Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering
SYBORGS Laboratory
Led by Amor Menezes · Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
What we study
The SYBORGS lab uses the feedback-control ideas engineers use for machines to model and control biological systems, such as blood clotting and engineered microbes. Applications are in medicine and making things in space.
What working here is like
- Wet lab
- Computational
- Building & testing
- Bacteria & microbes
- No organisms (data only)
- Coding helps
- Projects
- 5
- Papers
- 5
Current projects
Feedback control for inflammation-mediated coagulation disorders
Uses feedback control to adjust levels of proteins involved in clotting disorders triggered by inflammation, such as uncontrolled bleeding after severe trauma and lung clots after infection.
Integrated space biomanufacturing systems
Designs biomanufacturing processes and systems for deployment on Mars, fitting them together so a factory meets specifications while keeping the payload that must be launched small.
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Engineered microbes for extreme environments
Engineers microbes to withstand harsh environments, building and testing genetic modules that improve how well different bacteria manufacture products in space.
In vitro tranexamic acid dosing efficacy against fibrinolysis
The lab tests how different doses of the drug tranexamic acid affect blood clot strength in a lab setting. Using six blood samples, they added two levels of a clot‑breaking enzyme and four levels of tranexamic acid. They measured clot strength and found that higher doses of the drug reduce clot breakdown in a dose‑dependent way.
From the Spring 2025 UF Undergraduate Research Symposium · abstract book, p. 507
Microgravity-Sensing Genetic Circuits: Adapting Hfq-Based Regulation for Space Biomanufacturing
Researchers tested a bacterial sensor that uses the Hfq protein to detect microgravity in E. coli, Vibrio natriegens, and Pseudomonas putida grown in rotating bioreactors. The sensor works differently in each species, guiding future design for space‑based medicine production.
From the Spring 2025 UF Undergraduate Research Symposium · abstract book, p. 442
Summaries are written by AI in plain language from public symposium abstracts and may be imperfect.
Recent papers, explained
- C27-07 Experimental Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis Results in Coagulopathy Associated With Fvii Deficiency and Impaired Host Defense
2026 · American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
Tests whether the hemostatic system helps fight fungal infections.
- A refined phenomenological model of viscoelastic clot formation and lysis in trauma-induced coagulopathy
2026 · Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine
Builds a model to predict clot strength from protein levels.
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- Control-oriented predictions of candidate coagulation protein therapies for invasive pulmonary aspergillosis
2025 · Journal of Critical Care
- Dynamic Therapy for Pulmonary Fibrin Accumulation
2025 · ASME Letters in Dynamic Systems and Control
Proposes a treatment to control lung fibrin buildup.
- PERRC: Protease Engineering with Reactant Residence Time Control
2025 · ACS Synthetic Biology
Developed a method to improve protease specificity by controlling reaction time in cells.
Plain-language summaries are AI-written and reviewed by us; check the paper for details.
How to reach out
Amor Menezes hasn't set up this page yet. Their UF Scholars profile lists their publications.