David A. Relman

Clinical Focus

• Infectious Disease
• Infectious Diseases

Administrative Appointments

• Forum on Microbial Threats, Chair (2007-), Institute of Medicine, NAS (2005 - 2008)
• Chief, Infectious Diseases, VA Palo Alto Health Care System (2002 - present)
• Board of Scientific Councilors (Chair, 2007-), NIDCR, NIH (2003 - 2008)
• Director, Infectious Diseases Training Program, Stanford University School of Medicine (2003 - present)
• National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2005 - 2009)
View All 6administrative appointments of David Relman

Honors and Awards

• Distinguished Clinical Scientist Award, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (2006)
• NIH Director's Pioneer Award, NIH (2006)
• Kinyoun Lecturer, NIAID/NIH (2005)
• Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology (2003)
• Senior Scholar Award in Global Infectious Diseases, Ellison Medical Foundation (2002)

Professional Education

• Fellowship: Massachusetts General Hospital/Joslin Diabetes Center, MA (1986)
• Internship: Massachusetts General Hospital/Joslin Diabetes Center, MA (1986)
• Residency: Massachusetts General Hospital/Joslin Diabetes Center, MA (1985)
• Fellowship: SUMC - Graduate Medical Education, CA (1988)
• Board Certification: Internal Medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine (1985)

Postdoctoral Advisees

Leslie Dethlefsen, Jennifer Dinalo, Eoghan Harrington, Clara Long, Suenje Pamp, David Pride, Joanna Schaenman

Graduate & Fellowship Program Affiliations

• Medicine
• Microbiology and Immunology

Community & International Work

• Chief Medical Officer, Rock Medicine, Haight-Ashbury Medical Clinics 

Web Site Links

• http://relman.stanford.edu

Research Interests

My investigative program falls within the general themes of host-pathogen interactions and human microbial ecology, and is divided into two research areas:
1) Ecology of human indigenous microbial communities;
2) Classification of humans and non-human primates with systemic infectious diseases, based on features of genome-wide gene transcript abundance patterns.

Projects in these areas include the following:

1) Ecology of human indigenous microbial communities
• Molecular ecology of human oral cavity, including health and disease (chronic periodontitis)
• Molecular ecology of human intestinal tract, including health and disease (inflammatory bowel disease)
• Microbes associated with pre-term labor and delivery
• Patterns of bacterial diversity in marine mammals

2) Classification of humans and non-human primates with systemic infectious diseases, based on features of genome-wide gene transcript abundance patterns
• Classification of patients with fever and systemic infection, based on causative agent and clinical course
• Host response patterns to malaria and dengue fever
• Patterns of host transcript abundance in smallpox, monkeypox, and filovirus infections

Publications

• Comparative analysis of viral gene expression programs during poxvirus infection: a transcriptional map of the vaccinia and monkeypox genomes. Rubins KH, Hensley LE, Bell GW, Wang C, Lefkowitz EJ, Brown PO, Relman DA "PLoS One" 2008 ; 7 (3) : e2628
• 'Til death do us part': coming to terms with symbiotic relationships. Forward. Relman DA, "Nat Rev Microbiol" 2008 ; 10 (6) : 721-4
• Host transmission of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium is controlled by virulence factors and indigenous intestinal microbiota. Lawley TD, Bouley DM, Hoy YE, Gerke C, Relman DA, Monack DM "Infect Immun" 2008 ; 1 (76) : 403-16
• Dissecting biological "dark matter" with single-cell genetic analysis of rare and uncultivated TM7 microbes from the human mouth. Marcy Y, Ouverney C, Bik EM, Lösekann T, Ivanova N, Martin HG, Szeto E, Platt D, Hugenholtz P, Relman DA, Quake SR "Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A" 2007 ; 29 (104) : 11889-94
• An ecological and evolutionary perspective on human-microbe mutualism and disease. Dethlefsen L, McFall-Ngai M, Relman DA "Nature" 2007 ; 7164 (449) : 811-8