The following tenure-track faculty work at the Kilachand Center.
Samagya Banskota, PhD
Biography: Precision genome editing technologies can potentially treat the root causes of several genetic diseases by making precise and targeted edits to the DNA. However, safe and effective delivery methods are needed to translate this potential into a therapeutic reality. Banskota’s research interests lie in the intersection of synthetic biology, protein engineering, drug delivery, and […]
David Boas, PhD
Biography: Boas is an internationally recognized expert in biomedical optics and is a pioneer in the emerging field of neurophotonics, which utilizes advances in photonics to further our understanding of the brain. He has recently joined BU from the radiology department at Massachusetts General Hospital, where his research led to breakthrough optical methods to study […]
Christopher Chen, MD, PhD
Biography: One of the world’s leading experts on regenerative medicine, Chen investigates tissue engineering and mechanobiology, which combines engineering and biology to study how physical forces and changes in cell or tissue mechanics affect development, physiology, and disease. In particular, Chen is studying the cooperation between adhesive, mechanical, and biochemical signaling in the regulation of […]
Douglas Densmore, PhD
Biography: A computer engineer, Densmore’s research focuses on the development of tools for the specification, design, and assembly of synthetic biological systems, drawing upon his experience with embedded system-level design and electronic design automation. He is also the director of the Cross-disciplinary Integration of Design Automation Research group at the University, where his research team develops […]
Anna Devor, PhD
Biography: Devor has a broad background in cellular and systems-level neuroscience. Her research program is focused on real time detection of brain activity across scales. Devor and her collaborators assemble a suite of microscopic technologies that, collectively, allow precise and quantitative probing of a large number of concrete brain activity parameters. Then, they combine multimodal […]
Xue Han, PhD
Biography: Han joined the biomedical engineering faculty in 2010. She is a pioneer in the field of optogenetics, in which scientists reengineer nerve cells, or neurons, to respond to light, using molecules called opsins. By finding ways to implant opsins into neurons, Han has given researchers a simple tool to turn neurons on and off, […]
Michael Hasselmo, DPhil
Biography: A leading researcher in neuroscience, Hasselmo uses electrophysiological recording to study how the firing patterns of neurons may contribute to memory-guided behavior. As director of the Center for Systems Neuroscience, he supports collaborations among brain behavior researchers from the Charles River and Medical Campuses. He is the principal investigator of a new Multidisciplinary University […]
Marc Howard, PhD
Biography: Since joining the psychological & brain sciences department in 2011, Howard has worked on projects involving new mathematical models and behavioral and computational tools to better understand the mechanisms of memory and how the brain works. He is recognized as one of the top researchers in bridging cognition and systems-level neuroscience and is a […]
Mark Howe, PhD
Biography: Driven by questions of motivation and movement, Howe’s research is focused on gaining deeper understanding of neural mechanisms and circuitry. By studying functional and dysfunctional neural systems, Howe aims to inform treatment approaches for Parkinson’s disease, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and addiction. Howe developed a novel approach to striatum imaging that contributed to groundbreaking findings in […]
Ahmad (Mo) Khalil, PhD
Biography: Khalil and his laboratory team are developing new synthetic biology approaches to examine and engineer the functions of living cells, such as how they make decisions and communicate. They are particularly interested in molecular systems that enable cells to retain memory of past experiences, a research interest that has taken them across diverse biological […]