World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
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Microbiology
USA
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Microbiology

D-Index
109
Citations
78919
World Ranking
245
National Ranking
113

Medicine

D-Index
109
Citations
79131
World Ranking
5652
National Ranking
3041

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Microbiology in United States Leader Award
  • 2020 - Walsh McDermott Medal, National Academy of Medicine (NAM)
  • 2011 - Member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM)
  • 2010 - Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
  • 2006 - National Institutes of Health Director's Pioneer Award
  • 2001 - Oswald Avery Award, Infectious Diseases Society of America
  • Member of the Association of American Physicians
  • Member of the Association of American Physicians
  • Member of the Association of American Physicians
  • Member of the Association of American Physicians
  • Member of the Association of American Physicians
  • Member of the Association of American Physicians

Overview

David A. Relman is affiliated with Stanford University in the United States. Their research primarily focuses on medicine and biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology. Within these main fields, their work spans molecular biology, infectious diseases, periodontics, ecology, and physiology.

Their scientific investigations concentrate on key topics, including:

  • Gut microbiota and health
  • Reproductive tract infections research
  • Oral microbiology and periodontitis research
  • Pregnancy and preeclampsia studies
  • Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfringens research
  • Bacteriophages and microbial interactions
  • Genomics and phylogenetic studies

David A. Relman has published extensively across various scientific journals. Some of the frequent venues where their work appears include bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory), Nature Communications, Nature, Science, and Microbiome.

Recent published papers include:

  • "Clades of huge phages from across Earth's ecosystems" (2020) in Nature
  • "Profiling the human intestinal environment under physiological conditions" (2023) in Nature
  • "Investigate the origins of COVID-19" (2021) in Science
  • "Human metabolome variation along the upper intestinal tract" (2023) in Nature Metabolism
  • "Lessons learned from the prenatal microbiome controversy" (2021) in Microbiome

Their frequent co-authors include Elizabeth K. Costello, Susan Holmes, Kerwyn Casey Huang, Gary M. Shaw, and David K. Stevenson. Collaboration with these researchers has contributed to a broad and interdisciplinary scholarly network.

Throughout their career, David A. Relman has received several awards, such as the Walsh McDermott Medal from the National Academy of Medicine in 2020, membership in the National Academy of Medicine since 2011, and fellowship in the American Association for the Advancement of Science since 2010.

Additional honors include the National Institutes of Health Director's Pioneer Award in 2006, the Oswald Avery Award from the Infectious Diseases Society of America in 2001, and membership in the Association of American Physicians.

Best Publications

  • Diversity of the human intestinal microbial flora.

    Paul B. Eckburg;Elisabeth M. Bik;Charles N. Bernstein;Elizabeth Purdom

  • Metagenomic Analysis of the Human Distal Gut Microbiome

    Steven R. Gill;Mihai Pop;Robert T. DeBoy;Paul B. Eckburg;Paul B. Eckburg

  • Development of the human infant intestinal microbiota.

    Chana Palmer;Elisabeth M Bik;Daniel B DiGiulio;Daniel B DiGiulio;David A Relman;David A Relman

  • Simple statistical identification and removal of contaminant sequences in marker-gene and metagenomics data.

    Nicole M. Davis;Diana M. Proctor;Diana M. Proctor;Susan P. Holmes;David A. Relman;David A. Relman

  • The Pervasive Effects of an Antibiotic on the Human Gut Microbiota, as Revealed by Deep 16S rRNA Sequencing

    Les Dethlefsen;Susan M. Huse;Mitchell L. Sogin;David A. Relman;David A. Relman

  • Incomplete recovery and individualized responses of the human distal gut microbiota to repeated antibiotic perturbation

    Les Dethlefsen;David A. Relman

  • A new view of the tree of life

    Laura A. Hug;Laura A. Hug;Brett J. Baker;Karthik Anantharaman;Christopher T. Brown

  • An ecological and evolutionary perspective on human–microbe mutualism and disease

    Les Dethlefsen;Margaret McFall-Ngai;David A. Relman;David A. Relman

  • The Application of Ecological Theory Toward an Understanding of the Human Microbiome

    Elizabeth K. Costello;Keaton Stagaman;Les Dethlefsen;Brendan J. M. Bohannan

  • Identification of the Uncultured Bacillus of Whipple's Disease

    David A. Relman;Thomas M. Schmidt;Richard P. MacDermott;Stanley Falkow

  • Molecular analysis of the bacterial microbiota in the human stomach

    Elisabeth M. Bik;Paul B. Eckburg;Steven R. Gill;Karen E. Nelson

  • Gut Immune Maturation Depends on Colonization with a Host-Specific Microbiota

    Hachung Chung;Hachung Chung;Sünje Johanna Pamp;Sünje Johanna Pamp;Jonathan A. Hill;Neeraj K. Surana;Neeraj K. Surana;Neeraj K. Surana

  • Temporal and spatial variation of the human microbiota during pregnancy

    Daniel B. DiGiulio;Benjamin J. Callahan;Paul J. McMurdie;Elizabeth K. Costello

  • Exploring microbial diversity and taxonomy using SSU rRNA hypervariable tag sequencing.

    Susan M. Huse;Les Dethlefsen;Julie A. Huber;David B. Mark Welch

  • Sequence-based identification of microbial pathogens: a reconsideration of Koch's postulates.

    D N Fredericks;D A Relman

  • The agent of bacillary angiomatosis. An approach to the identification of uncultured pathogens.

    David A. Relman;Jeffery S. Loutit;Thomas M. Schmidt;Stanley Falkow

  • Enterotypes in the landscape of gut microbial community composition

    Paul I. Costea;Falk Hildebrand;Manimozhiyan Arumugam;Fredrik Bäckhed;Fredrik Bäckhed

  • Individuality and variation in gene expression patterns in human blood

    Adeline R. Whitney;Maximilian Diehn;Stephen J. Popper;Ash A. Alizadeh

  • Microbial Prevalence, Diversity and Abundance in Amniotic Fluid During Preterm Labor: A Molecular and Culture-Based Investigation

    Daniel B. DiGiulio;Daniel B. DiGiulio;Roberto Romero;Roberto Romero;Harold P. Amogan;Juan Pedro Kusanovic;Juan Pedro Kusanovic

  • Bacterial diversity within the human subgingival crevice

    Ian Kroes;Paul W. Lepp;David A. Relman

  • The Agent of Bacillary Angiomatosis

    D. Venes;C. J. Cockerell;P. M. Tierno;A. E. Friedman-Kien

Frequent Co-Authors

Susan Holmes
Susan Holmes Stanford University
Jillian F. Banfield
Jillian F. Banfield University of California, Berkeley
David N. Fredricks
David N. Fredricks University of Washington
Patrick O. Brown
Patrick O. Brown Stanford University
Gary M. Shaw
Gary M. Shaw Stanford University
David K. Stevenson
David K. Stevenson Stanford University
Stanley Falkow
Stanley Falkow Stanford University
Rob Knight
Rob Knight University of California, San Diego
Stephen R. Quake
Stephen R. Quake Stanford University
Martin J. Blaser
Martin J. Blaser Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

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