Research
 Viral dynamics: from genes to populationsBacteriophages exploit their hosts in a myriad of ways. We develop detailed kinetic models of viral gene regulation and biophysics to predict how phages (and phage-derived components) determine infected cell fate. We also use a combination of ecological and evolutionary models to explain the principles by which phages exploit hosts in natural environments. |
 Biological networks in vascular plantsThe structure and function of physical networks in biology remains poorly elucidated, in part because of the scarcity of detailed measurements of entire plant networks. We focus on plant vascular networks, from leaves to roots, in an effort to understand what, if any, are the fundamental rules by which networks develop and influence organismal fitness? |
 Quantitative microbial systems biologyMicrobes make up for being small by being very complicated. Nearly every habitat, whether soils, lakes, oceans, our gut, is teeming with microbes. What is there? What are they doing? We try and answer these questions at multiple scales by developing systems approaches to gene regulation, ecological models of interactions, and bioinformatic methods for community analysis. |
 Infectious disease dynamicsWe are interested in developing and testing models of infectious disease dynamics that make explicit links to large data sets and/or multi-scale phenomenon. We are particularly interested in assessing the role of stochasticity, in both transmission and reporting, in modifying the spread of disease & currently focus on oral-fecal pathogens such as cholera and shigella. |
