معرفی
Shannon Sirk is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Illinois. Their research focuses on synthetic bioengineering, particularly developing living therapeutics and engineered microbial systems for targeted drug delivery. Key areas include heterologous protein secretion in Bacteroides species, FcRn-binding peptide engineering for antibody salvage, and metabolic pathway activation in human gut symbionts.
Notable achievements include the NIH Trailblazer Award and American Lung Association funding for research on respiratory viruses. Sirk leads the Sirk Lab, which explores synthetic biology applications in precision medicine and gut microbiome engineering. Their work spans genome editing technologies, antibody engineering, and immunoPET imaging.
- Research Themes: Living therapeutics, microbial engineering, protein secretion systems, gene regulation
- Key Projects: Synthetic microbiota for drug delivery, FcRn-based transcytosis mechanisms
- Lab Website: Sirk Lab
Publications highlight innovations in recombinase engineering, zinc-finger nucleases, and quantum dot-based diagnostics. The team collaborates across disciplines to bridge synthetic biology with clinical applications.
