Blake earned his Ph.D. from MSU and was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California at Berkeley. He has established himself as a leading researcher in the study of CRISPRs. Research in the Wiedenheft lab aims to understand bacterial defense mechanisms and phage counter mechanisms used to subvert bacterial immune systems. Blake also strives to understand and engineer cellular machines with new functions for applications in biotechnology and medicine. He was recently awarded a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers by President Obama (full story here).