through the synthetic biology approach. 

b.vishal [at] nus.edu.sg

 

Tobias Vesterholm Eden

Tobias Vesterholm Eden

PhD student

Tobias obtained his MSc degree in 2021 from University of Southern Denmark and specialised in characterising protein structures by mass spectrometry.

e0983460 [at] u.nus.edu

Shujian Ong

Shujian Ong

PhD rotation student

Shujian obtained his BSc (Hons) degree from the National University of Singapore and is currently pursuing his PhD under the President’s Graduate Fellowship (ISEP) programme. He is passionate about sustainability and climate change, and is interested in developing synthetic biology tools for sustainable bioproduction.

shujian_ong [at] u.nus.edu

Darius Koh

Darius Koh

Research Assistant

Previously at A*STAR, Darius is passionate about applying better DNA R/W and protein design tools to overcome the Leviathan challenge of engineering & evolving biology as easily as one would use a computer. An architecture fiend, he hopes to live in a parametrically designed and grown (not built) building one day.

kohwsd [at] nus.edu.sg

Naura Fakhira Antariksa

Naura Fakhira Antariksa

Research Intern

Naura received her MSc in Chemistry from EPFL, specializing in in vitro analyses of electrophile-mediated signaling. She is interested in developing chemical biology platforms for disease treatments and diagnostics.

Ashvinath

Ashvinath

UROPS student

Ashvinath is a 3rd-year undergrad majoring in Life Sciences. He is interested in using synthetic biology techniques for medical and healthcare purposes. Besides biology, he is also passionate about football and sports in general.

e0725864 [at] u.nus.edu

Aaron Chong Yi

Aaron Chong Yi

FYP student

Aaron is a Year 4 undergraduate majoring in Life Sciences. He is fascinated by the process of designing genetic circuitry within living organisms that emulates logic gates found in electronic devices. He wishes to create biological entities that can execute customised functions with a high level of precision and control.

e0540079 [at] u.nus.edu

Rivky Kaufman

Rivky Kaufman

UROPS+Rex student

I’m from the University of Dundee and on an exchange year at NUS for my second year. My interest and involvement in biochemistry stems from synthetic biology. My future aspirations are to develop medicine, perhaps using synthetic Biology, and to run my own lab. I also like to use art as a medium to study anatomy and further my understanding of the human body.

e1133038 [at] u.nus.edu

Qing Zhang

Qing Zhang

PhD rotation student

After obtaining my bachelor degree in Zhejiang University, China, I keep pursuing further study and training as a PhD student at NUS. I’m looking into possibilities in immunotherapy with cutting-edge synthetic biology and inspirational gene therapy to cure cancer.

e1124943 [at] u.nus.edu

Alumni

Sean Yam URAPS student, University of Toronto, 2023

Dhruv Ripudeman Singh Amgen scholar, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, 2023

Jefferson Yang Zeyu UROPS student, 2023

Zhang Feng FYP student, 2022

Zhang Qin UROPS student, 2022

Maxime Crabé Research Assistant, 2022

Congrong He URAPS student, University of Toronto, 2022