Location (during time of takeover)
School/Institution
| Undergrad | University of Santo Tomas Microbiology |
|---|---|
| Masters | Korea University Environmental Engineering |
| PhD | National University of Singapore Environmental Engineering |
| Postdoc | National University of Singapore Synthetic Biology |
Featured on July 6, 2025
A man of many hats, opening up July is Pinoy Scientist microbiologist, environmental engineer, and synthetic biologist Dr. Ryan De Sotto, a Research Fellow for the National University of Singapore (NUS) Synthetic Biology for Clinical and Technological Innovation Research Programme.
Ryan completed his Bachelor’s degree in Microbiology at the University of Santo Tomas, graduating in 2010. He spent a year at Euro-med Laboratories as a Quality Control Microbiologist before pursuing his Master’s Degree at Korea University. He pivoted to Environmental Engineering for his field of study with a focus on water chemistry and wastewater treatment. While there, he also served as a Research Assistant for their Biomonitoring Laboratory where he analyzed river contaminants and developed an ecotoxicity assay for evaluating antibiotic toxicity in zebrafish. He then moved to Singapore to continue studying Environmental Engineering at the NUS, where he graduated with his PhD in 2020. During this time, he was also a Research Engineer for the university, doing work on a wastewater treatment reactor.
After receiving his PhD, Ryan remained at his alma mater as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the NUS Synthetic Biology for Clinical and Technological Innovation Research Programme where he is a synthetic biologist that specializes in biotherapeutic applications. His current work is on engineering a probiotic organism for atopic dermatitis (eczema) treatment on top of other research projects.
Some fun facts about Ryan:
- He is in a long-term polyamorous relationship
- Ryan loves going to music festivals such as Tomorrowland and EDC—he wants to do Ultra and Burning Man in the future!
- Ryan enjoys traveling—he loves experiencing different cultures through local architecture and food
