News Release
CMI Announces Dr. Se Jin Song as New Director of Research - Applications
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The Center for Microbiome Innovation (CMI) is proud to announce its team’s expansion with a new Director of Research focused on Microbiome Applications. The new head of research is Dr. Se Jin Song who is joining us after completing her post-doctoral research in the Knight Lab at the University of California San Diego to focus toward external collaboration with CMI’s current and future industry partners.
Her scientific background comes with a BSc in Genetics from the University of Georgia. She then went on to complete her PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado. After she completed her PhD, she joined the Knight Lab as a postdoc at the time while this group was still in Colorado and remained with the team when the lab switched over to UC San Diego. During this postdoc, she became an expert in the field of microbiome research with a focus on bioinformatic data analysis.
Her research has spanned across microscopic life inside both human and animal hosts. She has even looked into redefining what we typically think of as what is an animal or what is human considering any animal is inevitably a large organism that hosts small organisms. In humans specifically, she has looked at the microbiome at birth, the impact our interactions with the surrounding environment has on it over time, and differences across global populations.
As her postdoctoral position completed, she was looking at both academic and industry options. “The opportunity at the CMI was a perfect fit at the intersection of industry and academia creating an environment of interdisciplinary research and all just fell into place. I’m already in tune with the Knight Lab but eager to work even more closely with the other many UC San Diego labs associated with the CMI and establish new projects while supporting our existing industry partners,” exclaimed Dr. Song.
The CMI had worked previously with Dr. Song through collaborations on industry-related project at her previous position and was impressed by her ability to be both extremely efficient and diligent in accurately sharing academic knowledge into concrete applicable outcomes. “It was this aptitude and her immediately applicable microbiome expertise that caught our eye and made her the choice from a great pool of applicants,” states Dr. Sandrine Miller-Montgomery, Executive Director of the CMI.
Dr. Song began her new role on February 19, 2019 to provide consultation and collaboration with industry partners and will oversee her team to create and support synergistic projects with the CMI-affiliated faculty members at UCSD and industry collaborations.
Media Contacts
Erin Bateman
Center for Microbiome Innovation
858-408-6610
ebateman@eng.ucsd.edu