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Ophelia Shalini Venturelli

Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering
Biomedical Engineering

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering · 2024 - Present Biomedical Engineering, Pratt School of Engineering
Associate Professor in Molecular Genetics and Microbiology · 2025 - Present Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Basic Science Departments

In the News


Published September 25, 2024
Four Newly Promoted or Hired Faculty Named Langford Lecturers
Published September 23, 2024
Ophelia Venturelli Wants to Engineer Our Guts

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Recent Publications


Metabolic interplay drives population cycles in a cross-feeding microbial community.

Journal Article Nature communications · October 2025 Population cycles are prevalent in ecosystems and play key roles in determining their functions. While multiple mechanisms have been theoretically shown to generate population cycles, there are limited examples of mutualisms driving self-sustained oscillat ... Full text Cite

Decoding the role of the arginine dihydrolase pathway in shaping human gut community assembly and health-relevant metabolites.

Journal Article Cell systems · May 2025 The arginine dihydrolase pathway (arc operon) provides a metabolic niche by transforming arginine into metabolic byproducts. We investigate the role of the arc operon in probiotic Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 on human gut community assembly and health-rele ... Full text Cite
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Recent Grants


A multi-scale systems biology framework for understanding and engineering the human gut microbiome

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2017 - 2030

Dietary Fiber-Microbiome Interactions: Elucidating Mechanisms to Suppress Multi-Drug Resistant Organisms in the Human Gut

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases · 2025 - 2029

NSF Engineering Research Center for Precision Microbiome Engineering (PreMiEr)

ResearchInvestigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2022 - 2027

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Education, Training & Certifications


California Institute of Technology · 2013 Ph.D.

External Links


Lab Website