Research

SB2 program faculty hail from a broad range of departments and colleges at Boston University, including biomedical engineering, electrical engineering, biology, physics, bioinformatics and data science, chemistry, microbial ecology and evolution, and the school of medicine. This means that SB2 trainees can undertake research projects in synthetic biology, tissue and organ engineering, immunology and immunotherapies, cell biology, bioinformatics, protein evolution, microbial ecology and evolution, computer engineering and automation, bioelectronics, and more. The trainees and their faculty mentors will develop new tools, devices, and systems to understand and control the processes that govern living systems, ranging from the microbiome to immune cells to complex tissues. Our 28 faculty mentors are composed of 11 full, 6 associate, and 11 assistant professors:

Samagya Banskota, Ph.D. (Asst. Prof. of BME). The Banskota Lab’s research interests lie in the intersection of synthetic biology, protein engineering, drug delivery, and gene editing, with a focus on using a cross-disciplinary approach to solving delivery challenges for therapeutics. Towards that goal, we are developing tools that allow us to probe and manipulate macromolecular transport to understand delivery barriers.

Christopher Chen, M.D., Ph.D. (Prof. of BME). The Chen Lab seeks to understand how adhesive, mechanical, and biochemical interactions drive cell and tissue function, to use this knowledge to build biomimetic tissues as experimental models and to direct tissue remodeling and regeneration.

Ji-Xin Cheng, Ph.D. (Prof. of BME, ECE, Chemistry, & Physics). The Cheng Lab develops and applies molecular spectroscopic imaging and cell modulation technologies to enable discovery-driven research towards marker-based precise diagnosis and/or treatment of human diseases.

Brian Cleary, Ph.D. (Asst. Prof. of Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences (CDS), BME, & Biology. The Cleary Lab works at the interface of the limits of algorithmic learning and the limits of biological experimentation in pursuit of the organizing principles of molecular, cellular and tissue processes.

Brianne Connizzo, Ph.D. (Asst. Prof. of BME). The Connizzo Lab develops novel mechanical and biochemical tools for measuring, visualizing, and controlling protein turnover in living cells within their native microenvironment, with the goal of understanding how tissue maintenance is affected by injury, aging, and disease.

Douglas Densmore, Ph.D. (Prof. of ECE, BME, & MSE). The Densmore Lab focuses the development of tools for the specification, design, assembly, and test of synthetic biological systems.

Mary Dunlop, Ph.D.; (Assoc. Prof. of BME, BI, & MCBB). The Dunlop Lab focuses on quantifying, controlling, and understanding cell-to-cell heterogeneity in bacterial systems in multiple contexts, including antibiotic tolerance and resistance, and metabolic engineering for improved bioproduction.

Sean Elliott, Ph.D. (Prof. of Chemistry & MSE). The Elliott Lab uses biophysical chemistry, electrochemistry, enzymology and bioinformatics to understand the diverse chemistry of redox enzymes and electron-transfer proteins.

Miguel Jimenez, Ph.D. (Asst. Prof. of BME). The Jimenez Lab develops electronic and mechanical devices that natively interface with biology – sensors and actuators with integrated microorganisms that augment our capacity to monitor and act on changes in our bodies, our plants and livestock, and our environment.

James Galagan, Ph.D. (Prof. in BME & Microbiology). The Galagan lab develops biosensors and wearable devices by harnessing the genetics and biochemistry of microbes using a combination of engineering, machine learning, and high-throughput experimental methods.

Mikel Garcia-Marcos, Ph.D. (Prof. of Biochemistry and Cell Biology & Biology). The Garcia-Marcos Lab aims to understand and manipulate mechanisms of cellular communication with a specific focus on G protein-coupled receptors, the largest family of druggable targets in the human genome.

Alexander Green, Ph.D. (Assoc. Prof. of BME). The Green Lab designs and develops nucleic-acid-based sensing and computing systems to create low-cost, portable diagnostic assays for confronting infectious disease and illuminating human health.

