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University research directory
Research labs at
California Institute of Technology.
Compare 5 listed faculty-led profiles, explore their research interests, and follow the evidence in their selected work. These listings are a starting point for discovery and do not establish recruiting availability.
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Review each lab’s official website and recent publications. Compare the methods used, the questions being asked, and the practical requirements of any published opening. Unclaimed profiles are independently curated; the university has not approved or endorsed them.
How to compare research labs ↗Official university website ↗5 research-led lab profiles
Browse labs by their listed college affiliation
Independently curated · UnclaimedFrances H. Arnold Research Group
California Institute of Technology
Frances H. Arnold · Linus Pauling Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering and Biochemistry; Director, Donna and Benjamin M. Rosen Bioengineering Center
Can enzymes be evolved to catalyze nonnatural chemical reactions with improved activity and selectivity for industrial synthesis? The laboratory develops directed-evolution strategies and simulation tools to optimize enzyme sequences for targeted catalytic functions and to create new catalysts for specific chemistries. Researchers integrate machine learning and molecular simulation to navigate protein fitness landscapes, predict beneficial mutations, and accelerate screening for improved catalytic properties. Projects apply optimized enzymes to pharmaceutical synthesis, biofuels production, and sensors and diagnostics, demonstrating practical biocatalysis across diverse chemical problems. Experimental evolution experiments and analyses probe mechanisms of natural enzyme evolution to reveal adaptive pathways, tradeoffs, and determinants of catalytic efficiency.
Independently curated · UnclaimedHarry A. Atwater Research Group
California Institute of TechnologyHarry A. Atwater · Professor
How can nanophotonic design and advanced materials be used to control light–matter interactions for high-efficiency solar energy capture and photoelectrochemical fuel synthesis? The group investigates plasmonic devices, metasurfaces and two-dimensional materials for engineered light absorption and emission across projects in photovoltaics, quantum light emission and photoelectrochemical solar fuels. Researchers fabricate and characterize plasmonic nanostructures using nanofabrication techniques including e-beam lithography and focused ion beam with near-field and far-field optical microscopy to measure sub-wavelength confinement and propagation. The team integrates transparent conducting oxides and plasmonic slot waveguides to make field-effect modulators and to explore carrier-concentration modulation for active control. The group also leads and contributes to DOE hub-scale efforts in solar fuels development.
Independently curated · UnclaimedMichael B. Elowitz Research Group
California Institute of TechnologyMichael B. Elowitz · Roscoe Gilkey Dickinson Professor of Biology and Bioengineering
How can engineered gene circuits and quantitative single-cell analysis reveal design principles that control cell fate, communication, and memory in multicellular mammalian systems? Researchers create and analyze fully synthetic molecular circuits to provide new cellular capabilities and test circuit designs. Researchers reconstitute core pathways in minimal cell culture systems and quantitatively analyze their behavior at the single cell level. Researchers combine synthetic biology and mathematical modeling to measure dynamical variability and noise in developmental and cell–cell signaling pathways. Researchers focus on intercellular communication, computation, and memory needed to bring synthetic biology to multicellular systems.
Independently curated · UnclaimedPamela J. Bjorkman Research Group
California Institute of TechnologyPamela J. Bjorkman · David Baltimore Professor of Biology and Biological Engineering; Merkin Institute Professor
What are the structural mechanisms by which broadly neutralizing antibodies recognize viral envelope glycoproteins, and how can those mechanisms be exploited to design vaccines and antibody therapeutics? Researchers use X-ray crystallography, electron microscopy, and biochemistry to study pathogen glycoproteins and host immune proteins. Researchers solve cryo-EM and crystal structures of antibody–antigen complexes and analyze conformational states of viral Env trimers. Researchers design mosaic and multivalent protein nanoparticle immunogens and test them in animal immunogenicity studies. Researchers engineer alternative antibody architectures and analyze affinity and avidity effects to increase neutralization breadth and potency.
Viviana Gradinaru Research Group
California Institute of TechnologyViviana Gradinaru · Lois and Victor Troendle Professor of Neuroscience and Biological Engineering; Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Allen V. C. Davis and Lenabelle Davis Leadership Chair, Richard N. Merkin Institute for Translational Research
What noninvasive methods can enable functional and anatomical access to the vertebrate nervous system for cell-type specific delivery and optical control? The Gradinaru Research Laboratory engineers viral vectors and performs in vivo selection to generate AAV capsids that cross the blood–brain barrier and target distinct brain cell types. The group uses directed evolution and machine learning to develop high-fluxing opsins and trafficking strategies for safer, distant-light optical modulation. Researchers apply tissue clearing and whole-body clearing via vasculature perfusion to map neural circuitry and assess reagent distribution without sectioning. The lab performs multi-species directed evolution and receptor-discovery to identify primate-conserved factors such as carbonic anhydrase IV that enable BBB crossing by engineered AAVs.
Showing 1–5 of 5 labs