Reeta Prusty Rao

Reeta Prusty Rao is a Professor and Department Head of Biology and Biotechnology at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), holding affiliate appointments at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and the UMass Chan Medical School's Institute of Drug Resistance. She has been at WPI since 2004 and has led the Department since 2022.

Education: PhD in Molecular Genetics from Pennsylvania State University (1999), followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the Whitehead Institute of Biomedical Research (1999–2005).

Research focuses on fungal pathogenesis, host-microbe interactions, and antifungal drug discovery. Key projects include studying Candida albicans virulence strategies, probiotic mechanisms, and the gut-brain axis in fungal infections. Her lab develops high-throughput methods to identify novel therapeutics and probiotics.

Teaching: Courses include Plagues of the Modern World and Medical Microbiology. Mentoring spans undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students, with a focus on workforce development in biotechnology and academia.

Awards: Waksman Outstanding Teaching Award (2018), AAAS Fellow (2022), and American Academy of Microbiology Fellow (2018). Professional roles include Associate Editor for PLOS ONE and leadership in organizations like the Society for Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology.