Dr. Christine Lewis, PhD

Research and Science Outreach Interests

Dr Lewis is an organic electro chemist with over fifteen years of interdisciplinary experience in all types of chemistry and electrochemistry involved with understanding cells and their bioenergy. She has studied the fields of chemical engineering, bioreactor design, microbial metabolism, photosynthesis, artificial photosynthesis, microbial product development, bioengineering, synthesis of redox molecules, and bio electro photosynthesis. She works on cellular innovations that help with environmental sustainability and human health within our built environment is central to the work. Her research also involved interdisciplinary team collaborations, public speaking and outreach involving diplomacy. Currently serving as the Chair of the ASU Postdoctoral Council and also maintain membership in: the International Society of Microbial Electro Technology, American Chemical Society, the Bioelectrochemical Society and the National Postdoc Association.  She was formally GPSA assembly representative, as well as the chair of their College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Committee. She worked in the student government: external affairs, professional development, COVID19 relief, and innovation committees. Participant in science policy advocacy and was a member in the foundational group of the Az Science Policy Network. She is an advocate for innovation green energy research, and currently research small molecule delivery of electrons and photobioreactor design and efficiency. Academic curriculum development, mentorship, and leadership. Her expertise is in phycology, photosynthesis, analytical chemistry, electrochemistry, organic chemistry, flow cytometry, spectroscopy, biochemistry, engineering, and microbiology. 

Research Group

• Torres lab - ASU Biodesign Institure Swette Center for Enviromental Biotechnology

• Fromme lab - ASU Biodesign Institute Center for Applied Structural Discovery

• Rittmann lab - ASU Biodesign Institure Swette Center for Enviromental Biotechnology

Publications

Microbial Electrophotosynthesis, Lewis, C. (2019, July 21-26),  Gordon research conference 2019: From the biophysics of natural and artificial photosynthesis to bioenergy conversion, Grand Summit Hotel at Sunday River [Paper presentation: Work in Progress], https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpb.2019.100129

Electrochemically Driven Photosynthetic Electron Transport in Cyanobacteria Lacking Photosystem II, Christine M. Lewis,* Justin D. Flory, Thomas A. Moore, Ana L. Moore, Bruce E. Rittmann, Wim F.J. Vermaas, César I. Torres, and Petra Fromme Journal of the American Chemical Society 2022 144 (7), 2933-2942  https://pubs-acs-org.ezproxy1lib.asu.edu/doi/10.1021/jacs.1c09291

Govindjee’s 90th birthday – Congratulations from friends and colleagues, S. Naithani et al (Christine Lewis contributing entry) Current Plant Biology, vol. 32, p. 100263, 2022/12/01/ 2022, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpb.2022.100263.

Functionalized Nitrobenzothiadiazoles as Embedded Fluorescent Probes, Omar M. Khdour, Christine M. Lewis, Sanjay Giridharan, Sydney M. Hecht (2025) Journal of Organic Chemistry, ID: jo-2025-00700c.R1.

Christine Lewis, Juan F. Ortiz Medina, Jesús A. Perez, César I. Torres*, "Extracellular electron transfer in microbial bioelectrocatalysis" in  Bioelectrocatalysis: From Electron Transfer Processes to Emerging Technological Applications, ECS Series, ed. 1, Shelley Minteer, Matteo Grattieri (Wiley, 2025)

Current work in progress or manuscripts in preparation

Modeling light/dark cycles for mediated electron transport in microbial electrophotosynthesis (manuscript in preparation) *Christine M. Lewis, Alex Fonseca, César I. Torres.

Tuning redox small molecule compounds for one stop electron delivery or cyclic mediation of flux in electron transport chains of photosynthetic cells lacking PSII, Christine M. Lewis,* Omar M. Khdour, Petra Fromme , César I. Torres.

A quantum view of the captodative effect of multifunctional radical quencher on reactive oxygen species, Christine Lewis, Omar Khdour, Sanjay Giridharan, Sydney Hecht.

Inhibition of temperature induced c-ferroptosis with multifunctional radical quenching in green algae and cyanobacteria , *Christine Lewis, Omar Khdour, Megan Langella, Everett Eustance, Cesar Torres.

Cathodic electron flux analysis of Rhodospeudomonas Palustrus upon addition of electron shuttles,*Christine Lewis, Jacob Hackney, Cesar Torres.

Methodology techniques for CRISPR to express lactose expression while knocking out water splitting capability Nandini Kanaju, Christine Lewis, Arul Varman.

 Cathodic electron shuttling characterization in Rhodospeudomonas Palustris Christine Lewis, Jacob Hackney, Cesar Torres.

Engineering the Cyanobacterial Photosynthetic Electron Transport Chain to Improve Photosynthetic Efficiency (manuscript in submittal) Nima Hajinajaf , Aditya Sarnaik, Sumant Brahmankar, Jackson Comes, Parker Poole, Christine M. Lewis, Nandini Kannoju, Danika Kartchner, Jonathan Nguyen, Willem Vermaas, Abhishek Singharoy, Arul M. Varman.-submitted

see Public Works for more

Research Activity (key words)

Organic Chemistry: synthesis, rational design Microbiology: culturing pure-cell culture, assays, Western blot, Biochemistry: flow cytometry, Joliot-type spectroscopy, microscopy, Electrochemistry: cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry, photochemistry, electron-transport studies, Engineering: anaerobic bio-electro reactor design, light delivery applications, constructing electrochemical wired system, reactor lamp construction Communication Teaching: Proficient in blackboard/Canvas or Web design for online teaching/communication, word, excel and one-note, data Analysis with Origin Pro, can do some simplistic coding Working skills: organized, speak moderate Spanish (not a native speaker), skilled at public speaking and science teaching outreach, and policy