Niles A. Pierce

Niles A. Pierce is the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Professor of Applied and Computational Mathematics and Bioengineering at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), serving as Executive Officer for Biology and Biological Engineering. He holds a B.S.E. from Princeton University (1993) and a D.Phil. from the University of Oxford (1997). His research focuses on engineering programmable nucleic acid systems for biomedical applications, including molecular diagnostics, synthetic biology, and bioimaging. Key innovations include the Hybridization Chain Reaction (HCR) and the NUPACK computational design framework.

Research interests span dynamic nucleic acid nanotechnology, molecular programming, and translational medicine. His team develops tools for multiplexed imaging, CRISPR-based regulation, and instrument-free diagnostics. Notable honors include the Guggenheim Fellowship (2014–2015), Feynman Teaching Prize (2003), and Rhodes/Hertz Fellowships (1993).

• Education:
  • B.S.E., Princeton University, 1993
  • D.Phil., University of Oxford, 1997
• Administrative Roles:
  • Executive Officer, Division of Biology and Biological Engineering (2007–2013, 2020–)
  • MacArthur Professor (2024–)

His labs specialize in four subgroups: programmable regulators, bioimaging technologies, diagnostics, and computational algorithms. Current projects address cell-selective CRISPR regulation, high-resolution protein imaging, and at-home pathogen detection. NUPACK software remains a cornerstone of nucleic acid design research.

• Awards:
  • Rhodes Scholarship, Hertz Fellowship, 1993
  • Rozemberg Tulip Award, 2020
  • Guggenheim Fellowship, 2014–2015
  • Richard P. Feynman Teaching Prize, 2003

His work bridges computational mathematics and biological engineering, with applications in medicine and environmental microbiology. Future efforts emphasize molecular choreography for precise cellular control and scalable diagnostic platforms.