Faculty of Health and Life Sciences

Dr Remy Chait

Dr Remy Chait

Lecturer

 R.Chait@exeter.ac.uk

 Living Systems Institute T05.17

 

Living Systems Institute, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4QD

Overview

I am interested in how systems of interacting parts (genes, organisms, environmental stresses,...) impact microbial behaviour. I try to marry microscope and optical instrument development with computation and synthetic biology to create tools to measure and control these systems in real-time. 

Qualifications

2005-2011     PhD (Systems Biology)       Harvard University

1994-1998     BA   (Mathematics)              University of California – Berkeley

Career

2019-present             Lecturer in Biosciences      University of Exeter

2012-2018                 Posdoctoral Fellow             IST Austria

Research group links

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Research

Research interests

My research is oriented around measuring and manipulating interactions between genes and their cellular, genomic, environmental, and community contexts giving rise to microbial population behaviors such as antibiotic resistance. We incorporate diverse approaches in experimental evolution, mathematics, systems microbiology, engineering and instrumentation to understand how interactions between cells shape bacterial community behaviors, the value of environmental sensing and phenotypic variation in fluctuating environments, and how phenotypes broadly respond to mutation.

My research spans elements of microbial systems biology, evolutionary biology cybergenetics, antimicrobial resistance, and engineering.

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Publications

Journal articles

Nikolic N, Anagnostidis V, Tiwari A, Chait R, Gielen F (2023). Droplet-based methodology for investigating bacterial population dynamics in response to phage exposure. Frontiers in Microbiology, 14 Abstract.
Davidović A, Chait R, Batt G, Ruess J (2022). Parameter inference for stochastic biochemical models from perturbation experiments parallelised at the single cell level. PLOS Computational Biology, 18(3), e1009950-e1009950. Abstract.
Davidović A, Chait R, Batt G, Ruess J (2021). Parameter inference for stochastic biochemical models from perturbation experiments parallelised at the single cell level. Abstract.
Zisis T, Schwarz J, Balles M, Kretschmer M, Nemethova M, Chait R, Hauschild R, Lange J, Guet C, Sixt M, et al (2021). Sequential and Switchable Patterning for Studying Cellular Processes under Spatiotemporal Control. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 13(30), 35545-35560. Abstract.
Palmer AC, Chait R, Kishony R (2018). Nonoptimal gene expression creates latent potential for antibiotic resistance. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 35(11), 2669-2684. Abstract.
Chait R, Ruess J, Bergmiller T, Tkačik G, Guet CC (2017). Shaping bacterial population behavior through computer-interfaced control of individual cells. Nature Communications, 8(1). Abstract.
Stone LK, Baym M, Lieberman TD, Chait R, Clardy J, Kishony R (2016). Compounds that select against the tetracycline-resistance efflux pump. Nature Chemical Biology, 12(11), 902-904. Abstract.
Chait R, Palmer AC, Yelin I, Kishony R (2016). Pervasive selection for and against antibiotic resistance in inhomogeneous multistress environments. Nature Communications, 7 Abstract.
Baym M, Lieberman TD, Kelsic ED, Chait R, Gross R, Yelin I, Kishony R (2016). Spatiotemporal microbial evolution on antibiotic landscapes. Science, 353(6304), 1147-1151. Abstract.
Toprak E, Veres A, Yildiz S, Pedraza JM, Chait R, Paulsson J, Kishony R (2013). Building a morbidostat: an automated continuous-culture device for studying bacterial drug resistance under dynamically sustained drug inhibition. Nature Protocols, 8(3), 555-567. Abstract.
Toprak E, Veres A, Yildiz S, Pedraza JM, Chait R, Paulsson J, Kishony R (2013). Building a morbidostat: an automated continuous-culture device for studying bacterial drug resistance under dynamically sustained drug inhibition. Nature Protocols, 8(3), 555-567.
Wakamoto Y, Dhar N, Chait R, Schneider K, Signorino-Gelo F, Leibler S, McKinney JD (2013). Dynamic persistence of antibiotic-stressed mycobacteria. Science, 339(6115), 91-95. Abstract.
Toprak E, Veres A, Michel JB, Chait R, Hartl DL, Kishony R (2012). Evolutionary paths to antibiotic resistance under dynamically sustained drug selection. Nature Genetics, 44(1), 101-105. Abstract.
Chait R, Vetsigian K, Kishony R (2012). What counters antibiotic resistance in nature?. Nature Chemical Biology, 8(1), 2-5.
Chait R, Shrestha S, Shah AK, Michel JB, Kishony R (2010). A differential drug screen for compounds that select against antibiotic resistance. PLoS ONE, 5(12). Abstract.
Torella JP, Chait R, Kishony R (2010). Optimal drug synergy in Antimicrobial Treatments. PLoS Computational Biology, 6(6), 1-9. Abstract.
Bollenbach T, Quan S, Chait R, Kishony R (2009). Nonoptimal Microbial Response to Antibiotics Underlies Suppressive Drug Interactions. Cell, 139(4), 707-718. Abstract.
Michel JB, Yeh PJ, Chait R, Moellering RC, Kishony R (2008). Drug interactions modulate the potential for evolution of resistance. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 105(39), 14918-14923. Abstract.
Chait R, Craney A, Kishony R (2007). Antibiotic interactions that select against resistance. Nature, 446(7136), 668-671. Abstract.
Balaban NQ, Merrin J, Chait R, Kowalik L, Leibler S (2004). Bacterial persistence as a phenotypic switch. Science, 305(5690), 1622-1625. Abstract.

Conferences

Mitchelmore P, Michell S, Fletcher J, Manley R, Chait R, Graham J, Fitch C, Zheng J, Sacher J, Mills A, et al (2023). A citizen phage library for respiratory infection. Respiratory infections and bronchiectasis.
Fox Z, Chait R, Batt G, Ruess J (2020). Debugging Synthetic Circuits with Optogenetic Control.  Author URL.

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