Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department Head Anantha Chandrakasan and Associate Department Heads David Perreault and Bill Freeman announced the promotions of Professors Manolis Kellis, Collin Stultz, and Ron Weiss to the rank of Full Professor, and of Professor Timothy Lu to the rank of Associate Professor without Tenure, effective July 1, 2014. Brief descriptions of their work appear below. Congratulations!
| Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.  | Prof. Manolis Kellis develops algorithms and computational techniques to understand the human genome and to find the mechanisms relating human genetic information to human disease. His research has charted the functional elements and circuitry of the human genome, using comparative genomics, epigenomics, and regulatory genomics, and now forms the foundation of countless genomic and genetic studies. Prof. Kellis is internationally recognized for his work, with more than a hundred journal publications, and has received numerous awards. He runs a very large and highly productive research group, and is an excellent mentor to his students and post-docs, and a highly regarded teacher. He often takes a leadership role within large collaborations that span computational and experimental work across many institutions, and is seen as a star in this key area of 21st century biology.
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| Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.  | A leader in his field, Prof. Collin Stultz uses techniques drawn from computational chemistry, signal processing and biochemistry to study the molecular mechanisms underlying human disease pathogenesis. Through computer modeling, he has developed a paradigm-shifting framework for understanding how collagen is degraded, implicated in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer. He uses Bayesian methods to characterize the conformations of intrinsically disordered proteins, known to play a central role in neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Among his honors are being a recipient of the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award in Biomedical Sciences and the James Tolbert Shipley Prize. A practicing cardiologist, he leads the biomedical area of EECS, and co-developed 6.S02, Introduction to EECS II from a Medical Technology Perspective.
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| Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.  | Prof. Ron Weiss a world leader in the field of synthetic biology, is noted for his development of systematic engineering methodology in the nascent field. He has designed and constructed synthetic networks in bacteria, yeast, and mammalian cells, which in particular may lead to revolutionary medical applications. His group developed synthetic biological systems that sense and destroy cancer cells by detecting diagnostic miRNA signatures, and gene circuits that control stem cell differentiation into pancreatic beta cells for diabetes as well as other cell types. He founded and co-directs the MIT Synthetic Biology Center, and takes a leading educational role, developing new classroom subjects and coaching the undergraduate iGEM Competition.
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| Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.  | Prof. Timothy K. Lu is a rising star in the field of synthetic biology. His contributions to synthetic biology include the development of integrated digital logic, memory, and analog computation in living cells, and the translation of engineered virus technology for next-generation bacteriophage for antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Prof. Lu is the winner of many prestigious awards, including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) 2012, and was named to the “Top Young Innovators under 35” list by Technology Review, 2010. Prof. Lu is an excellent teacher who is making great contributions to our curriculum through the development of a major lab-oriented course in synthetic biology.
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