Vincent Isabella received his PhD from the University of Rochester in 2010, where he focused microbial physiology, specifically the anaerobic growth of pathogenic Neisseria species. In addition, he characterized anaerobic gene regulatory networks using genetic and computational methods. Following his graduate work, he held a position as a postdoctoral researcher in the Antimicrobial Discovery Center at Northeastern University in the laboratory of Dr. Kim Lewis. Here he studied the phenomenon of antibiotic persistence in a variety of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria of clinical significance.
Following departure from Northeastern, Vincent worked as a discovery scientist in the Infectious Disease group at AstraZeneca. Here he studied mechanisms of bacterial resistance to antibiotics as well as the factors governing antibiotic penetration in gram-negative bacteria. This work focused on understanding genetic determinants involved in drug uptake that could be used for the rational design of carbapenem drugs in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. For the past 7 years Vincent has worked at Synlogic Therapeutics, where he currently holds the role of Senior Director and Head of Synthetic Biology. Vincent and his group are responsible for the design and engineering of genetically modified probiotic bacteria meant to provide a therapeutic benefit in patients with various metabolic diseases. Most notably, Vincent led the design and construction of SYNB1618 and SYNB1934, both clinical-stage engineered probiotics intended for the therapeutic treatment of patients with phenylketonuria (PKU).