Prof. Kristala L Jones Prather

Arthur Dehon Little Professor of Chemical Engineering
Department Head / Chemical Engineering

Primary DLC

Department of Chemical Engineering

MIT Room: E17-504G

Assistant

Sandra Lopes (ChemE HQ Admin)
slopes@mit.edu

Areas of Interest and Expertise

Metabolic Engineering
Biochemical Engineering
Bioprocess Engineering
Synthetic Biology

Research Summary

Prather joined MIT’s faculty in 2004. She studies the design of recombinant microorganisms for the production of small molecules. Her team at the Prather Research Group conducts research in three main areas: the design and assembly of novel pathways for biological synthesis; the enhancement of enzyme activity and control of metabolic flux; and bioprocess engineering and design.

Prather’s research seeks to address issues in climate and sustainability by reducing the need for fossil feedstocks for both energy and chemicals. She and her team design pathways to produce small molecules from renewable biomass rather than petroleum, and complement that work by developing novel approaches for improving productivity of biological systems.

As executive officer in the Department of Chemical Engineering, Prather oversaw operations and policies related to teaching, space, and the Course 10 undergraduate program. She has organized teaching assignments, managed space needs for new faculty members, and chaired the Task Force on Undergraduate Curriculum Revitalization.

Prather has been an active member of several initiatives and programs across the Institute. She has served as a member of the Office of Engineering Outreach Programs (now MITES) Advisory Board, co-director of the Microbiology Graduate PhD Program, and co-director of the MIT Energy Initiative's Energy Bioscience Low-Carbon Energy Center. Last year, Prather was a member of the MIT Presidential Search Committee.

A dedicated educator, Prather has taught chemical engineering to students ranging from first-years undergraduate students to seasoned professionals. She is the lead instructor of Fermentation Technology, the longest-running course offered by MIT Professional Education. Prather’s commitment to teaching has been celebrated with a number of awards, including a MacVicar Faculty Fellowship, MIT School of Engineering Junior Bose Award for Excellence in Teaching, and Department of Chemical Engineering Outstanding Faculty Award for Undergraduate Teaching.

Recent Work

  • Video

    1.23.24-Japan-Prather

    January 23, 2024Conference Video Duration: 41:17
    Building Microbial Chemical Factories: Design, Assembly, and Engineering of Biological Routes to Chemical Compounds 

    1.14.21-Low-Carbon-Fuels Webinar

    January 14, 2021Conference Video Duration: 121:31
    CJ (Changjie) Guo
    Program Director, MIT Corporate Relations
    Robert Armstrong
    Director, MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI)
    Chevron Professor of Chemical Engineering
    MIT Department of Chemical Engineering
    Kristala L Jones Prather
    Arthur D. Little Professor of Chemical Engineering, Department Executive Officer
    Adam Bratis
    Associate Laboratory Director, Bioenergy Science and Technology, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
    Dharik Mallapragada
    Research Scientist
    MIT Energy Initiative
    Karine Boissy-Rousseau
    President, Hydrogen Energy & Mobility, Air Liquide North America