Faculty Highlights
Academic Year 2024-2025
Professor Michael Levin has been selected as the recipient of the 2024 INNS Donald O. Hebb Award by the International Neural Network Society. Also, the Harvard Extension School Psychology Student Club has recognized Dr. Levin as an Outstanding Scientist and Educator. He delivered two talks for their community in May 2023 and April 2025 that were deeply appreciated by the club and a global audience. Congratulations to Dr. Levin!
Assistant Professor of Biology and Anthropology, Zarin Machanda, has been selected as a ROUTE (Recognition of Undergraduate Teaching Excellence) Award winner! This award is presented to junior full-time faculty members in Arts, Sciences, and Engineering who have demonstrated excellence in teaching and advising, concern for students’ academic and personal growth, and the ability to convey a passion and enthusiasm for their field of study. Congratulations Zarin!
Professor Michael Levin, along with two other Tufts faculty members, has been named an AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) fellow! See the Tufts Now article highlighting this accomplishment.
Assistant Professor of Biology, Alfredo Hernandez, has co-authored a paper on DNA annealing titled "Mechanism of Annealing of Complementary DNA Strands by the Single-Stranded DNA Binding Protein of Bacteriophage T7". Sebastian Urbano (Hernandez Laboratory) and two Tufts undergraduate students are among the co-authors.
See the Tufts Now article that highlights Professor Michael Romero's laboratory and its work studying different species' strength in the face of natural and man-made challenges.
Professor Catherine Freudenreich’s recent work on APOBEC3A and Huntington’s Disease
Tufts Now features a profile on Professor Catherine Freudenreich, highlighting her recent research showing that APOBEC enzymes—proteins typically involved in combating viral infections by mutating viral DNA—may also contribute to genetic changes linked to Huntington’s disease. These enzymes cause repeat expansions and exhibit unusual activity in the brains of Huntington’s patients.
Her recent research, including a paper published in PNAS, titled "APOBEC3A deaminates CTG hairpin loops to promote fragility and instability of expanded CAG/CTG repeats," read it here!
This week's issue of Tufts Now features a profile on Professor Sarah Hengel and highlights her recent research, including two papers focused on how the Shu complex helps protect cells from DNA damage.
Biology Professor of the Practice, Dr. Frank David co-authored a new paper published in the journal JAMA Oncology "Cancer Drug Access and Innovation Under the Inflation Reduction Act—A Balancing Act". In the article, Dr. David and his co-author, Dr. Stacie Dusetzina of Vanderbilt, analyze the potential impacts of the IRA on oncology drug pricing and access for Medicare beneficiaries.
The Department of Biology welcomes a new faculty members, in Fall 2024:
Fatima Aysha Hussain is a microbial ecologist with a background in environmental engineering and women’s and gender studies. She earned her PhD at MIT, where she studied the ecology and evolution of prophages and phage defense elements in marine bacterial populations. Currently, she is a Research Scientist and Schmidt Science Fellow at the Ragon Institute of Mass General, MIT, and Harvard, where she designs genomically and ecologically informed microbial therapies for vaginal health by investigating bacteria-bacteria and bacteria-phage interactions. This fall, Fatima will be joining Tufts as an Assistant Professor in the Biology Department, bringing her passion for microbes, phages, and vaginal health. The new Hussain Lab will focus on the phage-driven evolution of the vaginal microbiome.