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Microbiology
USA
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Microbiology

D-Index
120
Citations
52004
World Ranking
145
National Ranking
70

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Microbiology in United States Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Microbiology in United States Leader Award
  • 2020 - Fellow of the American Statistical Association (ASA)

Overview

Michael Otto is affiliated with the National Institutes of Health in the United States. Their research primarily spans the broad fields of Medicine and Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, with significant contributions to subfields such as Molecular Biology, Infectious Diseases, Microbiology, Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine, and Dermatology.

Their academic work focuses on several main topics including:

  • Antimicrobial Resistance in Staphylococcus
  • Bacterial biofilms and quorum sensing
  • Antimicrobial Peptides and Activities
  • Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfringens research
  • Biochemical and Structural Characterization
  • Bacterial Identification and Susceptibility Testing
  • Bacterial Genetics and Biotechnology

Michael Otto has been frequently published in several respected scientific venues, reflecting a concentration in microbiology and infectious disease research. These venues include:

  • Faculty Opinions - Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature
  • Cell Host & Microbe
  • Science Translational Medicine
  • The Lancet Microbe
  • Nature Microbiology

They have collaborated regularly with several coauthors, including:

  • Gordon Y. C. Cheung
  • Ryan Liu
  • Pipat Piewngam
  • Amer E. Villaruz
  • Dylan J. Burgin

Among their recent scholarly publications are:

  • Pathogenicity and virulence of Staphylococcus aureus, 2021, Virulence
  • Commensal Staphylococcus epidermidis contributes to skin barrier homeostasis by generating protective ceramides, 2022, Cell Host & Microbe
  • The staphylococcal exopolysaccharide PIA - Biosynthesis and role in biofilm formation, colonization, and infection, 2020, Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal
  • Skin microbiota analysis-inspired development of novel anti-infectives, 2020, Microbiome
  • Staphylococcus Agr virulence is critical for epidermal colonization and associates with atopic dermatitis development, 2020, Science Translational Medicine

Michael Otto has been recognized with the award of Fellow of the American Statistical Association (ASA) in 2020.

Best Publications

  • Staphylococcus epidermidis — the 'accidental' pathogen

    Michael Otto

  • Community-associated meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

    Frank R DeLeo;Michael Otto;Barry N Kreiswirth;Henry F Chambers

  • Identification of novel cytolytic peptides as key virulence determinants for community-associated MRSA

    Rong Wang;Kevin R Braughton;Dorothee Kretschmer;Thanh-Huy L Bach

  • Inactivation of the dlt operon in Staphylococcus aureus confers sensitivity to defensins, protegrins, and other antimicrobial peptides.

    Andreas Peschel;Michael Otto;Ralph W. Jack;Hubert Kalbacher

  • Pathogenicity and virulence of Staphylococcus aureus.

    Gordon Y. C. Cheung;Justin S. Bae;Michael Otto

  • Staphylococcus aureus resistance to human defensins and evasion of neutrophil killing via the novel virulence factor MprF is based on modification of membrane lipids with L-lysine

    Andreas Peschel;Andreas Peschel;Ralph W. Jack;Michael Otto;L. Vincent Collins

  • Staphylococcus epidermidis infections

    Cuong Vuong;Michael Otto

  • Different drugs for bad bugs: antivirulence strategies in the age of antibiotic resistance

    Seth W. Dickey;Gordon Y. C. Cheung;Michael Otto

  • Polysaccharide intercellular adhesin (PIA) protects Staphylococcus epidermidis against major components of the human innate immune system

    Cuong Vuong;Jovanka M. Voyich;Elizabeth R. Fischer;Kevin R. Braughton

  • Is Panton‐Valentine Leukocidin the Major Virulence Determinant in Community‐Associated Methicillin‐Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Disease?

    Jovanka M. Voyich;Michael Otto;Barun Mathema;Kevin R. Braughton

  • A crucial role for exopolysaccharide modification in bacterial biofilm formation, immune evasion, and virulence.

    Cuong Vuong;Stanislava Kocianova;Jovanka M. Voyich;Yufeng Yao

  • How Staphylococcus aureus biofilms develop their characteristic structure

    Saravanan Periasamy;Hwang-Soo Joo;Anthony C. Duong;Thanh-Huy L. Bach

  • Staphylococcus aureus toxins

    Michael Otto

  • Staphylococcal Infections: Mechanisms of Biofilm Maturation and Detachment as Critical Determinants of Pathogenicity*

    Michael Otto

  • RNAIII-independent target gene control by the agr quorum-sensing system: insight into the evolution of virulence regulation in Staphylococcus aureus.

    Shu Y. Queck;Max Jameson-Lee;Amer E. Villaruz;Thanh Huy L Bach

  • Impact of the agr Quorum-Sensing System on Adherence to Polystyrene in Staphylococcus aureus

    Cuong Vuong;Henri L. Saenz;Friedrich Götz;Michael Otto

  • Pathogen elimination by probiotic Bacillus via signalling interference

    Pipat Piewngam;Pipat Piewngam;Yue Zheng;Thuan H. Nguyen;Seth W. Dickey

  • Poring over pores: alpha-hemolysin and Panton-Valentine leukocidin in Staphylococcus aureus pneumonia.

    Juliane Bubeck Wardenburg;Taeok Bae;Michael Otto;Frank R DeLeo

  • A Wave of Regulatory T Cells into Neonatal Skin Mediates Tolerance to Commensal Microbes

    Tiffany C. Scharschmidt;Kimberly S. Vasquez;Hong-An Truong;Sofia V. Gearty

  • Basis of Virulence in Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus*

    Michael Otto

  • Staphylococcus quorum sensing in biofilm formation and infection.

    Kok-Fai Kong;Cuong Vuong;Michael Otto

  • Staphylococcus δ-toxin induces allergic skin disease by activating mast cells

    Yuumi Nakamura;Jon Oscherwitz;Kemp B. Cease;Susana M. Chan

Frequent Co-Authors

Frank R. DeLeo
Frank R. DeLeo National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Andreas Peschel
Andreas Peschel University of Tübingen
Daniel E. Sturdevant
Daniel E. Sturdevant National Institutes of Health
Friedrich Götz
Friedrich Götz University of Tübingen
Enrico Rukzio
Enrico Rukzio University of Ulm
Barry N. Kreiswirth
Barry N. Kreiswirth Center for Discovery and Innovation
Binh An Diep
Binh An Diep University of California, San Francisco
Yves Le Loir
Yves Le Loir INRAE : Institut national de recherche pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement
Jovanka M. Voyich
Jovanka M. Voyich Montana State University
Scott D. Kobayashi
Scott D. Kobayashi National Institutes of Health

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