Please join us for a Levy CIMAR Science Lunch talk from our own Benjamin Wolfe, PhD, an Associate Professor of Biology at the Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences, and Co-Director of Science, Technology and Society at Tufts.

Dr. Wolfe’s lab has been using metagenomic sequencing to identify antibiotic resistance reservoirs in food systems, and they have also been working to identify how microbial interactions could drive the evolution of antibiotic resistance. More broadly, their research links ecological and evolutionary patterns in microbial communities with the molecular mechanisms that generate these patterns. Using tractable microbial communities from isolated from food systems, Dr. Wolfe and Team have two broad research goals: identify the molecular mechanisms that control the assembly and function of microbial communities determine how microbial species evolve within multi-species communities. Their work will help develop principles of microbial community assembly that can guide the design and manipulation of microbial communities in agriculture, industry, medicine, and nature.

Dr. Wolfe plans to present his work on metagenomic sequencing to identify antibiotic resistance genes in a range of fermented foods (from kimchi to cheese).