Dr. David S. Glass

Dr. Glass earned his PhD in Bioengineering at Stanford. Dr. Glass is interested in natural multicellular systems, which demonstrate cooperation among large numbers of cells organized into intricate spatial patterns. Such cooperation relies on several processes that can be difficult to tease apart. At Weizmann, in the Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Dr. Glass plans to “decouple” two of these processes, metabolic interdependence and adhesion-driven colocalization, in order to understand to what extent each contributes to stable coexistence between differing cell types. He will conduct his experiments on the familiar Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria found in the environment, foods, and intestines of people and animals. His work on the division of labor in multicellular organisms could aid in engineering division of labor within synthetic cells when bioproducing chemicals and fuels. It could also have uses in engineering living materials and in tissue engineering. Dr. Glass is also a dedicated teacher who excelled in his ability to relate to undergraduates and to improve their understanding.