Xue Han, Ph.D. (Prof. of BME). The Han Lab invents new neurotechnologies and uses them to probe the cellular and network mechanisms of brain disorders and brain stimulation strategies, with a goal of identifying functional biomarkers for disease diagnosis and developing neuromodulation therapies.

Liangliang Hao, Ph.D. (Asst. Prof. of BME). The Hao Lab develops molecular and cellular tools to precisely track and control disease biology in intact organisms, with specific research interests in non-invasive disease detection, tissue-specific transcriptome engineering, and multimodal systemic imaging.

Mo Khalil, Ph.D. (Prof. of BME). The Khalil Lab is developing novel tools at the intersection of synthetic & systems biology, protein & cell engineering, laboratory evolution, genomics, and computation that enable us to recapitulate and control cellular behavior with synthetic circuitry.

Darrell Kotton, M.D. (Prof. of Medicine). The Kotton Lab’s goal is to advance our understanding of lung disease and developmental biology with a focus on stem cell biology and gene therapy.

Joseph Larkin, Ph.D. (Asst. Prof. of Biology & Physics) The Larkin Lab investigates the origin and benefits of multicellular behaviors in microbes, using time-lapse imaging, mathematical modeling, and traditional microbiology assays.

John Ngo, Ph.D. (Assoc. Prof. of BME). The Ngo Lab applies the principles of evolution, chemistry, and engineering to develop new tools for measuring, visualizing, and controlling biomolecules in living cells and organisms.

Erica Pratt, Ph.D. (Asst. Prof. of Biology & BME). The Pratt Lab uses molecular diagnostics, peptide engineering, and microfluidics to better understand the significance and role of circulating biomarkers in tumorigenesis and to design blood-based assays for cancer diagnosis and monitoring.

Pawel Przytycki, Ph.D. (Asst. Prof. of CDS & BI) The Przytycki Lab develops novel computational methods to understand the regulatory effects of noncoding variants in neurological development and diseases.

Daniel Segrè, Ph.D. (Prof. of BME, Biology, BI, & CDS). The Segrè Lab develops theoretical approaches and computational models to study complex biological networks, including the dynamics and evolution of metabolism in microbial communities.

Trevor Siggers, Ph.D. (Assoc. Prof. of Biology). The Siggers Lab uses integrative biochemical and genomic approaches to study gene regulation in the immune and inflammatory systems.

Michelle Teplensky, Ph.D. (Asst. Prof. of BME & MSE). The Teplensky Lab focuses on engineering nanotechnology to control immunological cell connectivity, processing, and communication and develop improved therapeutics for cancer and infectious disease.

Arturo Vegas, Ph.D. (Asst. Prof. of Chemistry, BME, & MSE). The Vegas Lab develops new chemical tools, materials, and approaches for targeting therapeutics to diseased tissues, with an emphasis on cancer and diabetes.

Joyce Wong, Ph.D. (Prof. of BME & MSE). The J. Wong Lab develops biomaterials-based systems with applications for maternal and child health, including tissue engineering for pediatric cardiovascular disease and theranostics for post-surgical abdominal adhesions.

Wilson Wong, Ph.D. (Assoc. Prof. of BME). The W. Wong Lab develops ways to control mammalian cell functions through engineering, biological network design, molecular biology, and chemical biology for medical applications, including CAR T cell therapy.

Zeba Wunderlich, Ph.D. (Assoc. Prof. of Biology & BME). The Wunderlich Lab uses bioinformatics, mathematical modeling, quantitative imaging, and functional genomics to investigate how gene expression control can drive developmental patterning in Drosophila.

Rabia Yazicigil Kirby, Ph.D. (Asst. Prof. of ECE & BME). The Yazicigil Lab develops cyber-secure biological systems that tightly couple genetically engineered biological systems with secure custom designed electronics and uses these technologies in healthcare and environmental monitoring settings.

Meg Younger, Ph.D. (Asst. Prof. of Biology & BME). The Younger Lab is focused on olfaction in the disease-vector mosquito Aedes aegypti and uses neurogenetic techniques to study chemosensory transduction and processing.