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Seth Walk, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Dr. Walk is a newly appointed Research Investigator in the Department of Internal Medicine and Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Michigan Health System. He received his B.S. (Biology) and M.S. (Ecology) degrees from the Pennsylvania State University and a dual-Ph.D. (Zoology and Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Behavior) from Michigan State University. He utilizes a combination of bacterial population genetics, microbial ecology, and clinical translational science to investigate host-microbiota symbiosis. The overall goals of his research are to identify processes within the human gastrointestinal tract that facilitate microbial “residency” and also to develop a conceptual understanding of the fate of enteric bacteria ex vivo (outside of the host). Genotypic data in multiple forms (fingerprinting, multilocus sequence typing, comparative genomics, and 16S rRNA sequencing) are used to characterize bacterial isolates, populations, and communities and, along with epidemiologic information, patterns of emergence and decline are identified. Subsequent approaches are taken to examine the mechanisms underlying these complex outcomes, with the hope of developing novel therapies for gastrointestinal diseases and/or facilitation of a health-promoting microbiota.

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