Tal Danino

Tal Danino

Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Tal Danino’s research explores the emerging field of synthetic biology, focusing on engineering bacteria gene circuits to create novel behaviors that have biomedical applications.

Tal Danino is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University. His lab focuses on engineering bacteria for biomedical applications, with a particular emphasis on developing bacteria as a cancer therapy. Originally from Los Angeles, Tal received a PhD in Bioengineering from UCSD and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. He is the recipient of awards including the NSF CAREER Award, DoD Era of Hope Scholar Award, CRI Lloyd J Old STARs Award, Pershing Square-Sohn Prize, and is a TED Fellow. He directs the Synthetic Biological Systems Laboratory and is a member of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center and Data Science Institute.

Research Areas

  • Cell & Tissue Engineering
  • Drug Delivery
  • Microfluidics and Lab-on-a-Chip Technology
  • Systems Biology and Synthetic Biology

Additional information

  • Professional Experience
    • Associate Professor (tenured), Biomedical Engineering, Columbia Engineering, 2023 – present
    • Associate Professor (tenure track), Biomedical Engineering, Columbia Engineering, 2020 – 2023
    • Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering, Columbia Engineering, 2016 – 2020
  • Professional Affiliations
    • Member, Data Science Institute, Columbia University, 2016 - present  
    • Member, Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia University, 2016 - present  
  • Honors & Awards
    • 2020 Cancer Research Institute (CRI) Lloyd J. Old Scientist’s Taking Risks (STAR) Award

    • 2020 Pershing Square Sohn Prize for Young Investigators in Cancer Research

    • 2019 NSF CAREER Award
    • 2018 ALCF Young Innovators Team Award (YITA)

    • 2017 Breast Cancer Research Foundation-AACR Career Development Award
    • 2017 Department of Defense Era of Hope Breast Cancer Scholar Award

    • 2015 NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00)

    • 2015 TED Fellow

    • 2014 New England Biolabs Passion in Science Award
    • 2012 NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA)
    • 2011 Misrock Postdoctoral Fellowship
    • 2006 Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship (DoE CSGF)
    • 2002 Arthur Beckman Undergraduate Research Scholar
    • 2001 California Governor’s Math and Science Scholar
  • Education
    • PhD, Bioengineering, University of California, San Diego 
    • BS, Physics, University of California, Los Angeles 
    • BS, Mathematics, University of California, Los Angeles 
    • BS, Chemistry, University of California, Los Angeles