Rate My Professor Eric Hayden

Eric Hayden, Ph.D., serves as Professor and Chair of the Department of Biological Sciences at Boise State University, a position he has held since joining the faculty in 2013. He obtained his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Portland State University in 2008 and his B.S. in Chemistry from Linfield College in 2002. His postdoctoral training includes positions as a Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of Zurich, Switzerland from 2009 to 2011, and at Stanford University from 2012 to 2013. In his role at Boise State, Hayden teaches courses such as Biomolecules I, Molecular Genetics, and Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering.

Hayden's research program centers on the design and laboratory evolution of functional RNA molecules with potential biomedical and biotechnical applications. His work elucidates the evolutionary processes from life's chemical origins, employing next-generation sequencing to map RNA fitness landscapes and test evolutionary theories. Current interests encompass RNA synthetic biology and evolution, nucleic acid memory, microbiomes, and origins of life. He collaborates with Dr. Matt Ferguson on single-molecule fluorescence microscopy to visualize RNA processing in living eukaryotic cells. Hayden has authored numerous high-impact publications, including "Spontaneous network formation among cooperative RNA replicators" in Nature (2012), "Cryptic genetic variation promotes rapid evolutionary adaptation in an RNA enzyme" in Nature (2011), "Intramolecular phenotypic capacitance in a modular RNA molecule" in PNAS (2015), and "Engineering a custom-sized DNA scaffold for more efficient DNA origami-based nucleic acid data storage" in Synthetic Biology (2025). His contributions have earned recognition, such as the NSF Central European Summer Research Institute Fellowship in 2007, the Outstanding Graduate Student Research Award (Sherwood Chang Award) at the Gordon Research Conference on the Origin of Life in 2008, and Best Presentation at the University of Zurich/ETH University Research Priority Program Systems Biology/Functional Genomics Retreat in 2010. In 2024, his presentation was voted among the Top 10 at the inaugural RNA Canada conference.