Benjamin W
- Research Program Mentor
PhD at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Expertise
Microbiology, General biology, Infectious disease
Bio
Hello! My name is Ben and I'm currently a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University. I obtained my BS from Caltech in 2015 and my PhD from MIT in 2021. My goal is to one day become a professor of Biology, and I am passionate both about research as well as mentoring the next generation of scientists. My specific area of expertise is infectious diseases- I am fascinated by how these pathogens can cause devastating diseases despite their tiny sizes! I am currently studying bacterial pathogens that are major detriments to human health, including Salmonella, with the ultimate goal of figuring out novel ways to eradicate these deadly diseases. Outside of the lab, I enjoy spending time with my family and my cats! I grew up in New Jersey, so I am a big fan of NY sports teams (Yankees and Nets). I also enjoy reading, playing video games (Pokémon and fire emblem are my favorites), and just lounging around the house watching Netflix, anime, and Disney+.Project ideas
How do bacterial pathogens arise?
As a researcher studying infectious diseases, I'm really interested in understanding how some bacteria have evolved to cause devastating human illnesses. Remarkably, our world is full of bacteria- in fact, there are more bacteria living in your body than there are stars in our galaxy! Given this enormous biodiversity, only a select few bacteria have evolved to cause diseases- most bacteria are harmless to humans, and some are even beneficial to us! In this project, we will seek to understand what allows certain bacteria to become pathogenic. We will start by performing a careful literature review in the field of bacterial pathogenesis and evolution. We will then use bioinformatic approaches- which can be done on any student's personal computer- to compare DNA sequences from closely related bacteria, some of which cause diseases and some of which are harmless. From this data, we will write a high school level research paper that can be published in different outlets. Overall, the student will learn valuable skills including 1) research paper reading, 2) how to generate hypotheses in biological research, 3) basic bioinformatic and DNA comparisons, 4) how to write a basic research paper.