A luminary of translational biology, Dr. Joe Petrosino, PhD, focuses his research on the functional genomics of biodefense (protecting humankind from the biological threat of disease) as well as emerging infectious disease pathogens (meaning newly evolving infectious diseases). Dr. Petrosino serves as Director of the Alkek Center for Metagenomics and Microbiome Research, as well as an Associate Professor of Molecular Virology and Microbiology at his alma mater, Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas where he received his PhD in Microbial Pathogenesis and Genomics years before.

Additionally, Dr. Petrosino is the Founder and President of Diversigen Inc., providing solutions for sequencing, analysis, and consulting services geared toward the study of the microbiome. He has authored over 40 original papers examining the microbiome in connection to Cystic Fibrosis, pregnancy, nutritional intervention in colitis, and rotavirus infection — propelling serious research into the microbiome forward.

Pediatric Diabetes is an area of deep focus for Dr. Petrosino; he serves as Director of the Alkek Center for Metagenomics and Microbiome Research (CMMR), which initiated a large-scale $11.8M project on the microbiome analysis of 18,000+ Type 1 Diabetes samples from the NIH/NIDDK TEDDY (The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young) study. Over the past eight years, TEDDY has enrolled more than 8,600 infants from populations with predispositions for developing diabetes due to family history. Participants provide samples and keep diaries of their diets, illnesses, allergies, and other factors.

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Key Publications:

Auchtung T A, Fofanova T Y, Stewart C J, Nash A K, Wong M C, Gesell J R, Auchtung J M, Ajami N J, Petrosino J F. “Investigating colonization of the healthy adult gastrointestinal tract by fungi.” mSphere, 3(2). pii: e00092-18, 2018 Mar 28. Accessed 2018 June 4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29600282. DOI: 10.1128/mSphere.00092-18.

Petrosino J F. “The microbiome in precision medicine: the way forward.” Genome Med, 10(1):12, 2018 Feb 22. Accessed 2018 June 4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29471863. DOI: 10.1186/s13073-018-0525-6.

Stewart C J, Hasegawa K, Wong M C, Ajami N J, Petrosino J F, Piedra P A, Espinola J A, Tierney C N, Camargo C A Jr, Mansbach J M. “Respiratory syncytial virus and rhinovirus bronchiolitis are associated with distinct metabolic pathways.” J Infect Dis, 217(7):1160-1169, 2018 Mar 13. Accessed 2018 June 4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29293990. DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jix680.

Accornero F, Schips T G, Petrosino J M, Gu S Q, Kanisicak O, van Berlo J H, Molkentin J D. “BEX1 is an RNA-dependent mediator of cardiomyopathy.” Nat Commun, 8(1):1875, 2017 Nov 30. Accessed 2018 June 4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29192139. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-02005-1.

Nash A K, Auchtung T A, Wong M C, Smith D P, Gesell J R, Ross M C, Stewart C J, Metcalf G A, Muzny D M, Gibbs R A, Ajami N J, Petrosino J F. “The gut mycobiome of the Human Microbiome Project healthy cohort.” Microbiome, 5(1):153, 2017 Nov 25. Accessed 2018 June 4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29178920. DOI: 10.1186/s40168-017-0373-4.

Stewart C J, Embleton N D, Marrs E C L, Smith D P, Fofanova T, Nelson A, Skeath T, Perry J D, Petrosino J F, Berrington J E, Cummings S P. “Longitudinal development of the gut microbiome and metabolome in preterm neonates with late onset sepsis and healthy controls.” Microbiome, 5(1):75, 2017 Jul 12. Accessed 2018 June 4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28701177.
DOI: 10.1186/s40168-017-0295-1.

Pammi M, O’Brien J L, Ajami N J, Wong M C, Versalovic J, Petrosino J F. “Development of the cutaneous microbiome in the preterm infant: A prospective longitudinal study.” PLoS One,12(4):e0176669, 2017 Apr 27. Web eCollection 2017. Accessed 2018 June 4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28448623. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0176669.

Galloway-Peña J R, Smith D P, Sahasrabhojane P, Wadsworth W D, Fellman B M, Ajami N J, Shpall E J, Daver N, Guindani M, Petrosino J F, Kontoyiannis D P, Shelburne S A. “Characterization of oral and gut microbiome temporal variability in hospitalized cancer patients.” Genome Med, 9(1):21, 2017 Feb 28. Accessed 2018 June 4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28245856.
DOI: 10.1186/s13073-017-0409-1.

Viladomiu M, Kivolowitz C, Abdulhamid A, Dogan B, Victorio D, Castellanos J G, Woo V, Teng F, Tran N L, Sczesnak A, Chai C, Kim M, Diehl G E, Ajami N J, Petrosino J F, Zhou X K, Schwartzman S, Mandl L A, Abramowitz M, Jacob V, Bosworth B, Steinlauf A, Scherl E J, Wu H J, Simpson K W, Longman R S. “IgA-coated E. coli enriched in Crohn’s disease spondyloarthritis promote TH17-dependent inflammation.” Sci Transl Med, 9(376). pii: eaaf9655, 2017 Feb 8. Accessed 2018 June 4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28179509. DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aaf9655.

Buffington S A, Di Prisco G V, Auchtung T A, Ajami N J, Petrosino J F, Costa-Mattioli M. “Microbial reconstitution reverses maternal diet-induced social and synaptic deficits in offspring.” Cell, 165(7):1762-1775, 2016 Jun 16. Accessed 2018 June 4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27315483. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2016.06.001.