Crandall studies the computational biology, population genetics, and bioinformatics of a variety of organisms, from crustaceans to agents of infectious diseases. His lab also focuses on the development and testing of methods for DNA sequence analysis, including leading methods in phylogenetics and microbiome research. He applies these methods and others to the study of the evolution of infectious diseases with particular focus on HIV evolution. He is also a leading authority in crustacean evolutionary biology. Crandall has published over 300 peer reviewed publications, as well as three books (The Evolution of HIV, Algorithms in Bioinformatics, and Decapod Crustacean Phylogenetics). Crandall's research has been funded by both the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health as well as from a variety of other agencies, including American Foundation for AIDS Research, National Geographic, United States Forest Service, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, etc.
