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Core Faculty

George Ellmore

Associate Professor

Ecology, Behavior and Evolution and Global Change Biology

Douglas Blackiston

Assistant Professor

Developmental Biology Animal Behavior Engineered Living Systems Biorobotics The overarching goal of my research program is to understand how developmental events coordinate organism-level behaviors, and how these interactions can inform both biomedical and ecological contexts. To this end, my group studies many aspects of developmental biology to learn about the molecular, genetic, and environmental signaling mechanisms driving behavioral phenotypes/disease, and then use these mechanisms to exert control over form and function, sensory-motor integration, and regenerative outcomes.

Lauren Crowe

Associate Teaching Professor

Frank David

Professor of the Practice

Biopharma strategy, regulation, & policy

Robert de Bruijn

Assistant Teaching Professor

Stress Physiology, Animal Behavior, Wildlife Endocrinology, Conservation Physiology, Active Learning Strategies, Evidence-Based Pedagogy & Best Practices

Erik Dopman

Associate Professor

Evolution and Genetics of Natural Populations

Catherine Freudenreich

Genetics and Molecular Biology. Genome instability, particularly at sites of repetitive and structure-forming DNA.

Jaye Gardiner

Assistant Professor

Our scientific curiosity revolves around understanding how viruses can rewire cells to change what genes are expressed and how this altered gene expression changes cellular behavior and interactions with the extracellular matrix (ECM). As obligate intracellular parasites, viruses are adept at hijacking biological processes for their own replication. However, the impact of these co-opted processes on the surrounding uninfected cells and ECM, or the "viral microenvironment", and the long-term sequelae are largely unexplored. Our goal is to study these questions within the context of fibrotic diseases, such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, pancreatitis, and liver fibrosis as viral infections are frequently a cause of fibrosis and most chronic fibroses remain unresolved and result in organ failure or cancer development. Our research can be described in the following three major themes; where projects in one theme will learn from and build on our knowledge from the others. .Theme 1: Chromatin/transcriptional regulation of fibroblastic cells Projects in this theme will work to investigate the interplay between ECM signaling, chromatin remodeling, and transcriptional gene activation. In particular, we aim to answer the questions: - How do fibroblasts maintain a chronic activation status in fibrotic diseases despite lacking in vivo. cues? - How does the chromatin of fibroblastic cells change over the course of fibrotic disease development? - How are the above questions affected by different ECM components? Theme 2: Viral manipulation of the extracellular matrix Projects in this theme work to answer the questions: - How do virally infected cells alter the local environment they are in? - How do changes in the microenvironment resolve or persist after a viral infection is cleared? - Are changes in the viral microenvironment the same as other initiators of fibrotic diseases?. Theme 3: Non-oncogenic viruses and cancer Projects in this theme work to answer the questions: - How do non-oncogenic viral infections affect cancer formation and metastasis? - How do anti-viral treatments alter the microenvironment? - What is the impact of oncolytic viruses on the surrounding microenvironment?

Sarah Hengel

Assistant Professor

Our research is interested in understanding how environmental toxicants human beings experience in our environment change our DNA. We are also interested in how the damaged DNA is repaired by proteins in our nucleus. We are also interested and focused on the intersection of female reproductive diseases (endometriosis, primary ovarian insufficiency, and polycystic ovary syndrome) and female cancers (cervical, endometrial, uterine, and ovarian cancer).

Alfredo Hernandez

Assistant Professor

Enzymology of DNA replication, mitochondrial DNA, nucleic acid biochemistry, and non-canonical DNA structures.

