Ran Blekhman
@blekhman.bsky.social
Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago. Decoding the human microbiome. http://BlekhmanLab.org
Pinned
Ran Blekhman
@blekhman.bsky.social
· Jan 22
Integration of 168,000 samples reveals global patterns of the human gut microbiome
The Human Microbiome Compendium is a unified database of publicly available human
gut microbiome 16S samples, built with the integrated data from hundreds of independent
projects. The compendium is us...
www.cell.com
Today we report a new compendium of human gut microbiomes with >168,000 samples
By analyzing this massive dataset, we discovered distinct microbiome patterns across the globe, and show we can predict where a person lives just from their gut bacteria
Now out in Cell:
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
By analyzing this massive dataset, we discovered distinct microbiome patterns across the globe, and show we can predict where a person lives just from their gut bacteria
Now out in Cell:
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
🧬 🦠 🏙️
Urban vs rural lifestyles create dramatically different gut microbiomes. But how do these different gut microbiomes affect the host?
Excited to share our new paper: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Urban vs rural lifestyles create dramatically different gut microbiomes. But how do these different gut microbiomes affect the host?
Excited to share our new paper: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
November 5, 2025 at 2:04 AM
🧬 🦠 🏙️
Urban vs rural lifestyles create dramatically different gut microbiomes. But how do these different gut microbiomes affect the host?
Excited to share our new paper: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Urban vs rural lifestyles create dramatically different gut microbiomes. But how do these different gut microbiomes affect the host?
Excited to share our new paper: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Indiana Dunes National Park, yesterday
November 2, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Indiana Dunes National Park, yesterday
Never seen our campus like this before. Like every single tree decided to turn red at the same moment
October 30, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Never seen our campus like this before. Like every single tree decided to turn red at the same moment
So funny that this is still the top search term for biorxiv. Like asking what is the impact factor of pubmed. Or your local library.
October 17, 2025 at 3:02 PM
So funny that this is still the top search term for biorxiv. Like asking what is the impact factor of pubmed. Or your local library.
Reposted by Ran Blekhman
UChicago Microbiology is searching for tenured or tenure-track faculty working in host-pathogens interactions, viral and bacterial pathogenesis, and emerging infectious diseases. Come join our vibrant Department! microbiology.uchicago.edu
Apply here apply.interfolio.com/174404
Apply here apply.interfolio.com/174404
Apply - Interfolio
{{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com
October 5, 2025 at 12:03 PM
UChicago Microbiology is searching for tenured or tenure-track faculty working in host-pathogens interactions, viral and bacterial pathogenesis, and emerging infectious diseases. Come join our vibrant Department! microbiology.uchicago.edu
Apply here apply.interfolio.com/174404
Apply here apply.interfolio.com/174404
Night heron, spotted at the Garden of the Phoenix
September 28, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Night heron, spotted at the Garden of the Phoenix
Garden of the Phoenix in Hyde Park is a gem
September 14, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Garden of the Phoenix in Hyde Park is a gem
Reposted by Ran Blekhman
I'm hiring a computational biologist interested in complex trait genetics using deep learning approaches. Reach out to me, if interested.
September 12, 2025 at 7:00 PM
I'm hiring a computational biologist interested in complex trait genetics using deep learning approaches. Reach out to me, if interested.
Excellent journal club discussion today of a new paper finding human genetic variants associated with fungi in the gut - interesting results!
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Gut fungi are associated with human genetic variation and disease risk
In contrast to decades of research on gut bacteria, human genetic determinants of the gut fungal community (mycobiome) remain understudied. This investigation presents the first GWAS on the number and...
journals.plos.org
September 11, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Excellent journal club discussion today of a new paper finding human genetic variants associated with fungi in the gut - interesting results!
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Update from Chicago. The situation is dire. Complete anarchy. Please send the national guard asap to put an end to this lawlessness
August 31, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Update from Chicago. The situation is dire. Complete anarchy. Please send the national guard asap to put an end to this lawlessness
More foundations should do this:
"Funding is exclusively available to applicants who have already received federal funding (e.g., from the NIH, CDC, NSF) for their health equity research, but have since had their funding rescinded due to federal administrative actions"
www.rwjf.org/en/grants/ac...
