Hanrong Chen

PhD    /    Harvard University
BA    /    Cornell University

I study the continuous ‘arms race’ between microbes and their viruses. By leveraging the explosion of metagenomic data, I work to uncover the fundamental principles of phage-host coevolution and the mechanisms driving horizontal gene transfer. I’m fascinated by the opportunity to resolve these questions at a level of detail that was impossible just a few years ago. Most recently, I’ve focused on mapping novel, highly prevalent phage families in the human gut to understand how these viral communities shape the microbial world within us.