Fatima Hussain

Assistant Professor

Vaginal Microbiome Microbial Ecology and Evolution Phage-Bacteria Interactions Bacterial Immunity

Mimi Kao

Associate Professor

Neural basis of vocal communication

Michael Levin

Vannevar Bush Professor

Morphological and behavioral information processing in living systems

Katherine Mattaini

Assistant Teaching Professor

Helen McCreery

Assistant Teaching Professor

Kelly McLaughlin

Associate Professor

Molecular Development (Organogenesis: Development, Remodeling, Regeneration)

Mitch McVey

DNA repair, DNA damage tolerance, molecular biology, Drosophila genetics, aging, mutagenesis

Ekaterina Mirkin

Associate Teaching Professor

Sergei Mirkin

Professor and White Family Chair in Biology

Genetics and Molecular Biology

Jennifer Mortensen

Research Assistant Professor

Colin Orians

Professor and Department Chair of Biology

Agroecology, climate change, climate adaptation, plant-herbivore interactions

Michael Reed

Avian ecology and conservation biology

Michael Romero

Stress Physiology and Field Endocrinology

Randi Rotjan

Associate Professor

Research in the Rotjan lab focuses on marine ecology and global change. The main goal is to examine how marine species, communities, and ecosystems respond to the complex multitude of stressors emerging in the contemporary world ocean, and how they will respond to the future ocean change that we expect in the coming decades. In other words, we take a multi-level and systems ecology approach to examining global change. We are also big fans of ocean exploration, which is critical and necessary to set and calibrate ecological baselines. We are a part of a growing global movement to democratize the oceans, making marine science and exploration accessible and available to all. We apply our science and exploration to conservation. Our simple credo is to help make the world a better place. Our lab is interested in two complementary dimensions of contemporary marine ecology: (1) ecological response to changing ocean dynamics, and (2) opportunities for human-mediated action via conservation, restoration, and/or management. To learn more, check out our lab website and click through our research pages, publications, news, members, etc.

Philip Starks

Associate Professor

Animal Behavior: Recognition systems, evolution of sociality, parasite and host relationships, behavioral & chemical communication, invasion genetics

Khoa Tran

Assistant Professor

Epigenetics, Aging, Cellular senescence, and Protein Regulation The Tran lab focuses on epigenetic regulation during cellular senescence and aging. To better understand epigenetics, imagine your DNA as a letters and epigenetics as punctuation in a sentence. As an example, we can use the following sentence: "I'm very hungry. Let's eat, grandma." Without changing any letters in the sentence (DNA) but the punctuation (epigenetics), we can dramatically change the interpretation of the sentence. "I'm very hungry! Let's eat grandma!" My overall research focuses on understanding how these punctuation changes, what mediates these changes, and how they contribute to aging and age-related disorders. Current research projects: • Elucidate the intersection between metabolism and epigenetics in cellular senescence and aging. • Understand how transcriptional regulators are spatially dysregulated during aging • Characterize the epigenetic changes during aging and age-related disorders. Please see my lab website for more information on research projects.

