Ranjan Srivastava

Professor

Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering


Ph.D. University of Maryland, College Park (1999)

Current Research

  • Systems Biology
  • Computational Material Design
  • Evolutionary Algorithms
  • Applied Machine Learning

Professional Activities

Joint Faculty Member: Biomedical Engineering Department, UConn, 2002 – Present
Joint Faculty Member: Multidisciplinary Head & Neck Cancer Program, The Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Connecticut Health Center, 2008 – Present
Affiliated Faculty: Environmental Engineering Program, UConn, 2006 – Present
Member: American Chemical Society
Member: American Institute of Chemical Engineers
Member: Society of Biological Engineering
Chair: American Chemical Society Biochemical Technology Division, 2018

Current Research Group

Graduate Students Undergraduate Students
Nicole Beauregard
Christine Endicott
Stephen Lincoln
Maryam Pardakhti
Rebecca Rubinstein
Ian Rogers
Ryan Padden

Former Group Members

Research Statement

Our research group is interested in all aspects of evolutionary dynamics and its applications. We focus on applying evolutionary dynamics to solve problems in science and engineering, primarily addressing problems systems biology and metabolic engineering. However, we also have a strong interest in understanding the principles underlying evolutionary dynamics.   We have applied evolutionary principles to a wide range of problems through algorithm development and experimental studies.  Examples of problems we have addressed in the biological arena include evolving new mathematical models of biological systems, curating existing models at the genome scale with evolutionary algorithms, and optimizing bioprocessing strategies.   We have also applied these approaches to other disciplines, such as materials science and environmental engineering. To carry out our work, we employ experimental and theoretical tools from chemical engineering, molecular biology, applied mathematics, machine learning, and systems optimization.

Previous Positions

2013 – 2016 Biomolecular Engineering Program Director, Department of Chemical, Materials, & Biomolecular Engineering, University of Connecticut
2011 – 2013 Chemical Engineering Program Director, Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of Connecticut
2008 – 2016 Associate Professor of Chemical, Material, Biomolecular Engineering, University of Connecticut
2002 – 2008 Facility Head, Fermentation & Bioprocessing Facility, University of Connecticut
2002 – 2008 Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering, University of Connecticut

Select Honors & Awards

2018 Elected Member of the Connecticut Academy of Science & Engineering
2017 Inaugural Recipient of the University of Connecticut Family Support Award
2014 Visiting Professor of Biostatistics, Yale University
2013 Inaugural Recipient of the University of Connecticut School of Engineering Outstanding Faculty Mentoring Award
2009 Award for Teaching Excellence as Determined by the Students
2007 Office of Naval Research/American Society of Engineering Education Fellow
2004 University of Connecticut Junior Faculty Fellow
2004 Rogers Corporation Outstanding Teaching Award
2000 NIH Post-Doctoral Trainee in Cancer Biology

Recent Publications

Pardakhti M, Jafari T, Tobin Z, Dutta B, Moharreri E, Shemshaki N, Suib S, Srivastava R. (2019) Trends in Solid Adsorbent Materials Development for CO2 Capture.  ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.9b08487
Moharreri E*, Pardakhti M*, Srivastava R**, Suib S.** (2019) Energy-Geometry Dependency of Molecular Structures: A Multistep Machine Learning Approach.  ACS Combinatorial Science. https://doi.org/10.1021/acscombsci.9b00028
*Contributed equally
** Co-Corresponding Authors
Ribeiro L, Chelius C, Boppidi K, Naik N, Hossain S, Ramsey J, Kumar J, Ribeiro L, Ostermeir M, Tran B, Young A, de Assis L, Ulas M, Bayram O, Goldman G, Lincoln S, Srivastava R, Harris S, Marten M. (2019) Comprehensive analysis of Aspergillus nidulans PKA phosphorylome identifies a novel mode of CreA regulation.  mBio.  https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.02825-18

Chelius C, Ribeiro L, Huso W, Kumar J, Lincoln S, Tran B, Goo Y, Srivastava R, Harris S, Marten M. (2019) Phosphoproteomic and transcriptomic analyses reveal multiple functions for Aspergillus nidulans MpkA independent of cell wall stress. Fungal Genetics and Biology.   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fgb.2019.01.003
Gao T, Wang Y, Zhang C, Pittman ZA, Oliveira A, Fu K, Zhao J, Srivastava R, Willis B.  (2019) Classification of Tea Aromas Using Multi-Nanoparticle Based Chemiresistor Arrays.  Sensors. https://doi.org/10.3390/s19112547
Rogers I, Srivastava R.  (2018) Using ensemble modeling to determine causes of multifactorial disorders. Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference Companion. https://doi.org/10.1145/3205651.3205686
Benjamino J, Lincoln S, Srivastava R, Graf J. (2018) Low-abundant bacteria drive compositional changes in the gut microbiota after dietary alteration.  Microbiomehttps://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-018-0469-5
Boppidi K, Ribeiro L, Iambamrung S, Nelson S, Wang Y, Momany M, Richardson E, Lincoln S, Srivastava R, Harris S, Marten M. (2018) Altered secretion patterns and cell wall organization caused by loss of PodB function in the filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans.  Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-29615-z
Pardakhti M, Moharreri E, Wanik D, Suib S, Srivastava R. (2017) Machine learning using combined structural and chemical descriptors for prediction of methane adsorption performance of metal organic frameworks (MOFs).  ACS Combinatorial Science.  https://doi.org/10.1021/acscombsci.7b00056
Contact Information
Emailrs@uconn.edu
Phone(860) 486-4020
Mailing Address191 Auditorium Road, Unit 3222, Storrs, CT 06269-3222
Office LocationEII-204
Linkhttps://www.rslabs.org