Karen E. Nelson

Karen Nelson joined Thermo Fisher as Chief Scientific Officer in July 2021.

Prior to joining the company, she spent many years with the J. Craig Venter Institute, a leading nonprofit research institute, serving as President from 2012 to 2021. A pioneer of the human microbiome field, Karen has authored or co-authored over 220 peer-reviewed publications, edited three books, and is currently Editor-in-Chief of the journal Microbial Ecology and the newly announced PNAS Nexus, an open-access journal from the National Academy of Sciences. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology.

Karen received a Ph.D. in animal science and microbiology from Cornell University, a master’s in animal science from the University of Florida, and a bachelor’s degree in agriculture and animal science from the University of the West Indies.