Simons Fellows in Life Sciences

These grants are funded by the Simons Foundation and Simons Foundation International and administered by the Simons Foundation.

Simons Fellows of the Life Sciences Research Foundation

Thomas Day, Ph.D.
How feedback between cell interactions and emergent multicellular states shape the ecology of a patchy marine environment
University of Southern California, laboratory of Julia Schwartzman

James Held, Ph.D.
The mitochondrial role in carbon concentrating mechanisms for photosynthetic optimization
Carnegie Institution for Science / Stanford University, laboratory of Arthur Grossman

Simons Fellows of the Life Sciences Research Foundation

Emily Hager, Ph.D.
Using natural variation and cellular slime molds to uncover collective cell signaling rules
Boston University, laboratory of Allyson Sgro

Kanika Khanna, Ph.D.
Decoding structural basis of Burkholderia thailandensis virulence and host cell-cell fusion
UC Berkeley, laboratory of Matthew Welch

Nora Pyenson, Ph.D.
Defining social interactions and mechanisms of coexistence in experimental phage communities
Yale University, laboratory of Paul Turner

Ellen Rim, Ph.D.
Investigation of plant receptor signal transduction and directed evolution of receptors that bind novel immunogens
University of California Davis, laboratory of Pamela Ronald

Lauren Speare, Ph.D.
Determining mechanisms of bacterial predation for marine probiotics
Oregon State University, laboratory of Rebecca Vega Thurber

 
Simons Fellows of the Life Sciences Research Foundation

Thomas Laughlin, Ph.D.
Structural analysis of the nucleus-like compartment formed by giant bacteriophages during replication
University of California, San Diego, laboratories of Elizabeth Villa and Joseph Pogliano

Amelia McKitterick, Ph.D.
Phage-host interactions to investigate Corynebacterial biology
Harvard University, laboratory of Thomas Bernhardt

Elizabeth Mueller, Ph.D.
Shapeshifting to survive: morphotype switching in the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi
Stanford University, laboratory of Christine Jacobs-Wagner

Jason Schrad, Ph.D.
Structural Characterization of Giant Viruses and Their Infection
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, laboratory of R. Daniela Nicastro

Mitchell Thompson, Ph.D.
Defining the genetic basis of adaptive host-specificity in Agrobacterium
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, laboratory of Patrick Shih

Jamie (Jia Jia) Zhang, Ph.D.
Identification of endogenous substrates and regulators of Clp proteases in the opportunistic pathogen P. aeruginosa
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, laboratory of Tania A. Baker

 
Simons Fellows of the Life Sciences Research Foundation

Arthur Charles-Orszag, Ph.D.
Unraveling the mechanisms of cell division in the thermophilic crenarchaeon Sulfolobus Acidocaldarius
University of California San Francisco, laboratory of R. Dyche Mullins

Anastasia Manesis, Ph.D.
Unraveling the metallo-mystery pair: the role of MbnP and MbnH in bacterial copper transport
Northwestern University, laboratory of Amy Rosenzweig

Yue Rui, Ph.D.
Structure and Function of the Plant Cell Wall-Plasma Membrane Interf ace
Stanford University, laboratory of Jose R. Dinneny

Asher Preska Steinberg, Ph.D.
Phenotypic heterogeneity and concomitant spatial structure as a microbial survival strategy
New York University, laboratory of Edo Kussell

 
Simons Fellows of the Life Sciences Research Foundation

Lior Artzi, Ph.D.
Nutrient sensing and spore germination
Harvard Medical School, laboratory of David Rudner

Maros Pleska, Ph.D.
Emergence and maintenance of non-genetic diversity in bacterial populations
Rockefeller University, laboratory of Stanislas Leibler

Andrew Santiago-Frangos, Ph.D.
Interplay between innate and adaptive immune systems in bacteria
Montana State University, laboratory of Blake Wiedenheft

Saima Shahid, Ph.D.
Initiation of epigenetic silencing – how does the cell know what to silence?
Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, laboratory of Keith Slotkin

Tara Stewart-Merrill, Ph.D.
How among- and within- species variation in parasite competence affects the dynamics of infectious disease
University of Colorado-Boulder, laboratory of Pieter Johnson

 
Simons Fellows of the Life Sciences Research Foundation

Adrian Brückner, Ph.D.
Single-Cell Assembly of a Metazoan Chemical Defense System
California Institute of Technology, laboratory of Joseph Parker

Jonathan Chekan, Ph.D.
Biosynthesis of the Marine Neurotoxins Domoic Acid and Kainic Acid, Important Neurological Tools and Environmental Toxins
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, laboratory of Bradley S. Moore

Sur Herrera Paredes, Ph.D.
Population Genetics of the Human Microbiota
Stanford University, laboratory of Hunter Fraser

Gary Heussler, Ph.D.
Mechanisms and Impact of Horizontal Gene Transfer in a Model Microbial Community
University of California, San Diego, laboratory of Rachel Dutton

