Michael Thomas appointed E.B. Fred Professor in Bacteriology
Bacteriology professor Michael Thomas, an expert in metabolic engineering and antibiotic discovery and development, was recently named the E.B. Fred Professor in Bacteriology. The five-year professorship provides an annual allocation of $25,000 to support scholarly activities.
Thomas’ research program focuses on characterizing, understanding and harnessing bacterial secondary metabolism for both basic and applied scientific purposes. His work varies from studying enzymatic reactions that are unique to secondary metabolism to “mining” bacteria for new secondary metabolites that have medically and agriculturally relevant biological activities. His efforts have already revealed a number of new compounds that make promising drug candidates.