Dr. Blenner's interest is generating systems level data and synthetic biology tools to speed the design, build, test cycle for yeast, mammalian cells, and microbial communities. His group is interested in solving problems in complex environments, such as biomanufacturing, and wild environments outside the lab. He views the most important part of his job as helping students develop as independent creative critical thinkers. Dr. Blenner has won numerous awards including the PECASE, the 2022 AIChE Division 15 Early Career Award, and the 2021 ACS BIOT Young Investigator Award