Alexander Leydon, Ph.D.
A Synthetic Approach to Understanding Establishment and Relief of Transcriptional Repression
University of Washington, laboratory of Jennifer L. Nemhauser

Heather Meyer, Ph.D.
Investigation of Intrinsically Disordered Proteins as Possible Thermosensors to Time Flowering in Arabidopsis Thaliana
Carnegie Institution for Science, laboratory of David Ehrhardt

Alexandra Tayar, Ph.D.
Flagella Beating, From the Single Organelle to Collective Self-Organization
University of California, Santa Barbara, laboratory of Zvonimir Dogic

 
Simons Fellows of the Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research

Wenyan Jiang, Ph.D.
Microbial Adaptation to Extreme Environments Facilitated by CRISPR-Cas
Columbia University, laboratory of Saeed Tavazoie

Christopher Lopez, Ph.D.
Defining the Clostridium difficile Responses to Zinc Limitation
Vanderbilt University Medical Center, laboratory of Erik Skaar

2017 Simons Fellows of the Life Sciences Research Foundation

Kurt Dahlstrom, Ph.D.
The Role of Phenazines in Modulating Root-Associated Microbial Biofilm Communities
California Institute of Technology, laboratory of Dianne Newman

Eric Lubeck, Ph.D.
Development of Therapeutic Microbiota by Synthetic Ecology
Stanford University, laboratory of Michael Fischbach

Ryan Melnyk, Ph.D.
Characterization of Bacterial Fitness, Niche, and Competition in the Arabidopsis Rhizosphere
University of California, Davis, laboratory of Venkatesan Sundaresan

Michael Smith, PhD.
Do the Right Thing, in the Right Place, at the Right Time: How Individual and Collective Movement Patterns Predict Task Allocation and Developmental State in Honey Bee Colonies
Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, laboratory of Iain D. Couzin

Matthew Swaffer, Ph.D.
Determining How Cell Size and Growth Control Global Transcription
Stanford University, laboratory of Jan Skotheim

David Tourigny, Ph.D.
Integrated Approach to Temperature Compensation in Biological Oscillations
Columbia University, laboratory of Rae Silver

 
Simons Fellows of the Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research

Yunji Davenport, Ph.D.
Molecular Messages in Algal-Bacterial Symbiosis
Harvard Medical School, laboratory of Jon Clardy

Patrick Mitchell, Ph.D.
Pathogen-Driven Evolution of Inflammasome Genes
University of California, Berkeley, laboratory of Russell Vance

2016 Simons Fellows of the Life Sciences Research Foundation

Scott Behie, Ph.D.
Decoding Microbial Interspecies Interactions for Natural Products Discovery
University of California, Berkeley, laboratory of Matthew Traxler

Sarah Davies, Ph.D.
Investigating the ‘Weak Link’ Paradigm: Can Hosts Regulate Their Symbiont’s Environment to Buffer the Effects of Climate Change?
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, laboratories of Karl Castillo and Adrian Marchetti

Tin Chi Solomon Chak, Ph.D.
Genome and Social Complexity: Coevolutionary Dynamics of Genome Size and Eusociality
Columbia University, laboratory of Dustin R. Rubenstein

Romain Darnajoux, Ph.D.
Deciphering the Genomic and Metabolic Heterogeneity of Biological Nitrogen Fixation in Boreal Ecosystems
Duke University, laboratory of Francois Lutzoni

Michele LeRoux, Ph.D.
Investigating the Role of Toxin-Antitoxin Systems in Bacterial Persistence
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, laboratory of Michael Laub

Hoong Chuin Lim, Ph.D.
Unraveling the Mycobacterial Envelope Biogenesis Using Corynebacterium glutamicum as a Model Organism
Harvard Medical School, laboratory of Thomas Bernhardt

Longfei Shu, Ph.D.
Proto-Farming and the Carried Microbiome in a Social Amoeba
Washington University in St. Louis, laboratory of David C. Queller

2016 Simons Fellows of the Helen Hay Whitney Foundation

Lihui Feng, Ph.D.
Characterizing the Molecular Mechanisms of Gut Microbiota Development and Its Relevance to Childhood Undernutrition
Washington University in St. Louis, laboratory of Jeffrey Gordon

Tomas Pluskal, Ph.D.
A Multi-omics Platform for Exploring and Exploiting Plant Chemodiversity
The Whitehead Institute, laboratory of Jing-Ke Weng

Olena Zhulyn, Ph.D.
Ribosomes in Regeneration: Rapid Translational Activation in Wound Healing and Repair
Stanford University, laboratory of Maria Barna

 
Simons Fellows of the Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research

Brittany Belin, Ph.D.
The role of Hopanoids in Plant-Microbe Symbioses
California Institute of Technology, laboratory of Dianne Newman

