The $R^3$ Lab

We study the growth of rules and regulations across Biology and Society, and the role that randomness plays in shaping a Complex System’s function and structure.

Core questions driving the $R^3$ Lab’s research are:

• How does biochemical randomness complicate our understanding of genetic regulation? What can transient behaviors provide for biological function that steady state behaviors cannot?
• How is biological regulation distinct from social regulation? Can we construct substance-independent theories of regulatory function?
• What are the constraints dictating how regulatory systems diversify, specialize and coordinate their elements? To what extent can a complex system’s organization be explained by simple null models?

James, the PI, will be joining WashU as an assistant professor in the Fall of 2026. Until then he will be doing research at the Santa Fe Institute. The Lab is activeley recruiting PhD students and Postdocs from Comp Bio, Math Bio, Evo Bio, Applied Math, and Statistical Physics backgrounds to start at/after Fall 2026—please see here!