Dr. Howard Ochman

Biography

Dr. Ochman originally trained as a population geneticist at the University of Rochester, receiving his Ph.D. in 1984. Technical advances in molecular biology prompted a switch in his research focus to studying the organization and evolution of bacterial genomes. Over the past decades, he has investigated molecular evolution and the diversity of interactions among microbes. After a postdoctoral stint in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, he worked as a research scientist on the Human Genome Project in 1987 before moving to Washington University to study the evolution of bacterial pathogenesis. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin, he held faculty appointments at the University of Rochester (1991-1998), University of Arizona (1998-2010), and Yale University (2010-2013). The Ochman lab applies experimental, comparative, and computational approaches to examine the evolution and adaptation of microbial genomes. Due to the complex and varied interactions between pathogens and commensal constituents in mammalian hosts, the lab's work focuses on genome evolution in enteric bacteria such as E. coli, Shigella, and Salmonella.

Research Interests

Experience