Ben Robertson is from Cleveland, Ohio, where he graduated from high school in 2015. For his senior project, he worked at NASA, intercalating carbon nanofibers with halogens to improve their conductivity. After a summer internship at the Center for Nanoscale Materials at Argonne National Laboratory, where he investigated the use of antibody microarrays to concentrate and detect E-coli more cheaply and effectively in water, Ben joined the Tirrell lab to work on investigating the potential of peptide amphiphile micelles to absorb and recycle nutrients under Dr. Amanda Marciel. In 2019, Ben graduated from the University of Chicago, where he pursued a BS in molecular engineering, with a minor in physics. In his free time, he enjoys acting, singing, and 3D design.
The possible applications of peptide amphiphiles are not yet well understood, but it is clear that there are many of them. Ben's research focuses on synthesizing and characterizing peptide amphiphiles with Dr. Amanda Marciel and Whitney Fowler, primarily for application in nutrient uptake and release, but also to better understand their physical properties.