Areas of Interest & Open Challenges

  • Can we accelerate the development of new therapeutics? We aim to create modular systems that interchangeably combine a therapeutic molecule, such as a gene editing construct, and a delivery vehicle. By focusing on creating compatible and extensible platforms for both intervention and delivery, we can rapidly generate a large number of therapeutics tailored for a wide range of contexts.

  • Can we modulate cell state without changing cell fate? Our goal is to identify approaches that we can use to tune cell state. These approaches will provide a new therapeutic avenue for treating conditions that don’t have a defined genetic cause, like injury, degenerative diseases, and even aging.

  • Can we uncover new biology by mining natural diversity? We are interested in advancing our understanding of molecular mechanisms, cellular functions, and even organismal biology through the discovery of natural systems. We use computational and experimental approaches to find and characterize new systems.

What We've Done

Approaches

We use a variety of approaches to achieve our goals, and we continually adopt new ones to accelerate our work. Some of our core approaches include the following:

  • Developing high-throughput methods to probe complex processes

  • Using structural biology to understand function and guide rational engineering

  • Combining computational and evolutionary analyses to discover new systems and the connections between them

  • Working in teams & collaborating with others

If you are interested in joining us, contact us to let us know.

Our interests are not confined to this list. If there is something that you are motivated to understand but don’t see it listed here, feel free to reach out to us about your idea.