Complex microbial ecosystems occupy the cutaneous and mucosal surfaces of humans. Recent advances have highlighted both the tremendous diversity of these communities and their importance to host physiology, yet, we have only scratched the surface. Questions remain about the ecological processes that establish and maintain the human microbiota throughout life. Furthermore, basic features of the human microbial ecosystem remain poorly described, including variability in diversity, in space and time and between individuals. Assembly of the oral and the gut microbiota involve both stochastic historical events and contemporary environmental factors. We are exploring spatial patterning and the effects of perturbation on human microbial diversity. Approaches that combine ecological theory and statistics, sequence-based and other molecular assessments of community structure, and standardized clinical measurements may improve our understanding of health and disease within the communal human organism. By understanding the patterns of diversity associated with human health, we may be able to preserve and restore health more effectively. By recognizing the early signs of impending disturbance, we may be able to predict and avoid disease.

Dr. Relman currently serves as Chair of the Institute of Medicine’s Forum on Microbial Threats (U.S. National Academies of Science), as a member of the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity, and as a member of the Chemistry, Materials, Environmental and Life Sciences Directorate Review Committee (Chair, Biology Subcommittee) for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (DOE).

He has been a member of the Senior Advisory Group for Biodefense for the Office of the Secretary of Defense; Chair of the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIH); and a member of the Board of Directors, Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).

Dr. Relman co-chaired a three-year study at the National Academies of Sciences that produced a widely-cited report titled, “Globalization, Biosecurity, and the Future of the Life Sciences” (2006). He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. Dr. Relman received the Squibb Award from the IDSA in 2001, and was the recipient of both the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award, and the Distinguished Clinical Scientist Award from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, in 2006.

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