Dr. Alexander Beliaev leads EMSL's . He is also the Synthetic Biology team leader for Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's Biological Sciences Division. His expertise and interests span systems microbiology, functional genomics, synthetic biology, and biotechnology.
Over the last two decades, Beliaev’s work has focused on predictive understanding of energy and materials conversion by microbes with emphasis on metabolic and regulatory controls guiding these processes. He has led and co-led multi-institutional projects focusing on the diversity of microbial metabolism: from extracellular electron transfer in chemolithotrophic bacteria to photosynthetic energy capture in oxygenic phototrophs. This work led to the discovery of the molecular basis of dissimilatory metal reduction by marine and subsurface microorganisms, as well as to development of a broad understanding of mechanisms by which cyanobacteria maximize energy conversion to achieve ultrahigh growth. His academic and educational accomplishments have also led to a joint appointment with the Centre for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy at the Queensland University of Technology, where he serves as a professor of biotechnology.
Today, Beliaev is exploring fundamental mechanisms and design principles that govern the functioning of multi-species systems. He is incorporating cutting-edge measurement technologies into systems and synthetic biology approaches, especially with respect to microbial community function and host-microbe interactions, to take knowledge from the laboratory to the field and translate it into industrial applications and partnerships with industry.