Dr. Gitai's research focuses on the cell biology of bacteria. His lab studies how cells self-organize across spatial scales, using quantitative, molecular, and engineering approaches to understand to understand problems such as cell shape formation, host-pathogen interactions, and antibiotic development. His work discovered new components of the bacterial cytoskeleton, new functions for bacterial polymers in metabolism, compartmentalization, and chromosome dynamics, and established the importance of protein assembly for unexpected processes like metabolism and pathogenesis. More recently, the Gitai lab has extended its use of quantitative methods to discover novel features of microbe-host interactions and antibiotics with novel mechanisms of action. Dr. Gitai's achievements have been recognized by awards such as the NIH Director's Pioneer Award, the NIH New Innovator Award, the NIH Transformative Research Award, the Beckman Young Investigator Award, and the HFSP Young Investigator Award.