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  • Katharina Ribbeck

    Eugene Bell Career Development Professor of Tissue Engineering
    Ribbeck Lab
    MIT Biological Engineering
    ribbeck@mit.edu
    617-715-4575
    Short Bio

    The Laboratory for Biological Hydrogels’ focus is on basic mechanisms by which mucus barriers exclude, or allow passage of different molecules and pathogens, and the mechanisms pathogens have evolved to penetrate mucus barriers. It hopes to provide the foundation for a theoretical framework that captures general principles governing selectivity in mucus, and likely other biological hydrogels such as the extracellular matrix, and bacterial biofilms. The Lab’s work may also be the basis for the reconstitution of synthetic gels that mimic the basic selective properties of biological gels.

  • Hadley Sikes

    Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering
    Sikes Lab
    sikes@mit.edu
    617.253.5224
    Short Bio

    Our efforts focus on engineering biomolecular systems to detect and treat disease in new ways.  We use the principles of engineering design to support and extend the practice of evidence-based diagnosis and selection of therapy.

    Engineering design starts with interviewing intended users to formulate a quantitative problem statement and to understand the context and constraints for a new medical test. In the area of infectious disease, proteins in bodily fluids can indicate malaria or tuberculosis. The protein identity, quantity, and bodily fluid varies with the disease. In cancer, particular epigenetic and post-translational protein modifications can predict which therapies are likely to be effective against an individual tumor. We use an understanding of thermodynamics, kinetics, and transport phenomena to design medical tests that simultaneously meet design criteria for analytical performance, assay time, cost, robustness, and infrastructural requirements. We iteratively test prototypes with clinical collaborators to assess and improve real-world utility.

  • Anthony Sinskey

    (1940-2025) Professor of Microbiology and Health Sciences & Technology
    Professor Anthony Sinskey, biologist, inventor, entrepreneur, and Center for Biomedical Innovation co-founder, dies at 84
    Sinskey Lab
    Short Bio

    Prof. Sinskey has passed away at the age of 84.

    Anthony J. Sinskey, Sc.D., was a Professor of Microbiology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and held positions as Co-Director of the Malaysia-MIT Biotechnology Partnership Program and Faculty Director of the MIT Center for Biomedical Innovation (CBI). He conducted interdisciplinary research in metabolic engineering, focusing on the fundamental physiology, biochemistry, and molecular genetics of important organisms. Dr. Sinskey was well known in the biopharmaceutical industry and was the Scientific Co-founder of several biotechnology companies, including Genzyme Corporation, Natural Pharmaceuticals, Metabolix, Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, and Tepha. Dr. Sinskey has given over 300 presentations at U.S. and International scientific meetings and congresses. He has received 31 issued patents, has made more than 30 invention disclosures, and has published more than 300 scientific papers in leading peer-reviewed journals for biology, metabolic engineering, and biopolymer engineering.

  • Gregory Stephanopolous

    Willard Henry Dow Professor in Chemical Engineering
    Metabolic Engineering Lab
    gregstep@mit.edu
    617-253-4583
    Short Bio

    Professor Stephanopoulos currently works in Cambridge, at the Department of Chemical Engineering of MIT, focusing on biotechnology, specifically metabolic and biochemical engineering. He is the Director of the Metabolic Engineering Laboratory. His group of approximately 20 graduate students and post-docs conducts research on various projects aiming at the development of biological production routes to chemical products and biofuels. Another program is investigating cancer as metabolic disease. More information about on-going research can be found in the research page of this site.

    Gregory Stephanopoulos C.V.

  • Bruce Tidor

    Professor of Biological Engineering and Computer Science
    Tidor Lab
    tidor@mit.edu
    617-253-7258
    Short Bio

    Our research is focused on the analysis of complex biological systems at both the molecular level and the systems level. Our molecular work concentrates on the structure and properties of proteins, nucleic acids, and their complexes. Investigations probe the sources of stability and specificity that drive folding and binding events of macromolecules. Studies are aimed at dissecting the interactions responsible for the specific structure of folded proteins and the binding geometry of molecular complexes. The roles played by salt bridges, hydrogen bonds, side-chain packing, rotameric states, solvation, and the hydrophobic effect in native biomolecules are being explored, and strategies for re-casting these roles through structure-based molecular design are being developed.

  • Christopher Voigt

    Professor of Biological Engineering
    Voigt Lab
    cavoigt@gmail.com
    617-324-4851
    Short Bio

    Genetic engineering is undergoing a revolution, where next-generation technologies for DNA and host manipulation are enabling larger and more ambitious projects in biotechnology. Automated DNA synthesis has advanced to where it is routine to order sequences >100,000bp where every base is user-specified, the turnaround time is several weeks, and the cost is rapidly declining. Recently, this facilitated the synthesis of a complete 1 Mbp genome of a bacterium and its transfer into a new host, resulting in a living cell. However, while whole genomes can be constructed, the ability to design such systems is lagging. The focus of my lab is to develop new experimental and theoretical methods to push the scale of genetic engineering, with the ultimate objective of genome design. This will impact the engineering of biology for a broad range of applications, including agriculture, materials, chemicals, and medicine.

  • Bruce Walker

    Professor of the Practice, MIT IMES; Director, Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard; Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
    MIT Biology
    Ragon Institute
    walkerb@mit.edu
    857-268-7073
    Short Bio

    Bruce Walker investigates cellular immune responses in chronic human viral infections, with a particular focus on HIV immunology and vaccine development. The overarching goal of my laboratory is to define the interplay of immunologic, virologic and host genetic factors that determine control of human viral infections, to guide vaccine development and immunotherapeutic interventions. To address this goal, we focus on HIV infection.

  • Ron Weiss

    Professor of Biological Engineering
    Weiss Lab
    rweiss@mit.edu
    617-715-4150
    Short Bio

    The Weiss Laboratory seeks to create integrated biological systems capable of autonomously performing useful tasks, and to elucidate the design principles underlying complex phenotypes. Cells sense their environment, process information, and continuously react to both internal and external stimuli. The construction of synthetic gene networks can help improve our understanding of such naturally existing regulatory functions within cells. Synthetic gene networks will also enable a wide range of new programmed cells applications. We use computer engineering principles of abstraction, composition, and interface specifications to program cells with sensors and actuators precisely controlled by analog and digital logic circuitry.