Dr. Dan Knights, Principal Investigator​

Dr. Dan Knights is a data scientist and puzzle solver. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering and the Biotechnology Institute at the University of Minnesota. Dan received his B.A. from Middlebury College, and his Ph.D. from the University of Colorado, both in Computer Science, followed by a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard. His research uses data mining and machine learning to better understand the natural world and the place of humans in it. This includes modeling the sustainability of various activities in modern civilization, and sharing that information in ways that help people and organizations change their behavior. Dan also researches the role of the microbiome in human disease, and has developed software for analyzing microbiome data. In 2015, Dan was named a McKnight Land-Grant Professor by the University of Minnesota. From 2016-2020, Dan was co-founder and CEO of CoreBiome, a genomics company that was acquired by OraSure, Inc. Dan received the 2019 Innovation Award from the University of Minnesota’s Office of the Vice President for Research together with Kenny Beckman and Daryl Gohl.

Suzie Hoops, Ph.D. Student

Suzie is a Computer Science Ph.D. student, studying new methods in dimensionality reduction and longitudinal analysis, applying these and other machine learning methods to the human gut microbiome. Suzie assists with various projects, including the MAGIC study, where she explores the maturation of the infant gut microbiome. Suzie started with Knights Lab as a staff researcher for two years before beginning her Ph.D. Prior to joining the lab, Suzie conducted data visualization research and taught English in Linz, Austria as part of a Fulbright Award. Suzie received her B.A. in Mathematics from St. Olaf College.

Past members

Postdoctoral Associates

• Dr. ABBY JOHNSON - Abby is Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.
• Dr. JONATHAN CLAYTON - Jonathan is Assistant Professor at the University of Nebraska.
• Dr. CHRISTOPHER McKINLAY - Chris is Principal Engineer on the Flight Controls Team at Kitty Hawk.
• Dr. EMMANUEL MONTASSIER - Emmanuel is Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Nantes, France.
• Dr. ROBIN SHIELDS-CUTLER - Robin is an Assistant Professor at Macalester College.
• Dr. TONYA WARD - Tonya is Director of Data Science & Bioinformatics at Diversigen.

Doctoral Students

• Dr. GABRIEL AL-GHALITH - Gabe is now working at Johnson and Johnson.
• Dr. PAJAU (PJ) VANGAY - Pajau is currently a Scientific Community Engagement Manager for the National Microbiome Data Collaborative.
• Dr. BENJAMIN HILLMANN - Ben is now a visiting professor at Macalester College.

Staff Members

• Cal Thoma
• JESSICA KENNEDY
• SHANNON ZHOU

Undergraduates

• MAX ABRAMSON
• RAWDA AHMAD
• JORDAN AKERS
• KAIWEI ANG
• VANESSA BRADFISH
• ERICA ELLINGSON
• LUKE FEELEY
• ANDREW GRUESEN
• JESSICA HALVERSON
• PATRICK JOHNSON
• KAYLEE KANGAS
• AUSTIN KIM
• GRANT KIM
• CARTER LINHARDT
• VARUN MANGALICK
• JEREMY MEULEMANS
• NICK PERINOVIC
• KELSEY PORTER
• NURUL QURATULAINI ABD SALIM NAST
• LUTFE-E-NOOR RAHMAN
• GITANJALI RAMAN
• TIMOTHY RENIER
• DOMINIQUE SABAS
• ANNA SABOE
• DIMITRI SIDIROPOULOS
• MADELINE SMITH
• ARZENG SYED
• SANGEITHA THAYALAN
• GAVIN TURNER