{"id":16,"date":"2026-01-30T15:34:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T15:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/?page_id=16"},"modified":"2026-03-10T16:33:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T16:33:13","slug":"people","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/people\/","title":{"rendered":"Lab members"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Dhriti Rao<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/Dhriti_Rao-800x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-144\" style=\"aspect-ratio:0.7812614116542334;width:262px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/Dhriti_Rao-800x1024.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/Dhriti_Rao-234x300.jpg 234w, https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/Dhriti_Rao-768x983.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/Dhriti_Rao-1201x1536.jpg 1201w, https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/Dhriti_Rao-1601x2048.jpg 1601w, https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/Dhriti_Rao-scaled.jpg 2001w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Dhriti is a second year PhD student. She completed her undegraduate degree in Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge, specialising in Genetics. Currently in the lab, she is interested in understanding the fitness effects of recoding genomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Gonzalo Mendoza<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"262\" height=\"246\" src=\"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/mPhbZReFMpBSgwZu.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-111\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-ad2f72ca wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<p>Gonzalo is from Mexico. He did his PhD in Edinburgh, studying mRNA splicing in budding yeast. He then moved to Cambridge to work on SynBio in microalgae as a postdoc. Now in the Robertson group, he works on synthetic genomics tools for an anaerobic gut bacterium.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Angus Armstrong<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"954\" src=\"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/Angus_Armstrong-1024x954.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-148\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.073394495412844;width:309px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/Angus_Armstrong-1024x954.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/Angus_Armstrong-300x280.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/Angus_Armstrong-768x716.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/Angus_Armstrong-1536x1431.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/Angus_Armstrong-2048x1909.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Angus studied Biological Sciences at Durham University for his BSc before moving to Imperial College London to undertake an MSc in Applied Biosciences and Biotechnology. In the lab, he is currently working on using functional genomics approaches to improve the fitness of recoded bacteria in the gut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rodrigue Lef\u00e8vre-Morand<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"769\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/Rodrigue_Morand-769x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-129\" style=\"aspect-ratio:0.7509778357235984;width:245px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/Rodrigue_Morand-769x1024.jpg 769w, https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/Rodrigue_Morand-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/Rodrigue_Morand-768x1023.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/Rodrigue_Morand-1153x1536.jpg 1153w, https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/Rodrigue_Morand-1538x2048.jpg 1538w, https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/Rodrigue_Morand-scaled.jpg 1922w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 769px) 100vw, 769px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Rodrigue is a PhD student in synthetic biology from France. He is specifically interested in building bridges between the fields of synthetic genomics and genetic code expansion. As he tends to be clumsy, he has developed strong automation skills and is always looking for a way to streamline protocols and run them on his beloved liquid-handler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Wes Robertson<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2024-07_O122959_Wes_Robertson-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-152\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.4992992057665353;width:306px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2024-07_O122959_Wes_Robertson-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2024-07_O122959_Wes_Robertson-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2024-07_O122959_Wes_Robertson-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2024-07_O122959_Wes_Robertson-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2024-07_O122959_Wes_Robertson-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2024-07_O122959_Wes_Robertson-600x400.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Wes is a group leader from the US, where he did his undergraduate at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and his PhD at Yale University, where he gained his initial interest in synthetic biology. As a postdoctoral scientist, he jumped across the pond to join the lab of Prof Jason Chin at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK. In the summer of 2024, he started his own lab at the LMB, where they pursue synthetic genomics research to advance the fields of bacterial genome design and total genome synthesis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dhriti Rao Dhriti is a second year PhD student. She completed her undegraduate degree in Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge, specialising in Genetics. Currently in the lab, she is interested in understanding the fitness effects of recoding genomes. Gonzalo Mendoza Gonzalo is from Mexico. He did his PhD in Edinburgh, studying mRNA splicing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-16","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","5":"entry"},"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":191,"href":"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16\/revisions\/191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/robertson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}