Explore Our Labs

Have you been notified that a lab has expressed interest in you? Are you curious what other opportunities there are at the Broad? Explore our diverse set of labs below!

The Translational Genomics Group

Learn more at: https://the-tgg.org and https://www.clinicalgenome.org/

About us & what we study: The Translational Genomics Group (TGG) has a mission to support the use of genomics in medicine, by focusing on community-centered projects that promote collaboration, data sharing, and open science. This position is part of the ClinGen project which is an NIH-funded program that develops authoritative resources for clinical genomics including knowledge-bases to define the clinical relevance of genes and variants for use in precision medicine and research. Our curation team performs analysis of gene-disease relationships and variant pathogenicity and presents this analysis to international groups of experts in different disease fields that include hearing loss, RASopathies, congenital myopathies, and intellectual disability/autism to name a few.

The Neale Lab

Learn more at: http://www.nealelab.is/

About us & what we study: We are a multidisciplinary team of around 30 computational scientists, statisticians, mathematicians and software engineers who analyze state of the art human genetics data to gain insights into the root biological cause of disease. We focus on psychiatric diseases in particular, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, but the tools and resources we build are generally applicable to other diseases. The more theoretically-focused members of our team work on developing new statistical methods to tease meaningful insights from large data sets, while those who enjoy more of the practical and hands-on analysis get stuck into disease-focused data sets in the search for genes that play a role in disease risk. The largest datasets that we study feature genetic data on hundreds of thousands of individuals, posing a scalability challenge that led us to develop our own software toolkit designed for cloud computing (see https://hail.is/). Most recently, in an analysis of the largest collection to date of exome sequencing data from bipolar studies, we identified the gene AKAP11 as playing a shared role in both bipolar and schizophrenia risk. Encouragingly, AKAP11 is known to interact with GSK3B which is hypothesized to be the biological target of lithium - the leading treatment for bipolar disorder. This finding demonstrates how broad genetic analyses can deliver biologically meaningful results, and we are encouraged that as the size of these studies increases we will gain an even better understanding of how and why these diseases arise.

5 min video that gives a high-level summary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbNMb9mqQ2E

The Hung Lab

Learn more at: www.thehunglaboratory.com

About us & what we study: The Hung Lab combines chemical and genomic approaches to define host-pathogen interactions and to reveal the critical pressure points of infectious disease. By using small organic molecules and applying systematic genetic perturbations, the lab hopes to gain new insight into bacterial responses to host immunity and chemotherapy and to establish new therapeutic paradigms for a variety of devastating pathogens, including carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Cancer Dependency Map, Target Discovery and Advancement Lab (TDAL)

Learn more at: https://sites.google.com/broadinstitute.org/depmap/home

About us &what we study: We are a passionate and diverse group of researchers with the shared goal of translating discoveries from genome-scale CRISPR and RNAi genetic screens into new cancer drug targets. The goal of the Cancer Dependency Map is to create a comprehensive preclinical reference map connecting tumor features with tumor dependencies to accelerate the development of precision treatments. Our strategy is to systematically characterize cellular models of cancers and to test those models for sensitivity to genetic and small-molecule perturbations. By integrating data beyond those collected at the Broad, DepMap hopes to develop a complete understanding of the vulnerabilities of cancer, identify targets for therapeutic development, and design strategies to optimize patient responses to those therapies. In the Target Discovery and Advancement lab, our goal is to develop computational and experimental strategies to prioritize targets (target discovery) and systematically advance the most promising ones to drug discovery projects (target advancement). We use functional genomics, including CRISPR-based methods to perform both in vivo and in vitro validation. In partnership with therapeutic development experts, we are refining our understanding of how the genes required for cancer cell survival can be translated into new treatments for cancer.

The Bhattacharyya Lab

Learn more at: bhattacharyyalab.org

About us & what we study: The Bhattacharyya lab pursues basic and translational research focused on characterizing the response of pathogens (bacteria and fungi) to antimicrobials, and of patients to systemic infections. While we use many approaches to address these broad topics, our "bread and butter" is a combination of standard microbiological methods and transcriptional profiling. Gene expression profiles are an early manifestation of cellular responses to stimuli, particularly upon key perturbations like antibiotic exposure or infection (see figure below). Changes in gene expression reflect physiological adaptations by both microbes and patients that we can use to infer mechanisms of disease. We can also co-opt these findings for diagnostic purposes: susceptible bacteria look transcriptionally distinct from resistant ones (top panel of figure), within minutes of antibiotic exposure (i.e., dying cells look transcriptionally distinct from cells not fated to die). Similarly, the gene expression program of immune cells at single-cell resolution shows characteristic changes in patients with infection compared with patients with non-infectious illness (bottom panel of figure). Our overall goals are to better understand molecular mechanisms underlying antimicrobial resistance and the immune response to systemic infection in order to improve the care of patients with infections.

