my professional interests
My research has spanned rather disparate fields and subject matters. My doctoral research in Prof. Steve Boxer's lab at Stanford University was focused in the areas of high resolution fluorescence microscopy and cell membrane model systems. Currently, I am using the tools of synthetic biology to construct artificial transcription factors and transcriptional networks in Prof. Pam Silver's lab at Harvard Medical School. Yet in both areas, my common approach has been to use quantitative measurements along with numerical modeling to probe biological systems. This powerful combination will continue to be a key theme in my future research.
Broadly speaking, my long-term scientific goals are to uncover design principles of both artificial and native eukaryotic networks through quantitative measurements and to use this understanding to engineer complex devices for technological and therapeutic applications. I am particularly interested in the possibility of dissecting and manipulating control mechanisms of lipid biosynthesis in S. cerevisiae, with an eye towards both synthesis of biofuels and addressing basic questions in membrane biology.