Anna Kuchina is an Assistant Professor at Institute for Systems Biology (ISB). She also holds an appointment as Affiliate Assistant Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Washington. Kuchina received her PhD in Cell Regulation from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and was advised by Dr. Gürol Süel. In her graduate work, she studied single-cell dynamics of cell-fate decision making in a model soil organism Bacillus subtilis. Kuchina completed her postdoctoral training in the Georg Seelig lab at the University of Washington. Her postdoctoral work focused on engineering single-cell biotechnologies for gene expression state detection within the spatial tissue context, as well as the development of single-cell RNA sequencing technology for bacteria.

Kuchina’s research interests lie in the development and application of high-resolution technologies toward understanding the single-cell biology of bacteria within complex samples such as biofilms, and in challenging environments such as the human host. Her research program aims to uncover rare but influential bacterial phenotypes that alter the properties of the whole community, leading to such healthcare challenges as chronic disease and antibiotic resistance.