External Links

LinkedIn, GoogleScholar, ORCiD

 

Research Interests

Ikaia is a postdoctoral researcher and bioinformatician whose research focuses on elucidating microbial community dynamics and interactions through amplicon sequencing, multi-omics analyses, and stable isotope probing. His ongoing work integrates microbiome data with machine learning approaches to link microbial activity with biogeochemical processes and develop specialized AI/ML applications that advance microbiome science. Previously, Ikaia has contributed to projects investigating infectious diseases and the gut microbiome. His overarching goal is to innovate strategies to modulate microbial community composition and functionality to positively impact Earth systems, human health, and food production.

2023-Present, LLNL - Nuclear and Chemical Sciences Division, Postdoctoral Research Scientist

2023, Colorado State University, Ph.D., Cell and Molecular Biology

2022, Colorado State University, Graduate Certificate, Data Analysis

2019, Colorado State University, M.S., Microbiology

2012, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, B.S., Biology

1. Touceda-Suárez M, Perry MA, Frizzo R, Lotz-McMillen JH, Gilmore RA, Bennett SM, et al. Meeting report: International soil virus conference 2024. Virus Research. 2025;354:199544.

2. Borton MA, McGivern BB, Willi KR, Woodcroft BJ, Mosier AC, Singleton DM, et al. A functional microbiome catalogue crowdsourced from North American rivers. Nature. 2025;637:103–12.

3. Kokkinias K, Sabag-Daigle A, Kim Y, Leleiwi I, Shaffer M, Kevorkian R, et al. Time-resolved multi-omics reveals diverse metabolic strategies of Salmonella during diet-induced inflammation. mSphere. 2024;9:e00534-24.

4. Trubl G, Leleiwi I, Campbell A, Kimbrel JA, Bhattacharyya A, Riley R, et al. Soil redox drives virus-host community dynamics and plant biomass degradation in tropical rainforest soils. 2024;:2024.09.13.612973.

5. Leleiwi I, Kokkinias K, Kim Y, Baniasad M, Shaffer M, Sabag-Daigle A, et al. Gut microbiota carbon and sulfur metabolisms support Salmonella infections. The ISME Journal. 2024;18:wrae187.

6. Leleiwi I, Rodriguez-Ramos J, Shaffer M, Sabag-Daigle A, Kokkinias K, Flynn RM, et al. Exposing new taxonomic variation with inflammation — a murine model-specific genome database for gut microbiome researchers. Microbiome. 2023;11:114.

7. Baniasad M, Kim Y, Shaffer M, Sabag-Daigle A, Leleiwi I, Daly RA, et al. Optimization of proteomics sample preparation for identification of host and bacterial proteins in mouse feces. Anal Bioanal Chem. 2022;414:2317–31.

EMSL Exploratory Research Award. 2025-2026, CO-PI, 61520 Honeker. Using meta-omics and machine learning to predict soil organic carbon transformations following seasonal moisture changes in a Mediterranean grassland

 

GRC Carl Storm Underrepresented Minority Fellowship. $1000 fellowship to support participation in the 2023 Gordon Research Conference on Salmonella Biology and Pathogenesis

 

3rd place poster award recipient. 2022 Front Range Computational & Systems Biology Symposium in Fort Collins, CO

 

1st place poster award recipient. 2022 Front Range Microbiome Symposium in Fort Collins, CO

 

qCMB T32 Fellowship. 2020 – 2022 quantitative biology training grant award focused on career development and computational biology training

 

Cell and Molecular Biology Travel Award. $500 for travel to ASM Microbe 2020

 

Best Masters student poster in Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences. 2013 CTAHR Symposium Honolulu, HI

 

Best Undergraduate poster in Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences. 2012 CTAHR Symposium Honolulu, HI