Karen E. Nelson

Karen Nelson is a Jamaican-born American microbiologist (specializing in human microbiome research) who was formerly president of the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI).[1] On July 6, 2021 she joined Thermo Fisher Scientific as Chief Scientific Officer.

Karen E. Nelson
Dr. Karen E. Nelson, Chief Science Officer of Thermo Fisher Scientific
Born
Jamaica
Alma materUniversity of the West Indies
Cornell University
Known forHuman microbiome
WebsiteThermo Fisher Scientific

Education

Nelson studied her undergraduate degree at the University of the West Indies and earned a Ph.D. from Cornell University.[2]

Career and research

Nelson is a prominent expert in microbial genomics and metagenomics, with applications to human health.[3] She is noted for her research on Thermotoga maritima at The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) which resulted in the publication[4] of the genome of that bacterium, and which demonstrated the existence of horizontal gene transfer.[5][6] Nelson is also known for her work in human microbiome research[7] and her current research focuses on interactions between human microbiome and various diseases. Her extensive expertise involves areas of microbial ecology, microbial genomics, microbial physiology and metagenomics, which led to her team publishing the first human microbiome study in 2006.[8]

Nelson was appointed president of JCVI in 2012 after serving as the director of its Rockville Campus since 2010.[9] Prior to being appointed President, she held a number of other positions at the Institute, including Director of JCVI's Rockville Campus, and Director of Human Microbiology and Metagenomics in the Department of Human Genomic Medicine at JCVI.[2]

She has authored or co-authored over 200 peer reviewed publications, edited three books, and is currently Editor-in-Chief of the journal Microbial Ecology and the newly announced PNAS Nexus.[10] Scientific American named Nelson as one of biotechnology's "leading lights" in its 2015 "The Worldview 100."[11]

Boards and panels
  • Editor in Chief, PNAS Nexus[12]
  • Editor in Chief, Microbial Ecology[10]
  • Editor in Chief, Advances in Microbial Ecology[10]
  • Editorial Board Member, BMC Genomics[10]
  • Editorial Board Member, Giga Science[10]
  • Editorial Board Member, Central European Journal of Biology[10]
  • Board Member, Board on Life Sciences, National Academy of Sciences[1]
  • Member, Standing Committee on Support to the DoD's Programs to Counter Biological Threats, National Research Council[10]

Professional organizations

Honors and awards

References
  1. Board Members Board on Life Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, retrieved March 27, 2015
  2. J. Craig Venter Institute, Director (Rockville, MD Campus) American Society for Microbiology, retrieved March 27, 2015
  3. "PNAS Member Editor Details". nrc88.nas.edu. Retrieved 2021-02-20.
  4. "Evidence for lateral gene transfer between Archaea and Bacteria from genome sequence of Thermotoga maritima" Nature 399
  5. Karen E. Nelson, Ph.D., Named Director of J. Craig Venter Institute Rockville, MD Campus PR Newswire, retrieved December 2, 2014
  6. Karen Nelson - Spelling Out Microbial Genes Archived 2016-04-21 at the Wayback Machine Microbe World, retrieved March 27, 2015
  7. Gevers, Dirk; Knight, Rob; Petrosino, Joseph F.; Huang, Katherine; McGuire, Amy L.; Birren, Bruce W.; Nelson, Karen E.; White, Owen; Methé, Barbara A.; Huttenhower, Curtis (2012-08-14). "The Human Microbiome Project: A Community Resource for the Healthy Human Microbiome". PLOS Biology. 10 (8): e1001377. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001377. ISSN 1545-7885. PMC 3419203. PMID 22904687.
  8. Gill, Steven R.; Pop, Mihai; DeBoy, Robert T.; Eckburg, Paul B.; Turnbaugh, Peter J.; Samuel, Buck S.; Gordon, Jeffrey I.; Relman, David A.; Fraser-Liggett, Claire M. (2006-06-02). "Metagenomic Analysis of the Human Distal Gut Microbiome". Science. 312 (5778): 1355–1359. Bibcode:2006Sci...312.1355G. doi:10.1126/science.1124234. ISSN 0036-8075. PMC 3027896. PMID 16741115.
  9. Executive Profile Karen E. Nelson Ph.D. Bloomberg Businessweek, retrieved December 1, 2014
  10. Committee Biographies National Research Council, retrieved March 27, 2015
  11. "The Worldview 100 : worldVIEW". www.saworldview.com. Retrieved 2016-02-12.
  12. "National Academy of Sciences launches New Open Access Journal, PNAS Nexus, in Partnership with Oxford University Press; Karen Nelson to Serve as Inaugural Editor-in-Chief". National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  13. München, Helmholtz Zentrum. "Pioneering achievements in sequencing bacterial genomes: Karen Nelson receives Helmholtz International Fellow Award – Helmholtz Zentrum München – Helmholtz Zentrum München". www.helmholtz-muenchen.de. Retrieved 2016-02-12.
  14. "2017 ARCS Scientist of the Year Dinner | San Diego". ARCS Foundation. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  15. "May 2, 2017: NAS Members and Foreign Associates Elected". National Academy of Science. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
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