Irene Newton, Ph.D.
Indiana University
Dr. Irene Newton is a professor of biology at Indiana University, where she studies the mechanisms of symbiosis. She is a first-generation, latina scientist who is passionate about recruitment and retention of diverse minds in science.
Newton grew up in south Fla., the daughter of imigrant parents from Cuba and the Dominican Republic, and began her research experience as an undergraduate student at Swarthmore College under Dr. Rachel Merz. She continued her training as a Howard Hughes predoctoral fellow with Dr. Colleen Cavanaugh at Harvard University, where she completed her dissertation, focused on functional genomics in deep sea hydrothermal vent symbionts. For her NSF postdoctoral fellowship, Newton shifted focus to work on Wolbachia pipientis and blended the expertise of Dr. Seth Bordenstein and Dr. Ralph Isberg to understand how this symbiont manipulates host biology.
Newton started teaching at Indiana University in 2011 and has been the recipient of the Outstanding Mentor Award (2022) and the Trustees Teaching Award (2017) for her work with students at IU. 
Newton grew up in south Fla., the daughter of imigrant parents from Cuba and the Dominican Republic, and began her research experience as an undergraduate student at Swarthmore College under Dr. Rachel Merz. She continued her training as a Howard Hughes predoctoral fellow with Dr. Colleen Cavanaugh at Harvard University, where she completed her dissertation, focused on functional genomics in deep sea hydrothermal vent symbionts. For her NSF postdoctoral fellowship, Newton shifted focus to work on Wolbachia pipientis and blended the expertise of Dr. Seth Bordenstein and Dr. Ralph Isberg to understand how this symbiont manipulates host biology.
Newton started teaching at Indiana University in 2011 and has been the recipient of the Outstanding Mentor Award (2022) and the Trustees Teaching Award (2017) for her work with students at IU.