10 Facts About Sarkis Mazmanian

Sarkis Mazmanian is an American medical microbiologist who has served as a professor at the California Institute of Technology since 2006.

In 2012, Sarkis Mazmanian was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship for his pioneering work on the human microbiome.

Sarkis Mazmanian's research investigates the symbiotic relationship between beneficial bacteria and their hosts.

In seminal work, Sarkis Mazmanian discovered the first microbial molecule that has direct beneficial effects on mammals.

Sarkis Mazmanian has described and defined a novel paradigm in science whereby the gut microbiome intricately controls the development and function of the mammalian immune system.

Sarkis Mazmanian serves on the scientific advisory board of over a dozen companies, academic centers and not-for-profit foundations.

Sarkis Mazmanian enrolled at UCLA in 1990, planning to major in English, before focusing on microbiology.

Sarkis Mazmanian graduated in 1995 having majored in microbiology, before enrolling on a PHD which he concluded in 2002.

Sarkis Mazmanian was awarded a Helen Hay Whitney Postdoctoral Fellowship at Harvard Medical School, before moving to Caltech in 2006, where he established the microbiome department.

Sarkis Mazmanian's research has won him several awards including a Searle Scholar, Young Investigator of the Year at Harvard Medical School, Damon Runyon Innovation Award, the MacArthur Foundation Award, and Discover Magazine named him as one of the "Best Brains in Science under 40".