Eduardo Sontag
University Distinguished Professor,
Electrical and Computer Engineering
University Distinguished Professor,
Bioengineering
Affiliated Faculty,
Chemical Engineering
Contact
- e.sontag@northeastern.edu
- 326 ISEC
360 Huntington Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts 02115
Research Focus
Feedback control theory, systems biology, cancer, and biomedicine
Education
- PhD, University of Florida, 1977
Honors & Awards
- American Academy of Arts and Sciences Member
- IFAC Technical Committee Award
- Richard E. Bellman Control Heritage Award
- IEEE Control Systems Field Award
- IFAC Fellow
- AMS Fellow
- SIAM Fellow
- IEEE Fellow
- Reid Prize in Applied Mathematics, SIAM
- Bode Prize, IEEE
Research Overview
Feedback control theory, systems biology, cancer, and biomedicine
Selected Research Projects
- MURI: Rules of composition in synthetic biology across scales of complexity: theory and tools
- – Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation
- Network Motifs and Responses of Nonlinear Systems
- – Principal Investigator, Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Control and Learning Enabled Verifiable Robust AI (CLEVR-AI)
- – Co-Principal Investigator, Office of Naval Research
- Design Principles of Molecular Computing Using Engineered Enzymes
- – Co-Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation
- SemiSynBio: Very Large-Scale Genetic Circuit Design Automation
- – Principal Investigator, Seminconductor Research Corporation and National Science Foundation
- Theory-Based Engineering of Biomolecular Circuits in Living Cells
- – Co-Principal Investigator, Air Force Office of Scientific Research
Selected Publications
- Chen, Tianchi, Ali Al-Radhawi, M., Sontag, Eduardo D. (2021). A mathematical model exhibiting the effect of DNA methylation on the stability boundary in cell-fate networks. Epigenetics, 16(4),436-457. 10.1080/15592294.2020.1805686
- Hernandez-Vargas, Esteban A., Giordano, Giulia, Sontag, Eduardo, Chase, J. Geoffrey, Chang, Hyeygjeon, Astolfi, Alessandro (2021). Second special section on systems and control research efforts against COVID-19 and future pandemics. Annual Reviews in Control, 51,424-425. 10.1016/J.ARCONTROL.2021.04.005
- Miller, Jared, Al-Radhawi, M. Ali, Sontag, Eduardo D. (2021). Mediating Ribosomal Competition by Splitting Pools. IEEE Control Systems Letters, 5(5),1555-1560. 10.1109/LCSYS.2020.3041213
- Sadeghi, Mahdiar, Greene, James M., Sontag, Eduardo D. (2021). Universal features of epidemic models under social distancing guidelines. Annual Reviews in Control, 51,426-440. 10.1016/J.ARCONTROL.2021.04.004
- A.P. Tran, M. Ali Al-Radhawi, I. Kareva, J. Wu, D.J. Waxman, E.D. Sontag, Delicate Balances in Cancer Chemotherapy: Modeling Immune Recruitment and Emergence of Systemic Drug Resistance, Frontiers in Immunology, 12(12), 2020,874891
- J. Greene, C. Sanchez-Tapia, E.D. Sontag Mathematical Details on a Cancer Resistance Model, Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 2020
- J.M. Greene, J.L. Gevertz, E.D. Sontag, A Mathematical Approach to Distinguish Spontaneous from Induced Evolution of Drug Resistance during Cancer Treatment, JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics, 3, 2019, 1-20
- D.K. Agrawal, R. Marshall, V. Noireaux, E.D. Sontag, In Vitro Implementation of Robust Gene Regulation in a Synthetic Biomolecular Integral Controller, Nature Communications, 10, 2019, 1-12
- E.V. Nikolaev, A. Zloza, E.D. Sontag Immunobiochemical Reconstruction of Influenza Lung Infection -Melanoma Skin Cancer Interactions, Frontiers in Immunology, 10, 2019, 4
- M.A. Al-Radhawi, D. Del Vecchio, E.D. Sontag, Multi-Modality in Gene Regulatory Networks with Slow Gene Binding, PLoS Computational Biology, 15, 2019, e1006784
Apr 30, 2025
Sontag Elected Member of National Academy of Sciences
Eduardo Sontag, university distinguished professor of ECE/BioE, was elected a Member of the National Academy of Sciences in recognition of distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.
Jan 31, 2025
2024 Stanford University Annual Assessment of Author Citations
The following COE professors are among the top scientists worldwide selected by Stanford University representing the top 2% of the most-cited scientists with single-year impact in various disciplines. The selection is based on the top 100,000 by c-score (with and without self-citations) or a percentile rank of 2% or above. The list below includes those who published a paper in 2024 or later.
Apr 26, 2024
Sontag Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
University Distinguished Professor Eduardo Sontag, ECE/BioE, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for his career that has made breakthroughs in the mathematics of nonlinear and complex systems, with repercussions for biomedicine, systems biology, and neural networks.
Dec 07, 2023
2023 Stanford University Annual Assessment of Author Citations
The following COE professors are among the top scientists worldwide selected by Stanford University representing the top 2% of the most-cited scientists with single-year impact in various disciplines. The selection is based on the top 100,000 by c-score (with and without self-citations) or a percentile rank of 2% or above.
Nov 18, 2022
Sontag Receives IFAC Award on Non-Linear Control Systems
University Distinguished Professor Eduardo Sontag, ECE and BioE, received the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) Technical Committee Award on Non-Linear Control Systems, which is described as the “highest distinction on nonlinear control systems research”.
Nov 02, 2022
2022 Stanford University Annual Assessment of Author Citations
A group of COE professors are among the top scientists worldwide selected by Stanford University representing the top 2% of the most-cited scientists with single-year impact in various disciplines. The selection is based on the top 100,000 by c-score (with and without self-citations) or a percentile rank of 2% or above.
Jul 07, 2022
Sontag Receives MURI Grant for Synthetic Biology
Distinguished University Professor Eduardo Sontag (ECE, BIOE; affiliate in Mathematics and ChE) and collaborators received a $7.5M award ($1.25M to Northeastern University) entitled “Rules of composition in synthetic biology across scales of complexity: theory and tools.”
Jun 14, 2022
Sontag Awarded 2022 Richard E. Bellman Control Heritage Award
University Distinguished Professor Eduardo Sontag, electrical and computer engineering, jointly appointed in bioengineering, received the 2022 Richard E. Bellman Control Heritage Award—the highest recognition in control theory and engineering in the United States.
Dec 23, 2021
COE Professors Selected in Stanford University List of Top 2% Scientists Worldwide
The following COE professors are among the top scientists worldwide selected by Stanford University representing the top 2 percent of the most-cited scientists with single-year impact in various disciplines. The […]
Jul 20, 2021
Investigating the Dynamics of Biochemical Systems
University Distinguished Professor Eduardo Sontag, ECE/BioE, is the PI of a $305K NSF grant for designing “New Techniques for Analyzing the Long-term Behavior of Intracellular Networks.” The project aims to develop an approach to the computer-aided analysis of biochemical networks and is based on research done in the Sontag Lab by Senior Research Scientist Muhammad Ali Al-Radhawi.