Barry Trimmer

Henry Bromfield Pearson Professor of Natural Science

Currently we are pursuing the following major projects: Current Projects 1) Modulation of Nociception. — The ability to sense and respond to harmful events (nociception) is ubiquitous in the animal kingdom and in many animals results in a longer lasting sensation called pain. Nociception is a distinct sensory modality that promotes the avoidance of damaging interactions using molecular mechanisms that are well-conserved from single cell organisms to humans. Nociception typically elicits strong responses, such as aggressive or avoidance movements, but these must be chosen appropriately and enhanced (hyperalgesia) or suppressed (hypoalgesia), depending on the circumstances. Our laboratory uses an insect, the tobacco hornworm Manduca sexta, as a model system to study the neurobiology of nociception and its modulation. 2) Neuromechanics of Locomotion — Animal locomotion is an intricate interplay between neural processes and biomechanics. These components have co-evolved to form "neuromechanical" control systems in which neural commands organize actions and the structures and materials of the body translate these commands into movements. In some cases structures are able to accomplish movements with relatively little or no command input, but most behaviors in natural environments require intricate neural patterning. In animals that have stiff skeletons (such as vertebrates and adult stage arthropods), these motor programs rely on the constraints imposed by joints to reduce the degrees of freedom and simplify control. In contrast to animals with skeletons, soft animals do not have the same limits on movements; they can deform in complex ways and have virtually unlimited degrees of freedom. One of our major research goals is to identify how soft animals control their movements in a computationally efficient manner using the principles of embodiment and morphological computation. 3) SoftWorm Robots — a soft machine development platform — Based on extensive neuromechanical studies of soft bodied locomotion in animals, we have developed a family of actuated modules that are being used as development platforms for soft robots. These robots are about 10-15 cm long and weigh between 4g and 30g. Earlier designs were fabricated by vacuum casting silicone elastomers into 3D-printed molds, our current methods include printing the devices in a soft rubbery polymer using a multi-material 3D printer. These devices are actuated with shape-memory alloy (SMA) microcoils that can be controlled with current pulses. We have also constructed similar robots with back-drivable Maxon motors coupled to the body using flexible "tendons". The body shapes can be changed to any desired form, but most of our current prototypes resemble caterpillars or worms. They can crawl, inch or roll and even climb steep inclines. 4) Tissue Engineering of Novel Devices — One of our long-term goals is to "grow" robotic devices using a combination of biosynthetic materials, cellular modulation, and tissue engineering. In collaboration with Professors Kaplan and Levin we are exploring both invertebrate and vertebrate cell culture and regeneration systems to structure muscles and supporting tissues on scaffolds of biomaterials. These scaffolds could be degradable or allowed to remain as part of an operational biorobot. Such biological devices will be controlled using the simulation tools developed for synthetic soft robots and will exploit recent advances in soft material electronics. For these cell-based systems, we are generating bundles of contractile skeletal muscle tissue using insect muscle cells. These constructs will be engineered to contract in a controlled, coordinated fashion for eventual use as motors in soft robots. Insect cells offer novel features, such as high force, low oxygen demand, and low sterility requirements that are particularly advantageous. This work is also being applied in the field of Cellular Agriculture to develop sustainable ethical food production.

Eric Tytell

Associate Professor

Biomechanics and Neural Control of Locomotion

Lawrence Uricchio

Youniss Family Assistant Professor of Innovation

Population genetics, evolution, ecology, computational biology

Benjamin Wolfe

Associate Professor and Associate Department Chair of Biology

Ecology and evolution of microbial communities

Affiliate Faculty

Elizabeth Crone

Population ecology and dynamics

Scott Frost

Visiting Scholar

David Kaplan

Distinguished Professor, Stern Family Professor of Engineering

biopolymer engineering, biomaterials, material science, tissue engineering, bioengineering, cellular agriculture

Zarin Machanda

Associate Professor

wild chimpanzee health and behavior, primate conservation, evolution of leadership

Anthony Monaco

University Professor

Daniel Promislow

Senior Scientist

Systems biology of aging in genetically variable populations

Julia Svoboda

Associate Professor and Department Chair of Education

Part-time Faculty

Anjali Bhardwaj

Sara Martin

Christopher Richardson

Scott Shumway

Ganapathy Sriram

Emeriti Faculty

June Aprille

Professor Emerita

Harry Bernheim

Associate Professor Emeritus

Francie Chew

Professor Emerita

Benjamin Dane

Professor Emeritus

Susan Ernst

Professor Emerita

Mary Ella Feinleib

Professor Emerita

Ross Feldberg

Associate Professor Emeritus

Juliet Fuhrman

Associate Professor Emerita

Immunology and Infectious Disease

Michelle Gaudette

Senior Lecturer Emerita

Sara Lewis

Professor Emerita

Insect behavior, ecology and evolution; firefly conservation

Jan Pechenik

Professor Emeritus

Marine Biology and Invertebrate Development

Eli Siegel

Professor Emeritus

Explore Programs

BS in Biology
BS in Biochemistry
BA/BS in Biopsychology
BA/BS in Biotechnology (co-major)
Minor in Biotechnology
Environmental Studies Program
Fifth-Year Master’s Degree Program: BS/MS in Biology
MS in Biology
PhD in Biology

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200 College Ave.
Medford, MA 02155
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Tel: 617-627-2264
Fax: 617-627-3805

200 Boston Ave.
Medford, MA 02155
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