Jeffrey I. Gordon, MD, the Dr. Robert J. Glaser Distinguished University Professor and director of the Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences & Systems Biology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been recognized with the 2023 Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research. Gordon shares this year’s award — given Thursday, Oct. 5, at a ceremony in Albany, N.Y. — with Bonnie L. Bassler, PhD, of Princeton University; and Dennis L. Kasper, MD, of Harvard Medical School.
The scientists’ work has provided fundamental new insights about how our microbiomes — the complex and dynamic communities of microorganisms and their vast arsenal of microbial genes that inhabit different locations in our body — function to shape many aspects of our normal physiology, and in certain circumstances contribute to diseases. The microbiome field has experienced explosive growth, illustrated by the array of publications dedicated to it; the number of microbiome programs created in universities, pharma, and biotech companies; and the microbiome’s growing focus in private and charitable organizations.