معرفی
Philip Romero, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Duke University. He earned his doctorate from the California Institute of Technology in 2012 and leads the Romero Lab, which relocated to Duke in 2023. His research focuses on developing computational and experimental methods for protein engineering, with applications spanning therapeutics, biocatalysis, and synthetic biology.
Research Interests: Romero's work integrates machine learning, microfluidics, and high-throughput experimentation to study protein fitness landscapes. Key areas include:
- Self-driving laboratories for autonomous protein optimization
- Neural network models for predicting protein functions
- Therapeutic enzyme engineering (ACE2, caspases, lysins)
- Microfluidic platforms for deep mutational scanning
His recent publications demonstrate a strong emphasis on machine learning-guided protein design, with 80% of post-2022 publications involving AI/ML methods. Therapeutic applications against infectious diseases (particularly SARS-CoV-2) and microbiome engineering represent emerging directions.
Lab & Advising: The Romero Lab develops novel technologies for protein engineering, including custom gene library assembly platforms and droplet microfluidics systems. Romero mentors graduate students (e.g., Nishit, who recently defended a thesis on transcription factor engineering) and has collaborated with researchers across computational biology, metabolic engineering, and virology.
