Benjamin Woolston
Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering
Office
- 223 Cullinane
- 617.373.5560
Lab
- 132 Mugar
Research Focus
Metabolic engineering and synthetic biology for sustainable biochemical production and human health.
About
Joins the Chemical Engineering department in January 2020.
Education
- PhD in Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2017
- BSc in Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, 2011
Professional Affiliations
- American Institute of Chemical Engineers
- American Association for the Advancement of Science
Research Overview
Metabolic engineering and synthetic biology for sustainable biochemical production and human health.
Department Research Areas
Selected Publications
- D.F. Emerson, B.M. Woolston, N. Liu, M. Donnelly, D.H. Currie, G. Stephanopoulos, Enhancing Hydrogen‐Dependent Growth of and Carbon Dioxide Fixation by Clostridium Ljungdahlii Through Nitrate Supplementation, Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 116(2), 2019, 294-306
- T.B. Roth, B.M. Woolston, G. Stephanopoulos, D.R. Liu, Phage-Assisted Evolution of Bacillus methanolicus Methanol Dehydrogenase 2, ACS Synthetic Biology, 8(4), 2019, 796-806
- B.M. Woolston, T. Roth, I. Kohale, D.R. Liu, G. Stephanopoulos, Development of a Formaldehyde Biosensor with Application to Synthetic Methylotrophy, Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 2018
- B.M. Woolston, J.R. King, M. Reiter, B. Van Hove, G. Stephanopoulos, Improving Formaldehyde Consumption Drives Methanol Assimilation in Engineered E. Coli, Nature Communications, 9(1), 2018, 2387
- B.M. Woolston, D.F. Emerson, D.H. Currie, G. Stephanopoulos, Rediverting Carbon Flux in Clostridium Ljungdahlii Using CRISPR Interference (CRISPRi), Metabolic Engineering, 48, 2018, 243-253

Jan 19, 2021
Woolston Received the Jay Bailey Young Investigator Award in Metabolic Engineering
ChE Assistant Professor Benjamin Woolston is the 2020 recipient of the Jay Bailey Young Investigator Award in Metabolic Engineering within the International Metabolic Engineering Society (IMES).

Apr 10, 2020
Hoyt Awarded Ford Foundation Fellowship
ChE PhD student Katie Hoyt, PhD’24, won the prestigious national Ford Foundation Fellowship to support her doctoral research.

Jan 03, 2020
New Faculty Spotlight: Benjamin Woolston
Benjamin Woolston joins the Chemical Engineering department in January 2020 as an Assistant Professor.