The McCarroll Lab

Learn more at: http://mccarrolllab.org/

About us & what we study: The McCarroll Lab's mission is to develop new, data-rich ways of monitoring biology and to apply these technologies to reveal the biological basis of health and illness in human biology. We believe that such innovation can turn ever-broader aspects of biology into “big data” problems, in which the rate of progress can be dramatically accelerated by using computer science, math and statistics together with biology. We see some of the greatest opportunities in areas of biology underlying brain health, fertility, and cancer. We especially focus on the biology of the brain, as almost everything remains to be discovered about the mechanisms of most brain illnesses. There is an enormous need to answer basic questions about disease mechanisms and propel biomedical research into new, productive directions.

The Optical Profiling Platform

Learn more at: https://sites.broadinstitute.org/opp/

About us & what we study: The Optical Profiling Platform at the Broad Institute develops advanced imaging methods for high-throughput generation of integrated, multimodal portraits of biological systems with single-cell precision. We focus on highly multiplexed in situ proteomics and transcriptomics; optical barcoding technologies for in situ screening; and assays for high dimensional functional profiling, especially all optical electrophysiology. We use these tools to understand the gene-phenotype interactions misregulated in psychiatric disease, especially autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia; and to elucidate the cell-to-cell interactions underlying tissue structure in cancer and immunological disease. To get a flavor for the type of data you can expect to generate, click here.

The Gene Regulation Observatory (GRO), Najm Lab

Learn more at: https://www.broadinstitute.org/gene-regulation-observatory-gro

About us & what we study: Interested in joining a small lab with big plans? Do CRISPR and molecular biology excite you? We are a new group, established within the last year, studying non-coding genomic elements and their contributions to gene expression and disease. The lab is focused on three major areas: technology development, perturbation of non-coding elements, and therapeutic targets. We collaborate with a handful of Broad and Boston area colleagues and are searching for an enthusiastic research associate to join our growing team!

Precision Cardiology Lab and Cardiovascular Disease Initiative, The Ellinor Lab

Learn more at: https://www.broadinstitute.org/precision-cardiology-laboratory and https://www.ellinorlab.org

About us & what we study: Our multidisciplinary team is focusing on solving big problems in cardiovascular health by identifying novel targets for disease and collaboratively developing new medicines. We leverage human genetics, experimental models of cardiovascular disease, phenotypic assays, and knowledge-based approaches to identify, explore and validate targets of therapeutic interest.

The Precision Cardiology Laboratory is a collaboration between Broad and Bayer, combining Broad’s innovative methods for basic scientific discovery with Bayer’s long history of drug discovery and development. We use state-of-the-art technologies developed at Broad to generate and mine large datasets of disease relevance. Alongside a team of talented computational scientists, we identify pathways and genes relevant for specific disease indications.

Our research associates are involved in day-to-day laboratory work and collaborate with our team of research scientists and postdoctoral fellows to assist with experimental design, analyze and troubleshoot experiments, prepare and present scientific material in team meetings. We foster scientific advancement and nurture future scientists for a better world!

The Cimini Lab, Imaging Platform

Learn more at: http://cimini-lab.broadinstitute.org/

About us & what we study: The Cimini lab is based around a central idea - that microscopy images contain valuable quantitative information, some of which can and some of which cannot be seen with the human eye, and all of which might be useful to better understanding biology or even curing disease. Our mission is therefore to figure out how to best extract that information and how to teach others to do it too, because tools are only useful if you've been taught how they work. Our lab members come from a wide range of scientific backgrounds, and we see the growth of all our members' knowledge and expertise as critical to our overall mission's success.

Bacterial Genomics Group

Learn more at: https://www.broadinstitute.org/infectious-disease-and-microbiome/bacterial-genomics

About us & what we study: The mission of the Bacterial Genomics Group at Broad is to develop and implement 'omics methodologies to answer pressing questions related to bacteria and their role in human health. A major focus of our group is the evolution and spread of bacterial pathogens (and antibiotic resistance) including the interactions that these pathogens have with their host and host-associated microbiota. We devise and carry out large-scale studies that employ genomic, metagenomic and transcriptomic data sets to understand human pathologies caused by e.g., drug resistant Mycobacteria, carbapenem resistant Enterobacteriaceae, the enterococci and uropathogenic Escherichia coli. We do this in close collaboration with clinical, academic and industry researchers from across the Broad community and around the globe.

The Epigenomics Mapping Group

Learn more at: https://www.broadinstitute.org/epigenomics

About us & what we study: study: The Epigenomics Mapping Group (TGG) has a mission to study the functional state of the entire genome, including transcribed genes, and distant regulatory elements. Protein coding genes only account for about 1% of the DNA sequences in the human genome. While the precise function of the remaining 99% remains largely uncharacterized, these vast stretches of “non-coding” genome are known to contain instructions for regulating gene activity. These regulatory elements interact with many regulatory proteins — such as transcription factors, chromatin regulators, and non-coding RNAs — which together constitute the epigenome: a layer of control mechanisms and information atop the genome.

A generation of research in human genetics has revealed that most gene variants that contribute to the risk of polygenic, familial disease occur in regulatory elements, far from the genes they affect. We participate in a nationwide consortium of scientists using single-cell biology to study the connections between genetic disease, regulatory elements, and gene expression. We are looking for a motivated person with an interest in creating reference datasets; such datasets will be instrumental to the next generation of genetics research, enabling our community to decipher the ties between mutations and disease outcomes. Please read more about our projects here: https://www.broadinstitute.org/news/broad-scientists-join-new-consortium-studying-function-genetic-variation and https://www.broadinstitute.org/news/conversation-about-legacy-encode-and-what-comes-next-0.

