Karen Nelson is a

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

n-born

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

microbiologist A microbiologist (from Ancient Greek, Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of Microorganism, microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, f ...

(specializing in human

microbiome A microbiome () is the community of microorganisms that can usually be found living together in any given habitat. It was defined more precisely in 1988 by Whipps ''et al.'' as "a characteristic microbial community occupying a reasonably well ...

research) who was formerly president of the

J. Craig Venter Institute The J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) is a non-profit genomics research institute founded by J. Craig Venter, Ph.D. in October 2006. The institute was the result of consolidating four organizations: the Center for the Advancement of G ...

(JCVI). On July 6, 2021 she joined Thermo Fisher Scientific as Chief Scientific Officer.

Education

Nelson studied her undergraduate degree at the

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 17 English-speaking countries and territories in th ...

and earned a Ph.D. from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

.
J. Craig Venter Institute, Director (Rockville, MD Campus)
' American Society for Microbiology, retrieved March 27, 2015

Career and research

Nelson is a prominent expert in microbial genomics and metagenomics, with applications to human health. She is noted for her research on ''

Thermotoga ''Thermotoga'' is a genus of the phylum ''Thermotogota''. Members of ''Thermotoga'' are hyperthermophilic bacteria whose cell is wrapped in a unique sheath-like outer membrane, called a "toga". The members of the phylum stain Gram-negative as th ...

maritima'' at

The Institute for Genomic Research The J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) is a non-profit genomics research institute founded by J. Craig Venter, Ph.D. in October 2006. The institute was the result of consolidating four organizations: the Center for the Advancement of G ...

(TIGR) which resulted in the publication of the genome of that bacterium, and which demonstrated the existence of horizontal gene transfer. Nelson is also known for her work in human

research 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. Nelson was appointed president o
JCVI
in 2012 after serving as the director of its Rockville Campus since 2010. 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. 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. ''Scientific American'' named Nelson as one of biotechnology's "leading lights" in its 2015 "The Worldview 100."

Boards and panels

* Editor in Chief, ''PNAS Nexus'' * Editor in Chief, ''Microbial Ecology'' * Editor in Chief, ''Advances in Microbial Ecology'' * Editorial Board Member, ''BMC Genomics'' * Editorial Board Member, ''Giga Science'' * Editorial Board Member, ''Central European Journal of Biology'' * Board Member, Board on Life Sciences, National Academy of Sciences
Board Members
' Board on Life Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, retrieved March 27, 2015 * Member, Standing Committee on Support to the DoD's Programs to Counter Biological Threats, National Research Council
Committee Biographies
' National Research Council, retrieved March 27, 2015

Professional organizations

* American Society for Microbiology

Honors and awards

* Helmholtz International Fellow Award * Fellow, American Society for Microbiology * ARCS Scientist of the Year (2017) * Elected Member,

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

(2017)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Karen E. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Cornell University alumni University of the West Indies alumni American microbiologists Evolutionary biologists Women evolutionary biologists Jamaican emigrants to the United States Expatriate academics in the United States 21st-century American women scientists 21st-century American biologists Jamaican women scientists Women microbiologists African-American biologists Jamaican biologists Ecology journal editors 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American scientists