Miguel Jimenez, PhD

Assistant Professor (BME, MSE)

Office PHO 731
Email jmiguelj@bu.edu
Website el Microbial Integration Group

In the News

Ignition Awards for Research That Might Reduce Knee Pain, Propel Underwater Robots, and More
September 16, 2026
The innovative projects earned funding and support on their way to making the leap from the lab to the real world. [ More ]

Publications

View a complete list of publications by citation.

Research Areas

The capacity of living cells to continuously monitor and act on their environment with molecular specificity is unmatched by any sensor or actuator developed by humans. We have shown that it is possible to use genetically engineered microorganisms as the sensing and actuation elements in electronic and mechanical devices. These integrated microbial devices outperform traditional analytical tools while functioning in low resource settings. My group develops electronic and mechanical devices that natively interface with biology – sensors and actuators with integrated microorganisms that augment our capacity to monitor and act on changes in our bodies, our plants and livestock, and our environment.

Honors and Awards

2026: Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Award
2022: Broad Institute, Next Generation in Biomedicine
2019: NASA TRISH Postdoctoral Fellow
2017: Academy of Bioastronautics (AoB) Fellow
2013: National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow (NSF GRFP)

Additional Affiliations

Division of Materials Science & Engineering, Affiliated Faculty
Biological Design Center
Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, & Biochemistry (MCBB) program
Nanotechnology Innovation Center (BUnano)

Departments or Divisions: Biomedical Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering

Affiliations: Energy, Sustainability & Climate, Materials by Design, Primary & Affiliated Faculty, Synthetic Biology, Tissue Engineering & Mechanobiology

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