Center for the Development of Therapeutics (CDoT), Antibody Discovery

Learn more at: https://www.broadinstitute.org/center-development-therapeutics-cdot

About us & what we study: The Center for Development of Therapeutics acts as a bridge between the exciting biological insights gained in research laboratories at the Broad and translating them into effective therapies to help patients in need of novel treatments. The Antibody Discovery group focuses on targets that can benefit from the advantages of biological therapeutics: exquisite specificity, long in vivo half-life, and the ability to engage the immune system. This work entails close collaboration with both basic research labs and groups throughout CDoT. You can learn about the day-to-day experience for our scientists at: https://www.broadinstitute.org/center-development-therapeutics/day-life-cdot-research-associate.

Center for the Development of Therapeutics (CDoT), Biochemistry & Biophysics Group

Learn more at: https://www.broadinstitute.org/center-development-therapeutics-cdot

About us & what we study: The Center for the Development of Therapeutics (CDoT) is a highly collaborative organization of professional scientists who are eager to help Broad academic labs turn biological insights into therapeutics. CDoT's goal is to succeed in developing new treatments by using systematic approaches in genomics, biology and chemistry. We are committed to developing and applying novel drug discovery approaches and technologies to address critical unmet medical needs not being tackled elsewhere. The primary goal of the Biochemistry & Biophysics group is to support the drug discovery efforts of multidisciplinary project teams by driving biochemical and biophysical assay development and execution using a variety of techniques. You can learn about the day-to-day experience for our scientists at https://www.broadinstitute.org/center-development-therapeutics/day-life-cdot-research-associate.

Center for the Development of Therapeutics (CDoT), The Protein Science Group

Learn more at: https://www.broadinstitute.org/center-development-therapeutics-cdot

About us & what we study: The Protein Science group is located within the Center for the Development of Therapeutics (CDoT), a professional drug discovery group at the Broad whose goal is to translate research from Broad faculty and associates into therapeutics that can reach patients. This typically involves identifying small molecules (compounds) that affect the activity of a protein or protein complex that has been identified as important for the disease under study. The Protein Science group has a critical role in the generation and characterization of the protein target(s), whether it is an enzyme, membrane protein, multi-protein complex, or protein-nucleic acid complex etc. Scientists joining the Protein Science group will gain experience in molecular cloning, protein expression (from bacterial, mammalian, and insect cells), protein purification, and biophysical/biochemical characterization of the target proteins. They will also work closely with the assay development and structural biology groups to support identification of compounds and to understand how the compounds work and can be improved. Team members also participate in project meetings with members of the chemistry and cell pharmacology groups within CDoT and researchers from the faculty labs. At these meetings they will get to see how the drug discovery projects evolve and how their research fits in. You can learn about the day-to-day experience for our scientists at https://www.broadinstitute.org/center-development-therapeutics/day-life-cdot-research-associate.

Genetic Perturbation Platform (GPP), The Screening Group

Learn more at: https://www.broadinstitute.org/genetic-perturbation-platform

About us & what we study: The Genetic Perturbation Platform (GPP) is comprised of professional scientists, software engineers, and early career research associates/computational biologists who collaborate to develop the critical technological tools needed to obtain and analyze the massive amounts of genome-related data that are being generated by scientists at the Broad and around the world. In parallel, we put these technologies into practice for biological discovery. The screening group of GPP collaborates with researchers in many areas of biology, from infectious disease and stem cell biology to psychiatric disease and cancer, illustrating the incredible demand for continued innovation in functional genomics. As a member of the platform you will work as part of a team to execute high-throughput lentiviral CRISPR/Cas screens to elucidate potential new dependencies in cancer cells, as well as contribute to our lentivirus production and high-throughput PCR operations. GPP is a highly interactive team and we enjoy working closely together (and socializing) across the entire group.

Genetic Perturbation Platform (GPP), The Research and Development (R&D) Group

Learn more at: https://sites.google.com/broadinstitute.org/doench/home

About us & what we study: The research and development (R&D) group of the Genetic Perturbation Platform (GPP) focuses on adapting, optimizing, and deploying new CRISPR technologies for use in large-scale pooled genetic screens. We design and perform screens to functionalize genetic variants, find potential drug resistance mutations, advance our CRISPR guide design algorithms, and find gene essentialities. In recent years, our group has specifically focused on performing these screens using CRISPR activation/inhibition, Cas12a multiplexing, base editing, and Cas variants that expand the enzyme's targetable region. As a platform, the GPP is comprised of professional scientists, software engineers, and early career research associates/computational biologists who collaborate to develop the critical technological tools needed to obtain and analyze the massive amounts of genome-related data that are being generated by scientists at the Broad and around the world. Outside of the lab, we enjoy sharing meals, solving crossword puzzles, or partaking in platform-wide social events such as rock climbing and going to beer gardens.

Link: Am I ready for CRISPR?