Anna M. Hancock

Biography

Anna Hancock completed her Ph.D. in Chemical and Biological Engineering at Princeton University, where her research uncovered how the spatial structure of bacterial populations shapes their response to antibiotics. Then, as a postdoctoral scholar, jointly advised between labs at Caltech and Princeton, she explored the ability of the human gut microbiome to chemically inactivate oral antibiotics before they reach their target pathogens. Using a combination of confocal microscopy, 3D-printed bacterial communities, and biophysical modeling, Dr. Hancock’s research aims to use quantitative principles to understand why antibiotic treatments that work in the lab sometimes fail in patients. Dr. Hancock is excited to pursue this research at the intersection of microbiology, biophysics, and biomedical engineering alongside the next generation of scientists at Wheaton College.

Education

Ph.D. in Chemical and Biological Engineering
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ

M.A. in Chemical and Biological Engineering
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ

B.S. in Biomedical Engineering, minor in Educational Studies
Washington University in St. Louis
St. Louis, MO

Research Experience

Donia Lab, Princeton University & Datta Lab, California Institute of Technology
Princeton, NJ
Postdoctoral Research Scholar
September 2025-June 2026

Explores the role of chemical inactivation by the of the host microbiome as a mechanism for antibiotic treatment failure.
Conducts experiments with spatially patterned bacterial communities and implements biophysical modelling of antibiotic transit through the intestines.

Datta Lab, Princeton University
Princeton, NJ
Graduate Student Researcher
January 2021-August 2025

Investigates how the rheology of complex microbial environments regulates growth.
Determines how nutrient transport impacts antibiotic efficacy in structured bacterial communities.
Studies collective antibiotic resistance for multi-species, structured bacterial communities.
Conducts independent design, execution, and data analysis for experiments involving confocal microscopy, 3D printing of cells, microbial assays, and continuum modelling.
Mentor to four undergraduate students with ranging experience in wet lab research.

Pappu Lab, Washington University
St. Louis, MO
Independent Undergraduate Research
April 2018-May 2020

In vitro and in vivo experiments on truncation and sequence designed mutants to determine the role of the essential intrinsically disordered tail of FtsZ, a bacterial division protein.
Experimental design, execution, and data analysis for experiments utilizing transmission electron microscopy, immunofluorescence microscopy, static light scattering, and enzymatic activity assays.
Uncovered and characterized the functional and modular contributions of disordered tail and capping peptide in FtsZ polymeric assembly and enzymatic activity.

Publications

* denotes equal contribution, bolded and italicized denotes mentored undergraduates

Anna M. Hancock, Arabella S. Dill-Macky, Jenna A. Moore, Catherine Day, Mohamed S. Donia, and Sujit S. Datta. “A nutrient bottleneck controls antibiotic efficacy in structured bacterial populations.” Nature Communications 17, 3337 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-69625-4.
M. Hancock and Sujit S. Datta. "Interplay between environmental yielding and dynamic forcing modulates bacterial growth." Biophysical Journal123, no. 8 (2024): 957-967.
Kōnane Bay, Anna M. Hancock, Arabella S. Dill-Macky, Hao Nghi Luu, and Sujit S. Datta. "3D printing bacteria to study motility and growth in complex 3D porous media." JoVE (Journal of Visualized Experiments)203 (2024): e66166.
Alejandro Martínez-Calvo*, Tapomoy Bhattacharjee*, R. Kōnane Bay, Hao Nghi Luu, Anna M. Hancock, Ned S. Wingreen, and Sujit S. Datta. "Morphological instability and roughening of growing 3D bacterial colonies." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 119, no. 43 (2022): e2208019119.
Selena S. Chiu*, Anna M. Hancock*, Bob W. Schofner*, Katherine J. Sniezek*, Nashaly Soto-Echevarria*, Gabrielle Leon, Darshan M. Sivaloganathan, Xuanqing Wan, and Mark P. Brynildsen. "Causes of polymyxin treatment failure and new derivatives to fill the gap." The Journal of Antibiotics75, no. 11 (2022): 593-609.
Megan C. Cohan, Anna M.P. Eddelbuettel, Petra A. Levin, and Rohit V. Pappu. "Dissecting the functional contributions of the intrinsically disordered C-terminal tail of Bacillus subtilis FtsZ." Journal of Molecular Biology 432, no. 10 (2020): 3205-3221.

Presentations

Oral presentation titled “A Nutrient Bottleneck Controls Antibiotic Efficacy in Structured Bacterial Populations” at the American Physical Society March Meeting in Denver, CO (March 2026).
Oral presentation titled “Nutrient Transport Shapes Antibiotic Efficacy in Structured Bacterial Populations” at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory meeting on drug resistance and tolerance in bacteria, fungi, and cancer in Heidelberg, Germany (March 2025).
Oral presentation titled “Nutrient Transport Shapes Antibiotic Efficacy in Structured Bacterial Populations” at the American Physical Society March Meeting in Minneapolis, MN (March 2024).
Oral presentation titled “Rheology of the Environment Regulates Bacterial Growth” at the American Physical Society March Meeting in Las Vegas, NV (March 2023).
Poster Presentation titled “Rheology of the Environment Regulates Bacterial Growth” at Princeton Center for Theoretical Science Workshop in Princeton, NJ (January 2023).
Oral presentation titled “Rheology of the Environment Regulates Bacterial Growth” at the American Physical Society March Meeting in Chicago, IL (March 2022).
Poster presentation titled “Dissecting the Functional Contributions of the Intrinsically Disordered Tail of Bs FtsZ” at the Center for the Science and Engineering of Living Systems meeting at Washington University in St. Louis (November 2019).