People

Matti Gralka - Group leader

Matti is an assistant professor in the Systems Biology group at the A-LIFE department at VU Amsterdam. Before moving to Amsterdam, he did his PhD in Physics at the University of California Berkeley with Oskar Hallatschek before switching to marine microbial ecology in Otto Cordero's lab at MIT.

Click here for his full CV and Google Scholar profile. 

To get in touch, simply email him at m.gralka@vu.nl. 

Sarah Flickinger - PhD student

Sarah studies the effects of phages on marine microbial communities. She holds an MSc in Biological Oceanography from the University of Rhode Island (USA) and a BA in Biology from Vassar College (USA). Previously, she has worked at the International Atomic Energy Agency, as a scientist at biotechnology startups, and as an environmental scientist. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, skiing, and other outdoor activities.  

John Collins - MSc student

John studies the dynamics of microbial communities living on ocean plastics. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from McMaster University and studied Microbiology and Computer Science at the University of Victoria. Previously, he worked in operations at Volvo Cars, as lead engineer at biotechnology startups, and is an experienced startup founder. He is interested in a wide variety of topics including microbial ecology, synthetic biology, biomolecular simulations, microscopy, and life in extreme environments. He is pursuing a Master's of Science in Systems Biology. 

Helun Șenoğlu - MSc student

Helun studies the different ways in which marine bacteria can utilize nitrogen sources. She holds a Bsc in Biology and Medical Laboratory from the Hogeschool Leiden and now pursuing an MSc in Biomolecular Sciences. Helun has previously worked at the Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, focusing on the metabolic pathways of Aspergillus niger. 

Victor Piaskowski - MSc student

Victor is developing models for phage-bacteria communities. He is currently pursuing a Masters in Computational Sciences at the Universiteit van Amsterdam and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam after having completed the Computer Science and Engineering Bachelors program at the Technische Universiteit Eindhoven. He is interested in how to use computers to solve complex scientific problems where it might not be feasible to design or experiment in-person. 

Laura Volle - MSc student

Laura is studying the properties of duplicated enzymes in bacterial genomes. She is pursuing an MSc in Biomedical Sciences at the Universiteit van Amsterdam and holds a BSc in Biomedicine from Karolinska Institutet.

Kunal Chaudhary - MSc student

Kunal is exploring the conditions for alternative stable states in microbial communities using mathematical community models. He is pursuing an MSc in Bioinformatics and Systems Biology at the VU Amsterdam and holds a Dual Degree (B.tech and M.Tech) in Biochemical Engineering and Biotechnology from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. 

Yurita Atmopawiro - BSc student

Yurita is working with us to isolate and characterize phages for marine bacteria. She is currently pursuing a bachelor's degree in Biomedical Sciences at VU Amsterdam, with the eventual goal of contributing to developments in the health sciences.  

Alumni

Francesca Barbieri (MSc internship, Systems Biology & Bioinformatics, 2024, in collaboration with Linda Amaral-Zettler)

Sanne Petersen (MSc internship, Systems Biology & Bioinformatics, 2024)

Yuecheng Liu (MSc internship, Systems Biology & Bioinformatics, 2023)

Florence Berbain (MSc internship, Systems Biology & Bioinformatics, 2023)

Tania Alonso Vasquez (Visiting PhD student, University of Florence, 2023)

Ashima Khanna (MSc internship, TU Munich, 2023)

Ana Cudic (BSc internship, Biology, 2023)

Sangamithra Kumar Senthil (MSc internship, Biomolecular sciences, 2023)

Jerom Groenewegen (MSc internship, Systems Biology & Bioinformatics, 2023)