Dean's Distinguished Lecture Series

Harris Wang, PhD

Dr. Wang is associate professor of systems biology and of pathology & cell biology and the interim chair of the Department of Systems Biology at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons with a joint appointment in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Columbia University Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science. He received his BS degrees in Mathematics and Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his PhD in Biophysics and Medical Engineering Medical Physics from Harvard University, where he invented the first automated and multiplexed genome engineering platform.

Since joining Columbia in 2013, Dr. Wang has focused his research on building foundational technologies to program cells into low-cost diagnostics, personalized medicines, and living materials. He is broadly interested in the applications of synthetic biology, computational design, and multi-omics to explore the fundamental limits by which microbial and mammalian systems can be modified at a genome scale. These modifications allow for new functionalities and properties, such as pan-resistance to viruses, nutrient starvation, and radiation damage. In the area of the human microbiome, Dr. Wang has developed new methods to map the gut microbiome spatially and temporally at ultra-high resolution. He has also created automated platforms for culturing and studying microbes using a combination of robotics and machine learning. Dr. Wang introduced the concept of microbiome gene therapy, which has been applied to endow gut microbes with sensing and recording capabilities for intestinal inflammation and to eliminate problematic traits such as virulence and antimicrobial resistance. His lab has also developed self-healing and regenerative fungal-bacterial biocomposite materials that can sense and respond to different environments.

Dr. Wang’s honors and awards include earning the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science, being a national finalist for the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists, and being named a Burroughs Wellcome Fund investigator. His other honors include the Schaefer Research Scholar, the NSF CAREER Award, Sloan Research Fellowship, NIH Director’s Early Independence Award, Forbes 30 Under 30 in Science in 2012, and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from the White House. Dr. Wang serves on the scientific advisory boards of numerous companies in the areas of CRISPR, biosecurity, microbiome, and gene therapy.