Principle Investigator

Molly C. Sutherland, PhD

Principal Investigator
Assistant Professor
Department of Biological Sciences

Dr. Sutherland received her B.S. from the University of Maryland – College Park and her PhD from Washington University in St. Louis. After completing her postdoctoral training at WashU, she joined the faculty of the University of Delaware where she runs a research lab and teaches Introduction to Microbiology and Microbial Genetics.

Staff

Sue Carroll

Research Associate
Lab Manager

Sue comes to us from the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary School where she has spent a long career in the Clinical Studies department studying Botulism and Johne’s Disease before moving on to the Molecular Diagnostic lab diagnosing Avian diseases including Avian Influenza. In her spare time Sue enjoys reading, cooking and gardening and is a member of a Women’s golf league in the nicer weather. Most of all Sue loves to go to their place in Chincoteague, VA where she spends time boating, kayaking, riding bike, and chilling out on the beach.

Alicia Kreiman

PhD candidate
Biological Sciences – MBG
CBI Fellow
UD Doctoral Fellowship for Excellence

Alicia (she/her) is a sixth year PhD candidate in the Biological Sciences program. She received her B.S. in biomedical sciences from Saint Cloud State University and a master’s degree in forensic biology from Towson University. Her research interests include heme trafficking mechanisms and protein-protein interactions in the System I prokaryotic cytochrome c biogenesis pathway. In her free time she enjoys spending time outdoors with her family.  

Nikita Varde

PhD candidate
Biology Department

Nikita is a 4th year Biology PhD student working in the Sutherland lab trying to establish the protein-protein interactions in System I pathway of Cytochrome c Biogenesis. Before UD, she completed her Master’s degree and Bachelor’s in Biotechnology from India and had worked in the Biopharma Industry for a few years, but she had always been passionate about microbiology, which led her to pursue her PhD at UD and move to the US. Her research interests include identifying new targets for antibiotic treatment and potentially alternative treatments. She doesn’t have any free time, as she enjoys spending every extra minute with her two tiny humans at home who eat up all her time!!!

Ray Tsao

PhD candidate
Microbiology

Ray Tsao is a 3rd-year Microbiology PhD student and works on the System II cytochrome 
c biogenesis pathway in the Sutherland lab. Before coming to UD, Ray completed his B.Sc. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of California, Davis, where he performed undergraduate research as a McNair Scholar. He then spent several years working in the synthetic biology industry at startups in the San Francisco Bay Area. His passion for tinkering with microbes and tackling challenging scientific problems eventually led him to pursue a PhD at UD. Outside of the lab, you can probably find him wandering around campus playing PokémonGo or watching 49ers football somewhere — just kidding, he is not allowed to leave the lab!

Tania Yeasmin

PhD candidate
Chemistry and Biochemistry



Tania is a 5th year Biochemistry PhD student working in the Sutherland lab trying to investigate the System II pathway of Cytochrome c Biogenesis. Before UD, she completed her Master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Bachelor’s in Pharmacy from University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Even though she was trained as a pharmacist, her interest in microbes brought her to the US to get a higher degree on them and now she enjoys manipulating bacterial DNA to better understand the prokaryotic Cytochrome c Biogenesis pathway.

Allison Mattern

PhD candidate
Chemistry and Biology Department
CBI Fellow

Allison is a 3rd-year Biological Sciences PhD student and Chemistry-Biology Interface (CBI) Fellow at UD. She previously completed her B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at DeSales University. Her current research in the Sutherland lab focuses on elucidating mechanisms of heme reduction in the System I cytochrome c biogenesis pathway. Allison is an active part of the graduate student community, serving on the Biology Graduate Student Association (BioGSA) executive board. Outside of science, she enjoys reading and crocheting.

Raisa Sumaiya

PhD candidate
Biology Department
CBI Fellow

Raisa is a first-year Ph.D. student in Biological Sciences and a Chemistry–Biology Interface (CBI) Fellow at the University of Delaware. She earned her Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree from the University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh, where she discovered her strong interest in research over clinical practice. She spent a year conducting research in developmental biology, and now studies the System II cytochrome c biogenesis pathway in the Sutherland lab. Outside the lab, she enjoys traveling and reading mystery novels.

Undergraduate Students

Juliette MacNicoll

Psycology

Evelyn McQuaid

Chemical Engineering
INBRE Summer Scholar

Join Us

We are looking for motivated, creative scientists with interests in microbiology and biochemistry with a passion for research! We are actively recruiting at all levels. For additional information on current projects and positions, please send inquiry to Molly along with a current CV and a brief cover letter describing your experience, goals and research interests.

Lab Alumni

Graduate Students

  1. Jannatul F. Hossain, MS
  2. Amber Grunow, MS

Undergraduates Researchers

  1. Tyana Spindle, 2025 INBRE Summer Scholar
  2. Sarah Garner, 2025 Biological Sciences Academic Excellence Award and the 2025 Paynter Memorial Award
  3. Donna Price, 2025 Biological Sciences Undergraduate Research Award
  4. Narra Swanson, 2024 INBRE Summer Scholar
  5. Aelia Chesley, 2024 INBRE Summer Scholar
  6. Ameeta Balaji
  7. Ian Kang, 2022 INBRE Summer Scholar
  8. David Hawtof, 2021 and 2022 UD Summer Scholar, 2021 Jeremie M. Axe M.D. Summer Scholar award, 2023 Biological Sciences Undergraduate Research Award
  9. Zobe Nnadike, 2020 UD Summer Scholar

Undergraduate Technicians

  1. Jessica Rauch
  2. Kristelle Jahasz
  3. Olivia Szulc
  4. Michelle Atkins
  5. Maya Collado
  6. Amy Li