PNNL

Jeffrey Czajka is a bioprocess scientist and a Linus Pauling Fellow at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), where he specializes in fungal and yeast fermentations within the Biological Conversion team of the Chemical & Biological Processing group. Czajka has over five years of experience in the fermentation of oleaginous yeasts (Y. lipolytica, Lipomyces species, and Rhodotorula) and filamentous fungi (Aspergillusspecies), with a focus on producing chemical and lipid products. 

Czajka joined PNNL in February 2022 as a Linus Pauling Distinguished Fellow. His academic journey began at the University of Michigan where he earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering in 2016, and he completed a PhD in energy, environmental, and chemical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis in 2021.

In his research, Czajka develops and employs machine learning, mechanistic models, 13C-Metabolic Flux Analysis, and omic analyses to enhance strain performance and optimize production processes. He is committed to advancing sustainable and efficient bioprocessing methods through his work.

• Machine Learning
• Fungal Biotechnology
• Bioreactor Fermentations
• Fluxomics
• Phenotyping

• Bioreactor
• Chemical Engineering
• FBA
• Fermentation Process Development
• Fermentation Technology
• Fungal Biology
• Fungiculture
• Machine Learning
• Metabolomics
• Proteomics
• Transcriptomics

• PhD in energy engineering, Washington University in St. Louis
• BS in chemical engineering, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

Visit Google Scholar for a complete list of publications.

2024

• Czajka J.J., Y. Han, J. Kim, S.J. Mondo, B.A. Hofstad, A.L. Robles, and S. Haridas, et al. 2024. "Genome-Scale Model Development and Genomic Sequencing of the Oleaginous Clade Lipomyces." Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology 12. PNNL-SA-193362. doi:10.3389/fbioe.2024.1356551
• Pomraning K.R., S. Deng, R.D. Duong, J.J. Czajka, and P. Bohutskyi. 2024. "Identification of Yarrowia lipolytica as a platform for designed consortia that incorporate in situ nitrogen fixation to enable ammonia-free bioconversion." Frontiers in Industrial Microbiology 2. PNNL-SA-201556. doi:10.3389/finmi.2024.1473316
• Yuan G., S. Deng, J.J. Czajka, Z. Dai, B.A. Hofstad, J. Kim, and K.R. Pomraning. 2024. "CRISPR-Cas9/Cas12a Systems for efficient genome editing and large genomic fragment deletions in Aspergillus niger." Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology 12. PNNL-SA-199630. doi:10.3389/fbioe.2024.1452496
• Yuan G., S. Gao, J.J. Czajka, Z. Dai, K.R. Pomraning, R.D. Duong, and B.A. Hofstad, et al. 2024. "Simple and effective Squash-PCR for rapid genotyping of industrial microalgae." Life 14, no. 1:Art. No. 115. PNNL-SA-192108. doi:10.3390/life14010115

2023

• Yuan G., J.J. Czajka, Z. Dai, D. Hu, K.R. Pomraning, B.A. Hofstad, and J. Kim, et al. 2023. "Rapid and robust squashed spore/colony PCR of industrially important fungi." Fungal Biology and Biotechnology 10. PNNL-SA-186830. doi:10.1186/s40694-023-00163-0