Kristala L Jones Prather

Department Head / Professor

Department
Department of Chemical Engineering
Technology Areas
Biotechnology: Biomanufacturing, Biomedical Devices & Systems / Chemicals & Materials: Catalysis & Synthesis, Polymers / Energy & Distribution: Hydrocarbons / Drug Discovery and Research Tools: Cell Lines & Organoids, Genomics & Proteomics / Environmental Engineering: Sustainability & Recycling / Computer Science: Bioinformatics

Background and Experience

Kristala Jones Prather is the Arthur D. Little Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT. She received an S.B. degree from MIT in 1994 and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley (1999), and worked 4 years in BioProcess Research and Development at the Merck Research Labs prior to joining the faculty of MIT.

Her research interests are centered on the design and assembly of recombinant microorganisms for the production of small molecules, with additional efforts in novel bioprocess design approaches. Prather is the recipient of an Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award (2005), a Technology Review “TR35” Young Innovator Award (2007), a National Science Foundation CAREER Award (2010), the Biochemical Engineering Journal Young Investigator Award (2011), and the Charles Thom Award of the Society for Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology (2017).

Technologies

Glucose Valve and Other Metabolite Valves

Technology / Case number: #12369
Tae Moon / Kristala L Jones Prather / Kevin Solomon
Technology Areas: Computer Science / Drug Discovery and Research Tools
Impact Areas: Healthy Living
License

Microbial Production of 3,4-Dihydroxybutyrate (DHBA) and 3-Hydroxybutyrolactone (3-HBL) from Glucose

Technology / Case number: #14595
Kristala L Jones Prather / Collin Martin / Himanshu Dhamankar
Technology Areas: Chemicals & Materials / Computer Science / Drug Discovery and Research Tools
Impact Areas: Healthy Living
License

Microbial Production of 4-Methylpentanol from Glucose

Technology / Case number: #16130
Kristala L Jones Prather / Micah Sheppard / Aditya Kunjapur
Technology Areas: Chemicals & Materials
Impact Areas: Healthy Living
License

Microbial Production of Alpha-Substituted 3-Hydroxy Acids from Glucose

Technology / Case number: #25163
Kristala L Jones Prather / K'yal Bannister
Technology Areas: Biotechnology / Drug Discovery and Research Tools
Impact Areas: Healthy Living
License

Biodegradable Sustainable Polyesters

Technology / Case number: #23864
Kristala L Jones Prather / Desiree Plata / Bradley D. Olsen / Wontae Joo / Sarah Av-Ron / K'yal Bannister / Omar Tantawi
Technology Areas: Biotechnology / Chemicals & Materials / Environmental Engineering
Impact Areas: Sustainable Future
License

Microbial System for Biosynthesis of Natural and Engineered Products Coupled to in Situ Extraction in Supercritical CO2

Technology / Case number: #18721
Kristala L Jones Prather / Janelle Thompson / Kyle Peet / Adam Freedman / Jason Boock / Michael Timko
Technology Areas: Biotechnology / Chemicals & Materials / Energy & Distribution
Impact Areas: Sustainable Future
License

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