Mission Statement

The mission of our laboratory is to study evolutionary processes in near real-time in systems with high stakes.

These include:

  • the causes of treatment failure, when the combined forces of drugs and immunity succumb.
  • the ecological and population-genetic causes of rapid diversification in microbial biofilms
  • novel genetic mechanisms of adaptation to environmental stress
  • the biology that underlies our revolutionary EvolvingSTEM curriculum that enables students grades 7-16 to observe and comprehend evolution with a weeklong bacterial evolution experiment.

Our lab uses various in vitro and in vivo models as well as prospective clinical sampling to study these problems, in collaboration with researchers at many leading institutions. We continue to develop new methods and implementations of high-throughput genomics to track the evolutionary process, and we build new analytical tools to enable anyone to resolve evolution-in-action.


Why join our team?

You have one or more of the following traits:

  • A curiosity to understand how adaptations work, and a nose for discovering them
  • A passion for sharing the wonder of the evolutionary process with students of all ages
  • A commitment to answering some of the greatest challenges in medicine that are problems of evolution, like antimicrobial resistance, cancer, and epidemics
  • A willingness to work at the interface of wet-bench experimentation and ambitious bioinformatics, knowing that your teammates span this gamut and can help
  • A love of mentorship


Want to join us?

Did you hear about our evolutionary microbiology research or EvolvingSTEM, our groundbreaking science-education program? Click below for more information:

I am a:

High school student

We are delighted that many high school students want to spend their summers in our laboratory. Unfortunately, opportunities are limited to applicants through the formal programs in which we participate like the Hillman Summer Academy. Due to considerations of safety and limited mentorship capacity, we can’t directly offer immersive opportunities for high school students.

However, we strongly encourage ambitious students to seek out mentored partnership at their home schools by following and extending our EvolvingSTEM curricula. These provide authentic research experiences to understand how bacteria adapt when living in biofilms, relevant to chronic infections and antimicrobial resistance. Another related program that was inspired by Project Hail Mary enables students to discover bacterial mutants that escape predation by amoebae (think astrophage and taumoeba!). We can share materials and help you and your classmates conduct relevant and publishable research.

Undergraduate student

We love having undergraduate students in our lab – you are a key part of our culture of research and educational outreach. There are two pathways to join us:

  1. A paid (work-study) position, usually to contribute to EvolvingSTEM or to support another funded research project. These are advertised periodically on Pitt’s Talent Center.
  2. Research for credit, in partnership with Pitt Biological Sciences. You will need to match with a mentor in our lab both in terms of interests and schedule. For more information, write to staff scientist Dr. Erin Nawrocki (emn97 [at] pitt [dot] edu) with a CV and statement of interests.

Prospective PhD student

I enjoy mentoring Ph.D. students through 3 training programs listed below, each with a different focus. Apply to the one that best suits your interests and send your CV and statement of interests to Vaughn, who will reply about current fit, bandwidth, and available funding. Students are strongly encouraged to apply for predoctoral training fellowships like the NSF GRFP or Hertz Foundation, which are highly competitive but provide excellent preparation for the expectation that you pursue a graduate training fellowship.

  1. Program in Microbiology and Immunology
  2. CMU-Pitt Computational Biology
  3. Cell, Molecular, and Systems Biology

Prospective Postdoctoral scholar

I am eager to mentor postdoctoral scholars who are seeking a permanent position in academia at any level. Email Vaughn with a statement of research interests, career goals, and CV to inquire about available funding. Prospective postdocs are encouraged to write >6 months in advance of their potential start date, the earlier the better, and to develop a plan towards independent funding. Most postdocs begin by working on a funded project in the lab while developing a project of their own for their fellowship and subsequent independent research.

Applicant for staff position

Our group depends on outstanding, dedicated staff ranging from entry-level laboratory technicians to senior research or instructional experts. When funding allows, positions are posted at Pitt’s Talent Center. Inquiries in advance of a posting are welcome but replies are not guaranteed.

Science teacher (Grades 6-12)

A major goal of EvolvingSTEM is providing middle school and high school science teachers authentic research experiences in our lab. This builds teacher confidence in conducting their own research and expands knowledge in microbiology and evolution. We mentor cohorts of 6-8 teachers for 8 weeks each summer through our NSF-supported BIORETS program to become proficient directors of our EvolvingSTEM curricula when they lead students through laboratory-based experiments in their classrooms. To express interest, contact Dr. Abigail Matela (ammatela [at] evolvingstem [dot] org) or fill out the form at http://evolvingstem.org. Be sure to share information about your school district and the classes you teach.

Visiting Scholar

Our group has been greatly enriched by visiting scholars from around the world and welcomes more visitors who have secured independent funding to work with us. Most visitors seek to learn our approaches of tracking and understanding evolution in action in biofilms or during infections to apply to their own research. To express interest, email Vaughn ideally >12 months in advance.