"Funding is exclusively available to applicants who have already received federal funding (e.g., from the NIH, CDC, NSF) for their health equity research, but have since had their funding rescinded due to federal administrative actions"
www.rwjf.org/en/grants/ac...
Rapid Response: Reinvesting in Racial and Indigenous Health Equity Research
The purpose of this call for proposals is to meet the current moment by supporting timely, actionable health equity research that has been interrupted by shifts in federal funding.
www.rwjf.org
August 30, 2025 at 8:58 PM
More foundations should do this:
"Funding is exclusively available to applicants who have already received federal funding (e.g., from the NIH, CDC, NSF) for their health equity research, but have since had their funding rescinded due to federal administrative actions"
www.rwjf.org/en/grants/ac...
"Funding is exclusively available to applicants who have already received federal funding (e.g., from the NIH, CDC, NSF) for their health equity research, but have since had their funding rescinded due to federal administrative actions"
www.rwjf.org/en/grants/ac...
"It's people who will get cancer in 10, 20 or 30 years who will really pay the price."
We're literally defunding our future survival.
We're literally defunding our future survival.
The @NYTimes has done a fantastic job on explaining what the Trump administration’s savage
cuts to biomedical research mean: cures that won’t happen. Please share this widely. This is a catastrophe. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/24/o...
cuts to biomedical research mean: cures that won’t happen. Please share this widely. This is a catastrophe. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/24/o...
Opinion | America First? Not When It Comes to Your Health.
www.nytimes.com
August 24, 2025 at 6:08 PM
"It's people who will get cancer in 10, 20 or 30 years who will really pay the price."
We're literally defunding our future survival.
We're literally defunding our future survival.
Cool application of microbiome in food science
Using metagenomics on Colombian cacao, they mapped how microbes influence chocolate flavors. Then they built a defined microbial consortium that replicates premium chocolate flavors -- validated by trained tasters!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Using metagenomics on Colombian cacao, they mapped how microbes influence chocolate flavors. Then they built a defined microbial consortium that replicates premium chocolate flavors -- validated by trained tasters!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A defined microbial community reproduces attributes of fine flavour chocolate fermentation - Nature Microbiology
An in-depth microbiological and metagenomic analysis of Colombian farm and fermentation facilities resulted in the design of a defined microbial community that can reproduce the flavour of fine chocol...
www.nature.com
August 19, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Cool application of microbiome in food science
Using metagenomics on Colombian cacao, they mapped how microbes influence chocolate flavors. Then they built a defined microbial consortium that replicates premium chocolate flavors -- validated by trained tasters!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Using metagenomics on Colombian cacao, they mapped how microbes influence chocolate flavors. Then they built a defined microbial consortium that replicates premium chocolate flavors -- validated by trained tasters!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Ran Blekhman
The second BME UNITE Future Faculty Seminar will be on Monday, August 25th, at 1 pm EST. Come hear from Drs. Mattea Allert, Taj Yeruva, and Said Arévalo Alquichire, PhD to learn more about their science and future research programs! Register here: tinyurl.com/bmeunite25
August 18, 2025 at 3:20 PM
The second BME UNITE Future Faculty Seminar will be on Monday, August 25th, at 1 pm EST. Come hear from Drs. Mattea Allert, Taj Yeruva, and Said Arévalo Alquichire, PhD to learn more about their science and future research programs! Register here: tinyurl.com/bmeunite25
200 days in, checking in on HHMI funding opportunities:
Freeman Hrabowski Scholars Program - not accepting applications
Gilliam Fellows Program - not accepting applications
Hanna H. Gray Fellows Program - not accepting applications
Investigator Program - not accepting applications
Freeman Hrabowski Scholars Program - not accepting applications
Gilliam Fellows Program - not accepting applications
Hanna H. Gray Fellows Program - not accepting applications
Investigator Program - not accepting applications
This is not some small foundation -- HHMI has a $24 billion endowment. It is the world's 2nd richest biomedical research foundation.
If any funder can double down on their support for science right now, it's HHMI. But they are doing the opposite.
