Ariel Furst

Ariel Furst joined the Department of Chemical Engineering as an assistant professor in August 2019. She received her B.S. in Chemistry from University of Chicago in 2010, her Ph.D. In Chemistry from California Institute of Technology in 2015 where she was advised by Jackie Barton, and she recently completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley with Matthew Francis.  She was awarded the Arnold O. Beckman Fellowship in 2016-2018, and the Remsen Bird Lecturer Award in 2018. Her research interests include bioelectrochemistry, clinical diagnostics, biotechnology, surface chemistry and self-assembly, with particular interest in electrochemical diagnostic devices. The Furst group studies pathogenic bacteria in complex environments, answering questions at the intersection of chemistry and biology using electrochemistry as a tool. Her lab is developing new technologies based on electrochemistry to detect infectious disease, screen antibiotic candidates, elucidate mutagenesis pathways that lead to antibiotic resistance, and study fundamental mechanisms of pathogenesis. Her work focuses on improving the ability to fight infections and provide access to diagnostics and treatments.