Faculty and Research Units
OIST research units take a cross-disciplinary approach to research, and the PhD program encourages students to explore the intersections of disparate fields of science and technology. Find the research unit of your interest below.
Faculty and Research Units
Find a Faculty Member or Research Unit
- Biochemistry
- Bioinformatics
- Biology
- Biophysics
- Biotechnology
- Botany
- Cell biology
- Complex systems
- Developmental biology
- Evolutionary biology
- Genetics
- (-) Genomics
- Health sciences
- Immunology
- Medicine
- Molecular biology
- Nanoscience
- Physiology
- Structural biology
- Synthetic biology
- Theoretical sciences
- Virology
Algorithms for Ecological and Evolutionary Genomics
The Algorithms for Ecological and Evolutionary Genomics Unit develops computer algorithms for core problems in genomics to study the genomes of every extant species on our planet.
Gene Myers
Professor (Adjunct)
Biodiversity and Biocomplexity Unit
The Biodiversity and Biocomplexity Unit explores how ecological and evolutionary processes generate and sustain biodiversity, and how those processes are being altered by human activities.
Evan P. Economo
Professor
Cell Signal Unit
Using a mouse model, the Cell Signal Unit explores the cause of various diseases that include cancer, neuronal disorders, immunological diseases, and diabetes/obesity at the molecular level....
Tadashi Yamamoto
Professor
Evolution, Cell Biology, and Symbiosis Unit
The ECBS unit studies the effects of symbiotic interactions on the origin and evolution of cellular life.
Filip Husnik
Assistant Professor
Evolutionary Genomics Unit
The Evolutionary Genomics Unit studies the evolution of insects and their associated symbionts.
Tom Bourguignon
Associate Professor
Genomics and Regulatory Systems Unit
To function normally, organisms must ensure that genes are switched on and off at the right times and locations. Gene expression control is a complex process that requires the coordinated ac...
Nicholas M. Luscombe
Professor
Human Evolutionary Genomics Unit
We use the genomes of Neandertals and Denisovans, the closest evolutionary relatives of present-day humans, to identify genomic variants that are unique to modern humans.
Svante Pääbo
Professor (Adjunct)
Integrative Community Ecology Unit
Our unit employs theory-informed experiments, genetics, and mathematical models to identify how species interactions vary over time and space to influence ecosystem dynamics and functioning.
David Armitage
Assistant Professor
Marine Climate Change Unit
The Marine Climate Change Unit aims to understand how coral reef fish respond to human society driven environmental changes such as climate change, heatwaves, overfishing, and urbanization.
Timothy Ravasi
Professor
Marine Eco-Evo-Devo Unit
Most coral reef fishes have an incredible colors but why and how do they appear ? We use clownfish as a model we decipher the origins of the colors and how the fish are using them.
Vincent Laudet
Professor
Marine Genomics Unit
Exploring marine genomic diversity helps understanding organism responses to environmental change in the past and future, both in terms of large-scale evolution and within their ecosystems.
Noriyuki Satoh
Professor
Model-Based Evolutionary Genomics Unit
The Model-Based Evolutionary Genomics Unit works at the crossroads of computational and evolutionary biology. Our long-term goal is to achieve an integrative understanding of the evolution of Life on Earth and the origins and emergence of complexity across different biological scales, from individual proteins to ecosystems. To move towards this goal, we develop and apply model-driven evolutionary genomics methods to reconstruct the Tree of Life and the major evolutionary transitions that have occurred along its branches.
Gergely János Szöllősi
Associate Professor
Molecular Genetics Unit
Work in the Molecular Genetics Unit combines comparative genomics, population genetic modeling, and genetic mapping. The unit uses new approaches for sequencing and analyzing genomes to inve...
Daniel Rokhsar
Professor (Adjunct)
Plant Epigenetics Unit
The major goal of our research is to understand biological significance of epigenetic regulation of genes and transposons for environmental adaptation and genome evolution in plants.
Hidetoshi Saze
Professor