News Release

Jack Gilbert to Join UC San Diego

La Jolla, CA, December 10, 2018 -- The CMI is proud to announce that Dr. Jack Gilbert will be joining the UC San Diego team as a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography starting January 1st of 2019. This joint appointment is designed to continue the development of an integrated microbiome research initiative within the university.

Jack Gilbert is coming from the University of Chicago Medicine as a Professor in the Department of Surgery, Faculty Director of the Microbiome Center,  and Senior Scientist (Adjunct) at Marine Biological Laboratory.  He will remain in his position as the Group Leader in Microbial Ecology at Argonne National Laboratory and the editor-in-chief of the journal mSystems.

His past research includes a focus on ecology, evolution, and metabolic dynamics of microbial ecosystems from environments including built environments, oceans, rivers, soils, air, plants, animals, and humans.

He is the co-founder of both the Earth Microbiome Project and American Gut Project, as well as the co-author of Dirt, Is Good: The Advantage of Germs for Your Child's Developing Immune System, all of which are long-term collaborations with Rob Knight, Professor of Pediatrics and Computer Science & Engineering at UC San Diego. The move by Jack Gilbert brings this innovative team together under one roof, promising to accelerate the outcomes of their many microbiome projects.

"I made the choice to move to embrace the interdisciplinary potential of UC San Diego and affiliates, which creates a truly innovative and exciting environment to work in," said Gilbert when asked what drew him to UC San Diego. 

"When our UC San Diego leadership team set their vision on making our university the best place to study microbiome, bringing together major key opinion leaders under one group was a major part of the plan. Having Jack, joining our dynamic crew is sure to strengthen even further the contribution of our institution to the Microbiome Revolution. I am looking forward to the many new projects that we will be able to tackle together to expedite the translation of microbiome sciences", said Dr. Sandrine Miller-Montgomery, executive director of UC San Diego - Center for Microbiome Innovation.

Media Contacts

Erin Bateman
Center for Microbiome Innovation
858-408-6610
ebateman@eng.ucsd.edu