Overview
The You lab uses a combination of mathematical modeling, machine learning, and quantitative experiments to elucidate principles underlying the dynamics of microbial communities in time and space and to control these dynamics for applications in computation, engineering, and medicine.
Current Appointments & Affiliations
Professor of Biomedical Engineering
·
2019 - Present
Biomedical Engineering,
Pratt School of Engineering
James L. Meriam Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering
·
2021 - Present
Biomedical Engineering,
Pratt School of Engineering
Director of the Center for Quantitative Biology and Machine Learning
·
2020 - Present
Pratt School of Engineering
Professor in Molecular Genetics and Microbiology
·
2021 - Present
Molecular Genetics and Microbiology,
Basic Science Departments
Recent Publications
Scaling laws of bacterial and archaeal plasmids.
Journal Article Nat Commun · July 2, 2025 The capacity of a plasmid to express genes is constrained by its length and copy number. However, the interplay between these parameters and their constraints on plasmid evolution have remained elusive due to the absence of comprehensive quantitative analy ... Full text Link to item CiteAn Engineered Prodrug Selectively Suppresses β-Lactam-Resistant Bacteria in a Mixed Microbial Setting.
Journal Article ACS Infect Dis · June 12, 2025 The rise of β-lactam resistance necessitates new strategies to combat bacterial infections. We purposefully engineered the β-lactam prodrug AcephPT to exploit β-lactamase activity to selectively suppress resistant bacteria producing extended-spectrum-β-lac ... Full text Link to item CitePopulation-level amplification of gene regulation by programmable gene transfer.
Journal Article Nature chemical biology · June 2025 Engineering cells to sense and respond to environmental cues often focuses on maximizing gene regulation at the single-cell level. Inspired by population-level control mechanisms like the immune response, we demonstrate dynamic control and amplification of ... Full text CiteRecent Grants
Bacterial antibiotic response and population dynamics in microscopic surface wetness
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by US-Israel Binational Science Foundation · 2022 - 2027Tradeoffs between fitness costs and transfer rates in horizontal gene transfer
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases · 2022 - 2027NSF Engineering Research Center for Precision Microbiome Engineering (PreMiEr)
ResearchInvestigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2022 - 2027View All Grants
Education, Training & Certifications
University of Wisconsin, Madison ·
2002
Ph.D.
University of Science and Technology of China (China) ·
1997
M.S.
Chengdu University of Science and Technology (China) ·
1994
B.S.E.