Ashlee M. Earl
About Ashlee M. Earl
Ashlee M. Earl serves as the Director of Bacterial Genomics at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, a position she has held since 2022. With a Ph.D. in Microbiology from Louisiana State University, she has extensive experience in researching infectious diseases and leads projects on bacterial resistance and adaptation.
Work at Broad Institute
Ashlee M. Earl has been serving as the Director of Bacterial Genomics at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard since 2022. Prior to this role, she held the position of Senior Group Leader in Bacterial Genomics from 2018 to 2022, and Group Leader from 2013 to 2018. During her tenure, she founded the Bacterial Genomics group within the Genomic Center for Infectious Diseases. Her work involves leading research projects that focus on understanding bacterial adaptations and multi-drug resistance.
Education and Expertise
Ashlee M. Earl earned her Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Microbiology from Louisiana State University, where she studied from 1998 to 2003. She also holds a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Microbiology from the same institution, completed from 1994 to 1998. Additionally, she studied at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Her expertise includes scientific communication, grant writing, and mentoring in microbiology and microbial genomics.
Research Focus
Earl's research primarily investigates bacterial and host contributions to diseases such as tuberculosis and urinary tract infections. She conducts studies on nosocomially acquired infections, particularly those caused by enterococci and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. Her team employs various 'omics approaches, including genomic, transcriptomic, and metagenomic analyses, to explore the drivers of hospital-adaptation and multi-drug resistance among bacteria.
Previous Experience
Before her roles at the Broad Institute, Ashlee M. Earl worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher at Harvard Medical School from 2003 to 2009. Her extensive experience in bacterial genomics and infectious diseases has allowed her to collaborate with academic, clinical, and industrial partners globally, enhancing the understanding of infectious diseases and their treatments.