Chad William Johnston

Chad William Johnston, Ph.D., is a Research Professor at Baylor College of Medicine, affiliated with the Pharmacology & Chemical Biology and Molecular Virology & Microbiology departments. His research integrates chemical biology and synthetic biology to develop precision antibiotics that target specific pathogens while minimizing microbiome disruption. He leads the Johnston Lab, focused on engineering antimicrobials to combat antibiotic resistance and microbiome-driven diseases.

Education: Postdoctoral Fellowship at MIT (2021), PhD and BSc in Biochemistry from McMaster University (2016).

Research Interests: Microbial natural products, directed evolution, synthetic biology, antibiotic discovery, and LCMS-based analytical techniques. His lab employs cutting-edge methods like phage-assisted continuous evolution (PACE) and advanced LCMS to discover and optimize selective antibiotics.

Labs and Teams: The Johnston Lab is located at Baylor’s Alkek Building, fostering collaborations across disciplines. Opportunities exist for students in Chemical, Physical, and Structural Biology, and Immunology & Microbiology programs.