Rachel Dutton
Rachel Dutton, Ph.D. is a Bauer fellow at the Harvard University Center for Systems Biology. After receiving her Ph.D. in microbiology from Harvard Medical School, she founded her own lab with the mission of using cheese as a way to understand microbial ecosystems. Cheese is home to a fascinating assortment of microbes; from bacteria, yeasts, and molds, to microscopic mites. These microbes all play an important role in making cheese a delicious and diverse food. Her lab is studying cheeses from around the world, and looking at how cheese microbes interact with each other to form communities. In addition, the lab is collaborating with chefs David Chang and Dan Felder of Momofuku, and cheesemakers at Jasper Hill Farm to develop fermented foods using native microbes. Research from the Dutton lab has been featured in Lucky Peach Magazine, “The Mind of a Chef TV” series on PBS, The Boston Globe, NPR, and The New York Times.