If any funder can double down on their support for science right now, it's HHMI. But they are doing the opposite.
August 9, 2025 at 4:42 PM
200 days in, checking in on HHMI funding opportunities:
Freeman Hrabowski Scholars Program - not accepting applications
Gilliam Fellows Program - not accepting applications
Hanna H. Gray Fellows Program - not accepting applications
Investigator Program - not accepting applications
Freeman Hrabowski Scholars Program - not accepting applications
Gilliam Fellows Program - not accepting applications
Hanna H. Gray Fellows Program - not accepting applications
Investigator Program - not accepting applications
Fascinating new paper reveals a new gut microbiome connection to heart disease. Microbes produce imidazole propionate (ImP), which directly triggers atherosclerosis through immune activation - even without high cholesterol.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Imidazole propionate is a driver and therapeutic target in atherosclerosis - Nature
Imidazole propionate produced by gut microbiota is associated with atherosclerosis in mouse models and in humans, and causes the development of atherosclerosis through activation of the imidazoline-1 ...
www.nature.com
July 23, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Fascinating new paper reveals a new gut microbiome connection to heart disease. Microbes produce imidazole propionate (ImP), which directly triggers atherosclerosis through immune activation - even without high cholesterol.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Good night from Chicago
July 23, 2025 at 2:39 AM
Good night from Chicago
Reposted by Ran Blekhman
New paper in @nature.com! With @kiseokmicro.bsky.social , Siqi Liu, Kyle Crocker, Jojo Wang, Mikhail Tikhonov & Madhav Mani — a massive dataset and simple model reveal a few conserved regimes that capture how soil microbiome metabolism responds to perturbations. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
July 17, 2025 at 6:36 AM
New paper in @nature.com! With @kiseokmicro.bsky.social , Siqi Liu, Kyle Crocker, Jojo Wang, Mikhail Tikhonov & Madhav Mani — a massive dataset and simple model reveal a few conserved regimes that capture how soil microbiome metabolism responds to perturbations. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
New paper showing that gut bacteria absorb "forever chemicals" (PFAS) at high levels.
This bacterial "sponge effect" could influence PFAS levels in our bodies and explain individual differences in PFAS exposure.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
This bacterial "sponge effect" could influence PFAS levels in our bodies and explain individual differences in PFAS exposure.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Human gut bacteria bioaccumulate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances - Nature Microbiology
Human gut bacteria bioaccumulate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), commonly known as forever chemicals, in intracellular aggregates. Colonization of gnotobiotic mice with bioaccumulating bac...
www.nature.com
July 14, 2025 at 4:13 PM
New paper showing that gut bacteria absorb "forever chemicals" (PFAS) at high levels.
This bacterial "sponge effect" could influence PFAS levels in our bodies and explain individual differences in PFAS exposure.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
This bacterial "sponge effect" could influence PFAS levels in our bodies and explain individual differences in PFAS exposure.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Ran Blekhman
Our article on the challenges and opportunities in studying host-microbe symbioses is now published in Cell Host & Microbe! @cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Theory of host-microbe symbioses: Challenges and opportunities
Growing insight into microbial symbioses highlights the need to model these systems mathematically. We discuss three areas requiring theoretical advan…
www.sciencedirect.com
July 9, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Our article on the challenges and opportunities in studying host-microbe symbioses is now published in Cell Host & Microbe! @cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Some personal news: I was recently promoted to Full Professor at the University of Chicago.
This milestone is deeply meaningful, and also feels quite surreal. When I started as a graduate student at UChicago in 2005 I never imagined my journey would lead me here 20 years later as a professor.
This milestone is deeply meaningful, and also feels quite surreal. When I started as a graduate student at UChicago in 2005 I never imagined my journey would lead me here 20 years later as a professor.
July 8, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Some personal news: I was recently promoted to Full Professor at the University of Chicago.
This milestone is deeply meaningful, and also feels quite surreal. When I started as a graduate student at UChicago in 2005 I never imagined my journey would lead me here 20 years later as a professor.
This milestone is deeply meaningful, and also feels quite surreal. When I started as a graduate student at UChicago in 2005 I never imagined my journey would lead me here 20 years later as a professor.