Dianne Newman

Dianne Newman is the Gordon M. Binder/Amgen Professor of Biology and Geobiology and a Merkin Institute Professor at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Her research focuses on how microorganisms co-evolve with their environment, particularly through electron transfer reactions in oxygen-limited conditions, and investigates bacterial survival strategies during slow growth.

• Key research areas include microbial physiology, redox-active metabolites (phenazines), biofilm dynamics, and their implications in human chronic infections and plant-microbe interactions.
• Her interdisciplinary lab integrates bacterial genetics, electrochemistry, and advanced imaging to explore microbial metabolism at microenvironmental and single-cell scales.

She contributes to Caltech's microbiology initiatives (CEMI) and sustainability research (RSI-EBE). The lab emphasizes training diverse young scientists for impactful STEM careers.