Inventor, Postdoctoral Fellow

Gizem is a synthetic biologist and architect, and the creator of the Anthrobots in the Levin Lab. Advised by Prof. Michael Levin, she has recently completed her PhD at Tufts University Biology Department with a joint appointment at Harvard University’s Wyss Institute, where she continues as a Postdoctoral Fellow. Prior to her PhD, Gizem earned a dual master’s degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Synthetic Biology and Computational Design, as well as an undergraduate degree in Architecture at Istanbul Technical University. Leveraging her background in architecture and biology, Gizem’s research focuses on developing living, self-constructing, biological structures by design.

Inventor, PI

Michael Levin, co-inventor of Anthrobots, is a Distinguished Professor in the Biology department at Tufts, holds the Vannevar Bush endowed Chair and serves as director of the Allen Discovery Center at Tufts and the Tufts Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology. He also holds a joint appointment as Associate Faculty at Harvard University’s Wyss Institute. Dr Levin’s recent honors include the Scientist of Vision award and the Distinguished Scholar Award. His group's focus is on understanding the biophysical mechanisms that implement decision-making during complex pattern regulation, and harnessing bioelectric dynamics toward rational control of growth and form.

Characterization Lead, PI

Simon Garnier is an Associate Professor of Biology at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He lead the characterization efforts on Anthrobots, revealing the emergent morphological and behavioral subtypes, as well as the correlations between them. He is the head of the Swarm Lab, an interdisciplinary research lab that studies the mechanisms underlying Collective Behaviors and Swarm Intelligence in natural and artificial systems. His research aims to reveal the detailed functioning of collective intelligence in systems as diverse as ant colonies, human crowds or robotic swarms. More on Dr Garnier and the Swarm Lab can be read below.

Undergraduate Student

Pranjal participated in the Anthrobots project during his undergraduate years, specifically focusing on helping with the statistical analyses under the direction of Prof. Garnier. Since then, Pranjal has graduated and is currently a PhD student in Bioinformatics at the University of Michigan.

Research Technician

Ben participated in the Anthrobots project during his stop gap year between his undergraduate and PhD degrees, specifically focusing on helping with scaling up wetlab experiments and data collection. Since then, Ben has moved on to the Harvard University for a PhD in Biological and Biomedical Sciences.

Undergraduate Student

Hannah participated in the Anthrobots project during her Sophomore and Junior years. Since then, Hannah has graduated at joined PremierMD as a healthcare assistant.

Undergraduate Student

Ben participated in the Anthrobots project during his Sophomore and Junior years as well. Since then, Ben has graduated at joined PhamEye as an Ophthalmic Technician.