Yael Toporek joined NREL in 2023 as a postdoc in Michael Guarnieri’s group under the Biocatalysis and C1 Conversion directorate. Toporek’s current research focuses on enhancing microbial conversion of methanol to high-value platform chemicals, and development of predictive genetic microbial biocontainment designs for phylogenetically diverse industrial microbes.

Toporek obtained both her bachelor's degree and doctorate in biology from Georgia Tech. Toporek’s doctoral work focused on environmental bioremediation strategies using facultative anaerobe Shewanella oneidensis, including the molecular mechanism of dissimilatory iodine reduction, degradation of environmental contaminants via the microbially-driven Fenton reaction, and the interplay of enzymes involved in oxidative stress response.

For additional information, visit Yael Toporek's LinkedIn profile.

Disclaimer: Any opinions expressed on LinkedIn are the author’s own, made in the author's individual capacity, and do not necessarily reflect the views of NREL.

Research Interests

Molecular microbiology

Microbial C1 carbon capture and conversion

Genetic tool development for non-model microbes

Microbial anaerobic respiration

Education

Ph.D., Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology

B.S., Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology

Featured Work

Iodate Reduction By Shewanella Oneidensis Requires Genes Encoding An Extracellular Dimethylsulfoxide Reductase, Frontiers in Microbiology (2022)

Resistance of Perfluorooctanoic Acid To Degradation By the Microbially Driven Fenton Reaction, FEMS Microbiology Letters (2021)

Microbial Helpers Allow Cyanobacteria To Thrive In Ferruginous Waters, Geobiology (2021)

Metal Reduction and Protein Secretion Genes Required For Iodate Reduction By Shewanella Oneidensis, Applied and Environmental Microbiology (2019)

Iodate Reduction By Shewanella Oneidensis Does Not Involve Nitrate Reductase, Geomicrobiology (2018)