Faculty

Source: https://biology.mit.edu/faculty-and-research/faculty/ Parent: https://biology.mit.edu/

Research AreasBiochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural BiologyCancer BiologyCell BiologyComputational BiologyGeneticsHuman DiseaseImmunologyMicrobiologyNeurobiologyStem Cell and Developmental BiologyLocationsBroad InstituteBuilding 68 - Koch Biology BuildingKoch Institute for Integrative Cancer ResearchNeuroscience ComplexRagon Institute of MGH, MIT and HarvardWhitehead Institute for Biomedical Research

Faculty

Tania A. Baker

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

David Bartel studies molecular pathways that regulate eukaryotic gene expression by affecting the stability or translation of mRNAs.

Facundo Batista

Facundo Batista studies fundamental lymphocyte biology to drive the development of the next generation of vaccines and therapeutics.

Stephen Bell

Stephen Bell probes the cellular machinery that replicates and maintains animal cell chromosomes.

Laurie A. Boyer

Co-Undergrad Officer

Laurie A. Boyer investigates the gene regulatory mechanisms driving cardiac cell fate, and how faulty regulation impacts regeneration and disease.

Christopher Burge

Christopher Burge applies a combination of experimental and computational approaches to understand the regulatory codes underlying pre-mRNA splicing and other types of post-transcriptional gene regulation.

Eliezer Calo

Eliezer Calo studies how cells build ribosomes and how dysfunction in ribosome biogenesis and function leads to tissue-specific developmental disorders and cancer.

Lindsay Case

Lindsay Case studies how molecules are concentrated and organized at the plasma membrane to regulate transmembrane signaling.

Iain M. Cheeseman

Associate Dept. Head

Iain Cheeseman analyzes the process by which cells duplicate, focusing on how the molecular machinery that segregates the chromosomes is rewired across diverse physiological contexts.

Yiyin Erin Chen

Erin Chen studies how the microbes in our bodies educate our immune systems, in order to engineer microbial therapeutics for human disease.

Jianzhu Chen

Jianzhu Chen studies the immune system, harnessing the body’s defense force to explore treatment and prevention for cancer, as well as metabolic and infectious diseases.

Sallie (Penny) W. Chisholm

Sallie (Penny) W. Chisholm studies the biology, ecology, and evolution of the single most abundant marine phytoplankton species in order to understand the forces that shape microbial ecosystems.

Olivia Corradin

Olivia Corradin investigates the genetic and epigenetic changes in gene regulatory elements that influence human disease.

Joseph (Joey) Davis

Joseph Davis develops and applies new structural (cryoEM/ET) and biochemical methods to dissect how macromolecular machines such as ribosomes and autophagy complexes are dynamically assembled, regulated, and degraded to maintain cellular homeostasis.

Catherine Drennan

Catherine Drennan takes “snapshots” of metalloenzymes using crystallography and/or cryo-electron microscopy.

Mary Gehring

Graduate Officer

Mary Gehring researches epigenetic mechanisms of gene regulation in plants.

Alan D. Grossman

Alan Grossman studies mechanisms and regulation of DNA replication, gene expression, and horizontal gene transfer in bacteria.

Leonard P. Guarente

Leonard P. Guarente looks at mammal, mouse, and human brains to understand the genetic underpinning of aging and age-related diseases like Alzheimer’s.

Michael T. Hemann

Michael T. Hemann uses mouse models to combat cancers resistant to chemotherapy.

Whitney Henry

Whitney Henry studies ferroptosis in human health and disease with a focus on cancer.

H. Robert Horvitz

H. Robert Horvitz analyzes the roles of genes in animal development and behavior, gaining insight into human disease.

David Housman

David Housman studies the biological underpinnings of diseases like Huntington’s, cancer, and cardiovascular disease.

Siniša Hrvatin

Siniša Hrvatin studies states of stasis, such as mammalian torpor and hibernation, as a means to harness the potential of these biological adaptations to advance medicine.

Yunha Hwang

Yunha Hwang combines machine learning and experimentation to study the biochemistry, ecology and evolution of microbial systems.

Barbara Imperiali

Barbara Imperiali studies the biogenesis and myriad functions of glycoconjugates in human health and disease.

Tyler Jacks

Tyler Jacks is interested in the genetic events contributing to the development of cancer, and his group has created a series of mouse strains engineered to carry mutations in genes known to be involved in human cancers.

Rudolf Jaenisch

Rudolf Jaenisch uses pluripotent cells (ES and iPS cells) to study the genetic and epigenetic basis of human diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, autism and cancer.

Ankur Jain

Ankur Jain investigates the role of RNA self-assembly in cellular organization and neurodegenerative disease.

Matthew G. Jones

Matthew Jones integrates computational and technological advances to decode the molecular processes underlying spatiotemporal tumor evolution, with a focus on genomic instability and extrachromosomal DNA.

Chris A. Kaiser

Before closing his lab, Chris A. Kaiser analyzed protein folding and trafficking in cells.

Amy E. Keating

Department Head

Amy E. Keating determines how proteins make specific interactions with one another and designs new, synthetic protein-protein interactions.

Kristin Knouse

Kristin Knouse seeks to understand and modulate organ injury and repair by innovating tools for experimentation directly within living organisms.

Sally Kornbluth

President of MIT

Sally Kornbluth is President of MIT.

Monty Krieger

Monty Krieger studies cell surface receptors and cholesterol and their impact on normal physiology and diseases, such as heart disease and infertility.

Rebecca Lamason

Rebecca Lamason investigates what happens when cellular functions are hijacked by unwanted interlopers: namely, the bacteria that engender diseases like spotted fever and meningitis.

