Dr. Tiffany Prest joined DARPA in August 2022 as a program manager in the Biological Technologies Office (BTO). She specializes in infectious diseases, microbial ecology, computational modeling, cell and molecular biology, evolutionary biology, virology, and bacteriology. Her research interests include leveraging machine learning, microfluidics, and physics writ-large for microbial systems.

Prior to joining DARPA as a program manager, Prest served as a scientific, engineering and technical advisor (SETA) in DARPA BTO in her role as a lead scientist at Booz Allen Hamilton. There she provided technical support for multiple programs, including Friend or Foe, Arcadia, and Biological Control, among others. Before DARPA, Prest served as a scientist at Novozymes North America where she worked in microbial discovery.

Prest received a Bachelor of Science degree from Michigan State University and a doctorate from Duke University in microbiology and molecular genetics. She completed post-doctoral fellowships at both Duke University and the University of Colorado Boulder. Prest has also published several peer-reviewed articles.