Robert Quinn, PhD

I was raised in Bancroft, Ontario, Canada in close proximity to Algonquin Park which sparked my early interest in biology through constant interaction with the outdoors. I received my Undergraduate and Master’s degrees in microbiology at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. I then completed a PhD with Dr. Andrei Chistoserdov at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette studying the microbiome of Epizootic Shell Disease in the American Lobster. I completed my postdoctoral studies with Dr. Forest Rohwer at San Diego State University and Pieter Dorrestein at UC San Diego studying the cystic fibrosis lung microbiome, coral reefs, and other complex microbial systems. As an assistant professor at Michigan State University, I use multi-omics methods including metagenomics, metabolomics and classic microbiology approaches to understand the causes of dysbiosis in host associated microbial communities. I have studied the microbiome of everything from salmon, to lobsters, to corals, to lungs, to guts, to….whatever is next. I’m a huge sports fan and spend some of my spare time trying figure out how to apply advanced baseball statistics to microbiome research.

Sarah VanDiepenbos - Graduate Student

I am from Grand Rapids, Michigan. I attended the University of Michigan for a double major B.S. in Spanish and Cellular & Molecular Biology, conducting research in Spanish Linguistics as a member of the Speech Production Lab with Dr. Lorenzo García-Amaya and Dr. Nick Henriksen and on C. elegans X chromosome gene regulation in the lab of Dr. Györgyi Csankovski. I quickly fell in love with studying DNA and continued in the Csankovszki Lab for a master’s in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology. After graduation, I worked at Labcorp Drug Development as a research assistant in the Pre-Clinical Oncology In Vitro Services Department. Currently, I am pursuing a Ph.D. in Microbiology, Genetics, and Immunology in the Quinn Lab at Michigan State University. I am studying coral reefs, specifically using a genetics and metabolomics approach to understand why corals bleach. My project will focus on studying phospholipase activity in the membranes of the algal symbionts that live inside the coral. In my free time, I love to spend time outdoors during all four seasons - hiking, disc golf, pickleball, paddle boarding, skiing, and more! Indoors, I enjoy watching classic movies, singing, playing with my cat, and caring for my houseplants.

Yousi Fu - Postdoc

I am come from Dalian, China, which is the "Northern Pearl" and summer resort in China. I received my Bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in bioengineering at Dalian University of Technology, China, and Ph.D. in biochemical engineering at Xiamen University, China. During my PhD studies, I focused on the use of the in vitro cultured human intestinal microbiota for the treatment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). I also investigated the effects of prebiotics such as berberine and Dendrobium polysaccharides on the metabolism and abundance of the gut microbiome through in vitro fermentation. Now, I will continue my research on the effects of a new set of microbially conjugated bile acids (MCBAs) on human physiology.

I am from Slemani, Iraqi Kurdistan, a city known as the cultural capital of the Kurdistan Region. My early curiosity about the origin of life and our place in the universe led me to study biology, which further inspired me to pursue a Ph.D. and work towards becoming a research scientist.
My research interests focus on bacterial genetics and evolution at the intersection of host-microbe interactions. In my Ph.D. training, I am co-advised by Dr. Quinn and Dr. Christopher M. Waters. My project focuses on the gut microbiome, bile acid metabolism, and the function of bile salt hydrolases, enzymes that transform the bile acid pool in the mammalian guts. Additionally, I study the effects of bile acid toxicity on V. cholerae as well as other gut commensals.
In my spare time, I enjoy playing and watching sports, and reading nonfiction books.

Sabrina Rosset – Postdoc

I am from Switzerland. I got a BSc degree in biomedical sciences from the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom and obtained my PhD from the same university, working in the Coral Reef Laboratory under the guidance of Prof Wiedenmann and Dr D’Angelo. During my PhD I studied how the nutrient environment affects coral thermal stress tolerance. I also used mass spectrometry to study how the membrane biochemistry of the dinoflagellate symbionts of coral relates to thermal tolerance of reef coral. Working as a postdoc in Taiwan and then in New Zealand, I have studied how the diel lipid droplet biosynthesis in coral is regulated and also investigated what role that oxylipins play in mediating the coral-dinoflagellate symbiosis. So, throughout my research career I have become a coral lipidomics enthusiast.

Now, working as a postdoc jointly between the Coral Resilience Lab at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology and Michigan State University, I have the opportunity to contribute further towards revealing if and how the lipidome and broader metabolome of coral relates to their temperature stress tolerance. Studying coral in Kāne’ohe Bay in Hawaii that have known variabilities in their susceptibilities to bleaching, I am searching for metabolic biomarkers of heat tolerance with the hope to provide new knowledge that can inform conservation and restoration strategies.

When I am not in the lab I enjoy circus arts, surfing and snowboarding.

Mackenzie Brasseur - Lab Tech

I am from Lapeer, Michigan, and I recently graduated in Spring 2025 from Michigan State University. I received my bachelor’s degree in biochemistry/biotechnology with a minor in pharmacology and toxicology. My love of research began in high school with my AP biology class and quickly grew at MSU. I had received a professorial assistantship and worked with Dr. Nathan Tykocki for 2 years and I was a research assistant for Dr. Charles Hoogstraten for my last year of undergraduate study. I also had two internships at the National Institutes of Health with Dr. Theo Heller and Dr. Barry O’Keefe. In Dr. O’Keefe’s lab I discovered my love of natural products chemistry and began working with corals and in Dr. Heller’s lab I researched bile acids. All of this led me to Dr. Quinn’s lab, which combines the interests of all four labs I have previously worked in. Here, I will be working with Microbially Conjugated Bile Acids, corals, and collaborating with many other labs. In my spare time, you can find me working out, crafting, reading, or watching trashy TV.

Vicki Agrella

I’m from the suburbs of Chicago. I attended Michigan State for a B.S. in microbiology, where I worked under Dr. Nina Wale in an effort to establish a culturing pipeline for an as-of-yet unculturable pathogen of Daphnia species, or water fleas, known as Spirobacillus cienkowskii. I’m currently working on acquiring my Master’s, and as part of that I’m conducting research through Dr. Quinn’s lab. Here, I’m attempting to formulate a bacterial culturing medium that accurately reflects how cystic fibrosis patients’ metabolomes change after taking Trikafta, a combination drug used to treat CF. In my free time, I love going to estate sales and vintage markets or playing video games and reading alongside my two cats.