Nik Nair

Nik Nair is an Associate Professor at Tufts University's School of Engineering, affiliated with the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. He also holds a Graduate Faculty appointment at the Genetics, Molecular and Cellular Biology program within Tufts' Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS).

• Education:
  • Ph.D. in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering (University of Illinois, 2010)
  • M.S. in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering (University of Illinois, 2006)
  • B.S. in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering (Cornell University, 2003)

Research Focus: The Nair Lab pioneers synthetic biology and systems bioengineering approaches to rewire microbial physiology for applications while uncovering evolutionary design principles. Key areas include protein engineering, metabolic engineering, and biofuel synthesis, with recent breakthroughs in tagatose production and spore-based biocatalysis. Articles highlight expertise in enzyme optimization, codon bias, and synthetic regulons.

Scientific Contributions span 15 recent publications (2023-2025) in topics from biocatalyst engineering on Bacillus subtilis spores to predictive modeling of codon-mediated resource allocation. His work bridges industrial biotechnology and biomedical applications, particularly through collaborations in cellular agriculture and antimicrobial therapy.

Awards:

• Senior Member, National Academy of Inventors (2025)

Advising & Grants: Actively mentors students/postdocs (e.g., PhD candidate Aaron Love, postdoc Damayanti Chakravarty). His lab participates in Tufts' Cellular Agriculture Consortium with David Kaplan and Kyong Lee, securing NIH grant support highlighted in NYTimes coverage.

Lab & Professional Activities: Leads the Nair Lab at Tufts, focusing on microbial engineering for biocatalysis, bioremediation, and cultivated meat. Maintains active collaborations via Twitter, Bluesky, and journals like RSC Chemical Biology, with field leadership in synthetic biology societies.