Karsten Zengler

Karsten Zengler is a Professor at UC San Diego and has more than 20 years of experience in the fields of microbiology and systems biology. After receiving his Ph.D. at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology (Bremen, Germany), he worked for seven years in the biotechnology industry where he led a team of scientists to pioneer the high-throughput cultivation for the isolation and recovery of previously unculturable microorganisms. His work has focused on understanding of interactions of microorganisms with their environment and host organisms. He spearheaded the field of community systems biology where he combined his knowledge in microbial physiology and molecular biology with computational biology to discover new physiological capabilities, regulatory effects, and novel multidimensional interspecies interactions. His lab has been on the forefront of developing new protocols for ultra-low input omics approaches to determine the role of the microbiome in health and disease. This interdisciplinary approach allows for a deeper understanding of microbial interactions and the unraveling of mechanisms in microbiome research. Dr. Zengler is author and co-author of more than 100 research articles and reviews. He is the co-founder of several companies and is on the advisory board of different companies and institutions.