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Faculty & Research

There are more than 45 participating faculty in the MIT Microbiology graduate program, from several different science and engineering departments and divisions.

Becoming a Member

The Microbiology graduate program welcomes all faculty who self-identify as working with microbes and microbial processes. For more information, please contact microbiology@mit.edu

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  • Eric Alm

    Professor of Biological Engineering
    Alm Lab
    ejalm@mit.edu
    617-253-2726
    Short Bio

    The human microbiome plays a key role in human health and disease. Research in my group includes both computational/theoretical and experimental approaches to understanding and engineering the human microbiome. Our research is focused on translating basic science discoveries rapidly into the clinic, where they can contribute to better outcomes for patients. Some areas of special interest include:

    • Developing therapeutics based on synthetic microbial communities
    • Personalized medicine
    • Monitoring human activities through Smart Sewers
    • Smart Toilets that track human health
    • Discovering low-cost non-invasive biomarkers

  • Andrew Babbin

    Cecil & Ida Green Career Development Associate Professor Associate Professor of Chemical Oceanography and Marine Microbiology
    MIT EAPS
    babbin@mit.edu
    617 253 2181
    Short Bio

    Andrew Babbin and his bablab are oceanographers, biogeochemists, engineers, and microbial ecologists studying the interplay of chemistry and biology across spatial scales. They focus on the interactions of microorganisms with their chemical environment to understand climate and the impacts microbial communities have for marine biogeochemistry. They particularly investigate the cycling of marine nitrogen under reduced oxygen concentrations, and its relationship to carbon. Their approach is three-fold: (i) investigating biogeochemistry in situ through shipboard and land-based field work and analyses, (ii) designing and executing novel laboratory-based systems to probe the underlying fundamentals for microbial community growth and function, and (iii) using large datasets to investigate marine biogeochemistry through numerical simulation and modeling. They routinely consider how microscale processes occurring around individual bacteria and marine snow particles impact whole-ocean biogeochemistry, bridging microscopic life to global climate.

    Babbin earned his BS degree (2008) from Columbia University and doctoral degree (2014) from Princeton University. He came to MIT in November 2014 as an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Civil and Environmental Engineering before joining the EAPS faculty as of January 2017. His lab group conducts research across a variety of avenues, coupling observational oceanography with laboratory experiments to understand the chemical underpinnings that control microbes in the environment and how these microbes in turn reshape Earth’s climate.

  • Tania Baker

    E. C. Whitehead Professor of Biology; MacVicar Faculty Fellow; Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
    Baker Lab
    tabaker@mit.edu
    617-253-3594
    Short Bio

    Prof. Tania Baker is no longer accepting graduate students.

    Tania Baker’s current research explores mechanisms and regulation of enzyme-catalyzed protein unfolding, ATP-dependent protein degradation, and remodeling of the proteome during cellular stress responses.

  • David Bartel

    Professor of Biology; Member, Whitehead Institute; Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
    Bartel Lab
    dbartel@wi.mit.edu
    617-258-5287
    Short Bio

    We study post-transcriptional gene regulation—why some cellular mRNAs are a thousand times more stable than others, and why some are translated better than others. These differences dramatically influence the amount of protein produced from each gene, which is critical for proper cellular function, as well as organismal development and survival. A major focus of our research is microRNAs, which are ~22-nt RNAs that pair to mRNAs to specify their repression. Another focus is mRNAs, with particular interest in their untranslated regions and tails, and how these regions recruit and mediate regulatory phenomena. In the course of our work, we develop new tools for high-throughput molecular measurements, which help to inform our computational analyses and in-depth mechanistic studies.

  • Angela Belcher

    W.M. Keck Professor of Energy; James Mason Crafts Professor of Biological Engineering and Materials Science
    Belcher Lab
    belcher@mit.edu
    Short Bio

    In the Biomolecular Materials Group, we evolve simple organisms using directed evolution to work with the elements in the rest of the periodic table. We encourage these organisms to grow and assemble technologically important materials and devices for energy, the environment, and medicine. These hybrid organic-inorganic electronic and magnetic materials have been used in applications as varied as solar cells, batteries, medical diagnostics and basic single molecule interactions related to disease. In doing so, we have capitalized on many of the wonderful properties of biology–using only non-toxic materials, employing self-repair mechanisms, self-assembling precisely and over longer ranges, and adapting and evolving to become better over time.

  • Paul Blainey

    Associate Professor of Biological Engineering
    Broad Institute
    pblainey@mit.edu
    617-714-7320
    Short Bio

    Paul Blainey is a core member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and a tenured associate professor in the Department of Biological Engineering at MIT. He is an expert in microanalysis systems for studies of individual molecules and cells. Blainey is applying this technology to advance the understanding of DNA-protein interactions, evolutionary processes, functional differences between cells, disease processes, and drug target discovery.

    The Blainey group develops and translates microfluidic, chemical, imaging, and genomics approaches to make high-throughput quantitative biology routine. Such capabilities will allow scientists to gain fundamental insights into many aspects of mammalian cell biology, microbial community function, and disease biology. Blainey seeks to empower researchers to obtain new types of information about biological specimens and integrate different types of information, such as imaging and genomic data.

  • Tanja Bosak

    Professor
    Bosak Lab
    tbosak@mit.edu
    617-324-3959
    Short Bio

    The Bosak laboratory uses experimental geobiology to explore modern biogeochemical and sedimentological processes in microbial systems and interpret the record of life on the Early Earth.

  • Lydia Bourouiba

    Associate Professor
    Bourouiba Lab
    lbouro@mit.edu
    617-324-7745
    Short Bio

    Focusing on the interface of fluid dynamics and epidemiology, The Fluid Dynamics of Disease Transmission Laboratory, within the Fluids and Health Network, aims to elucidate the fundamental physical mechanisms shaping the transmission dynamics of pathogens in human, animal, and plant populations where drops, bubbles, multiphase and complex flows are at the core, in addition to broader questions at the intersection of health, broadly defined, and fluid physics.

  • Bryan Bryson

    Phillip and Susan Ragon Career Development Professor
    Bryson Lab
    bryand@mit.edu
    617-258-7641
    Short Bio
    • Understanding and predicting the host and bacterial determinants of bacterial fate
    • Developing novel tools to interrogate bacterium:host interactions with single cell resolution
    • Reprogramming the innate immune system to improve bacterial control through systematic dissection of innate response pathways

  • Cullen Buie

    Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
    MIT LEMI
    crb@mit.edu
    617.324.4029
    Short Bio

    Cullen is currently an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering (with tenure) at MIT. His laboratory explores flow physics at the microscale for applications in materials science and microbiology. His research is applicable to a diverse array of problems, from anti-biofouling surfaces and biofuels to energy storage and bacterial infections. Cullen is the recipient of numerous awards for his research and service including the National Science Foundation CAREER Award (2012), the DuPont Young Professor Award (2013), the DARPA Young Faculty Award (2013), and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (2016). Cullen’s C.V. can be found here.