Rafael Solorzano

Rafael is leveraging the NSF ExFAB Biofoundry to develop high-throughput pipelines for discovering natural products in anaerobic gut fungi (AGF). While many pharmaceuticals, such as penicillin and lovastatin, have been derived from fungi, vast reservoirs of natural products in non-model fungi remain unexplored due to their extreme culture requirements and environment-specific gene expression. By recreating native AGF conditions and applying environmental challenges, Rafael aims to elicit natural product production, with pipelines adaptable to other unique and extreme microorganisms.

Outside the lab:
When not in the lab, Rafael enjoys riding his bike and walking around downtown Santa Barbara.