David Booth, Ph.D.
Genetic Regulation of Multicellularity in a Close Relative to Metazoans
University of California, Berkeley, laboratory of Nicole King

2015 Simons Fellows of the Life Sciences Research Foundation

Thomas Boothby, Ph.D.
Using water bears to identify novel methods for the dry storage of biomaterials
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, laboratory of Gary Pielak

Ricardo Laranjeiro, Ph.D.
C. elegans as a model for molecular genetic analyses of exercise benefits to healthy aging
Rutgers University, laboratory of Monica Driscoll

Dipti Nayak, Ph.D.
Synthetic biology and lab-based evolution for methanogenesis from non-natural substrates
University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, laboratory of William Metcalf

Lena Pernas, Ph.D.
Manipulation of mitochondrial fusion: a new microbial strategy?
University of Padua, laboratory of Luca Scorrano

Benjamin Ross, Ph.D.
Investigation of interbacterial competition via type VI secretion between members of the gut microbiota
University of Washington, laboratory of Joseph Mougous

Josep Vilarrasa-Blasi, Ph.D.
Identification and characterization of water sensing mechanisms in plants
Carnegie Institution for Science, laboratory of Jose Dinneny

Christopher Whidden, Ph.D.
Developing statistical algorithms to infer the evolutionary history of viruses, antibodies, and cancer cells
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, laboratory of Frederick Matsen IV

2015 Simons Fellows of the Helen Hay Whitney Foundation

Arthur Prindle, Ph.D.
Drug Resistance as a Collective Phenomenon.
University of California, San Diego, laboratory of Gurol Suel.

 
Simons Fellows of the Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research

Duncan Leitch, Ph.D.
Using Unique Crocodilian Physiology to Probe Somatosensation
University of California, San Francisco, laboratory of David Julius

Joshua Modell, Ph.D.
Self vs. Non-Self Discrimination during CRISPR-Cas Adaptive Immunity
The Rockefeller University, laboratory of Luciano Marraffini

2014 Simons Fellows of the Life Sciences Research Foundation

Aakash Basu, Ph.D.
Biophysical studies of protein: nucleic acid interactions involved in genomic maintenance
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, laboratory of Taekjip Ha

Rogier Braakman, Ph.D.
Metabolic Driving Forces in the Adaptive Dynamics of Marine Microbial Ecosystems
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, laboratory of Sallie W. Chisholm

Robert Jinkerson, Ph.D.
Transforming Our Understanding of Plant Lipid Metabolism with a Novel Functional Genomics Strategy
Carnegie Institution for Science, laboratory of Martin Jonikas

Caroline Runyan, Ph.D.
The Transfer and Representation of Sensory Information During Decision-Making
Harvard Medical School, laboratory of Christopher Harvey

Ophelia Venturelli, Ph.D.
Reverse Engineering of Stable Microbial Communities From the Human Gut Microbiome
University of California, Berkeley, laboratory of Adam P. Arkin

2014 Simons Fellows of the Helen Hay Whitney Foundation

Tania J. Lupoli, Ph.D.
Determining the Molecular Players Involved in Asymmetric Division as a Mechanism of Oxidative Stress Resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Weill Cornell Medical College, laboratory of Carl Nathan

Jeremy M. Rock, Ph.D.
The Evolution of Drug Resistance in M. Tuberculosis
Harvard School of Public Health, laboratory of Sarah Fortune

Eleanore J. Clowney, Ph.D.
Evolution of a Neural Circuit in Drosophila
Rockefeller University, laboratory of Venessa Ruta

 
Simons Fellows of the Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research

Joseph Castellano, Ph.D.
Effects of Irradiation Injury on Systemic-Neurogenic Communication as Targets for Limiting Cognitive Dysfunction
Stanford University, laboratory of Tony Wyss-Coray

Tina Han, Ph.D.
Dynamics of RNA Granule Assembly in Temperature Synchronization of Clock Rhythms
University of California, San Francisco, laboratory of Lily Jan

2013 Simons Fellows of the Life Sciences Research Foundation

Wei-Ting Liu, Ph.D.
Gaining Molecular Insight Into Fecal Transplantation for the Treatment of Clostridium difficile-Associated Diarrhea
Stanford University, laboratory of David A. Relman

James Marshel, Ph.D.
Probing and Manipulating Cortical Circuit Learning in vivo
Stanford University, laboratory of Karl Deisseroth

Constance Richter, Ph.D.
Peptidergic Control of Sleep Regulation in Zebrafish
Harvard University, laboratory of Alex F. Schier

Joshua Weinstein, Ph.D.
Dissecting the Role of Protocadherin Diversity in Synaptic Plasticity and Memory Formation
Broad Institute, MIT, laboratory of Feng Zhang

Rayka Yokoo, Ph.D.
Fluorescent Biosensors for High Resolution Imaging of Metabolism in Live Animals
University of California, Berkeley, laboratory of David Savage