Eric S. Lander

Eric S. Lander is interested in every aspect of the human genome and its application to medicine.

Michael T. Laub

Michael T. Laub explores how bacterial cells process information and regulate their own growth and proliferation, as well as how these information-processing capabilities have evolved.

Douglas Lauffenburger

Douglas Lauffenburger fosters the interface of bioengineering, quantitative cell biology, and systems biology to determine fundamental aspects of cell dysregulation — identifying and testing new therapeutic ideas.

Jacqueline Lees

Jacqueline Lees develops mouse and zebrafish models, identifying the molecular pathways leading to tumor formation.

Ruth Lehmann

Ruth Lehmann studies the biological origins of germ cells, and how they transmit the potential to build a completely new organism to their offspring.

Daniel Lew

Daniel Lew uses fungal model systems to ask how cells orient their activities in space, including oriented growth, cell wall remodeling, and organelle segregation.

Pulin Li

Pulin Li is interested in quantitatively understanding how genetic circuits create multicellular behavior in both natural and synthetically engineered systems.

Gene-Wei Li

Associate Dept. Head

Gene-Wei Li investigates how quantitative information regarding precise proteome composition is encoded in and extracted from bacterial genomes.

Troy Littleton

Troy Littleton is interested in how neuronal connections form and function, and how neurological disease disrupts synaptic communication.

Harvey F. Lodish

Before closing his lab, Harvey F. Lodish studied the development of red blood cells and the use of modified red cells for the introduction of novel therapeutics into the human body, as well as the development of brown and white fat cells.

Sebastian Lourido

Sebastian Lourido exposes parasite vulnerabilities and harnesses them to treat infectious disease.

Adam C. Martin

Co-Undergrad Officer

Adam C. Martin studies molecular mechanisms that underlie tissue form and function.

Hernandez Moura Silva

Hernandez Moura Silva seeks to understand how the immune system supports tissue physiology to unveil new approaches to treat human diseases.

Elly Nedivi

Elly Nedivi studies the mechanisms underlying brain circuit plasticity — characterizing the genes and proteins involved, as well as visualizing synaptic and neuronal remodeling in the living mouse brain.

Sergey Ovchinnikov

Sergey Ovchinnikov studies protein structure and evolution at environmental, organismal, genomic, structural, and molecular scales.

David C. Page

David C. Page examines the genetic differences between males and females — and how these play out in disease, development, and evolution.

Sara Prescott

Sara Prescott investigates how sensory inputs from within the body control mammalian physiology and behavior.

Peter Reddien

Peter Reddien works to unravel one of the greatest mysteries in biology — how organisms regenerate missing body parts.

Alison E. Ringel

Alison E. Ringel seeks to understand the molecular adaptations that enable immune cells to function and survive within unfavorable environments.

Francisco J. Sánchez-Rivera

Francisco J. Sánchez-Rivera aims to understand how genetic variation shapes normal physiology and disease, with a focus on cancer.

Thomas U. Schwartz

Thomas U. Schwartz investigates communication across biological membranes, using structural, biochemical, and genetic tools.

Yadira Soto-Feliciano

Yadira Soto-Feliciano studies chromatin and epigenetic regulation in normal development and cancer.

Stefani Spranger

Stefani Spranger studies how the body’s immune system interacts with growing tumors to harness the immune response to fight cancer.

Zuri Sullivan

Zuri Sullivan studies how interactions between the immune system and the brain affect physiology and behavior to promote host defense.

Susumu Tonegawa

Susumu Tonegawa investigates the biological underpinnings of learning and memory in rodents.

Ron Vale

Ron Vale is interested in how proteins generate biological movement and intracellular signaling and how these molecular machines adapt when challenged by temperature extremes, drought, or disease.

Matthew Vander Heiden

Matthew Vander Heiden is interested in the role that cell metabolism plays in mammalian physiology, with a focus on cancer.

Seychelle M. Vos

Seychelle M. Vos investigates how genome organization and gene expression are physically coupled across molecular scales.

Graham C. Walker

Graham C. Walker studies DNA repair, mutagenesis, and cellular responses to DNA damage, as well as the symbiotic relationship between legumes and nitrogen-fixing bacteria.

Bruce Walker

Bruce Walker investigates cellular immune responses in chronic human viral infections, with a particular focus on HIV immunology and vaccine development.

Robert A. Weinberg

Robert A. Weinberg studies how cancer spreads, what gives cancer stem-cells their unique qualities, and the molecular players involved in the formation of cancer stem cells and metastases.

Brandon Weissbourd

Brady Weissbourd uses jellyfish to study nervous system evolution, development, regeneration, and function.

Jonathan Weissman

Jonathan Weissman investigates how proteins fold into their correct shape and how misfolding impacts disease and normal physiology, while building innovative tools for exploring the organizational principles of biological systems.

Matthew A. Wilson

Matthew Wilson studies rodent learning and memory by recording and manipulating the activity of neurons during behavior and sleep.

Harikesh S. Wong

Harikesh S. Wong studies how cells assemble and communicate to control immune responses in tissues.

Michael B. Yaffe

Michael B. Yaffe studies the chain of reactions that controls a cell’s response to stress, cell injury, and DNA damage.

Yukiko Yamashita

Yukiko Yamashita studies the mystery of evolution through the lens of junk DNA and germ cell biology.

Omer H. Yilmaz

Omer H. Yilmaz explores the impact of dietary interventions on stem cells, the immune system, and cancer within the intestine.

Richard A. Young

Richard A. Young explores how and why gene expression differs in healthy versus diseased cells.

Faculty

Faculty

Emeritus Faculty