Harris H. Wang, PhD

  • Associate Professor of Systems Biology and Pathology and Cell Biology
Profile Headshot

Overview

Harris Wang is as an Assistant Professor at Columbia University in the Department of Systems Biology. Dr. Wang received B.S. degrees in mathematics and physics from MIT and a Ph.D. in Biophysics from Harvard, where he pioneered the Multiplex Automated Genome Engineering (MAGE) platform for rapid and combinatorial genome editing. Dr. Wang’s current research focuses on applying synthetic biology methods to manipulate microbial communities and mammalian systems. Using advanced approaches in genome engineering, gene synthesis, and next-generation sequencing, he studies how genomes are shaped and maintained by the environment, and how they evolve over time. His research group is developing enabling technologies in systems and synthetic biology to engineer microbial systems and mammalian cells in ways that could address key challenges in health, energy and the environment. Dr. Wang is the recipient of numerous awards including the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, NIH Director’s Early Independence Award, NSF CAREER Award, Sloan Research Award, ONR Young Investigator Award, and was named in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in Science in 2012.

Email: hw2429@cumc.columbia.edu

Academic Appointments

  • Associate Professor of Systems Biology and Pathology and Cell Biology

Languages

  • Chinese

Credentials & Experience

Education & Training

  • PhD, Biophysics, Harvard University
  • BS, 2005 Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • BS, 2005 Mathematics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Honors & Awards

Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE)

ONR Director of Research Early Career Award

ONR Young Investigator Award

Sloan Research Fellowship

NSF CAREER Award

Forbes 30 under 30 in Science in 2012

NIH Director’s Early Independence Award

Collegiate Inventors Competition Grand Prize Winner, National Inventors Hall of Fame

National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship

National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship

National Merit Scholar

Research

Research Interests

  • Principles that drive formation, maintenance, genome evolution within/across microbial populations