Reza Kalhor, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering. Dr. Kalhor’s research seeks to map and engineer cell fate using synthetic biology and genomics approaches. To accomplish this objective, his group develops: (A) molecular technologies that write cellular histories into their genomes, (B) sequencing strategies that read out written information with spatial resolution, and (C) computational methods that reconstruct the underlying biological processes based on recorded information. This work combines genomics, CRISPR and other gene editing technologies, systems biology, and computational modeling approaches. It aims to better understand embryogenesis, neurogenesis, and tumorigenesis. It also aims to establish more effective cell therapies.
Dr. Kalhor received his PhD in Molecular and Computational Biology from USC, where he studied the relationship between genome function and its 3D structure. His postdoctoral training in Genetics and Synthetic Biology at the Harvard Medical School and Wyss Institute focused on storage of digital and biological information in DNA. He joined the BME faculty in 2019 and is a 2020 David and Lucile Packard Fellow for Science and Engineering.