I am a synthetic biology teacher and researcher currently based at the CRI in Paris, France.
I come from the United States, where I did my thesis work in the Department of Systems Biology at Harvard University. I worked in Pam Silver’s lab, studying metabolic engineering and microbial community interactions. Before that I was an undergraduate at New York University, learning about biology and computer science.
I like research projects that are practical, elegant, beautiful or fun. I’m working to develop new antibiotics for tuberculosis and other neglected microbial diseases. I study the effects of high-intensity visible light on bacterial cells. I’m interested in how we might re-engineer the skin microbiome to change or improve human body odor. I wonder about what causes human aging and how the negative effects could be reduced.
I also think about how to democratize new biotechnologies. I want genetic engineering to benefit all the people of the world, not just the lucky few who currently practice it. How do we bring the power of DNA to people who don’t have it yet? How do we get academics and industry professionals to care about opinions that come from outside?