A. Murat Eren (Meren) is a computer scientist known for his work on microbial ecology and developing novel, open-source, computational tools for analysis of large data sets.

Early life and education

Eren grew up in the Barhal Valley in Turkey and studied cryptography as an undergraduate at Canakkale Onsekiz Mart Universitesi where he earned a B.S. in 2002. He moved to the United States and started his Ph.D. at the

University of New Orleans The University of New Orleans (UNO) is a Public university, public research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. First opened in 1958 as Louisiana State University in New Orleans, it is the largest public university and one of t ...

. While working at the Children's Hospital of New Orleans, Eren was introduced to microbiology by Michael Ferris. In 2011 Eren completed his Ph.D.; his dissertation was titled ''Assessing microbial diversity through nucleotide variation''.

Career and research

Eren's Ph.D. research involved developing oligotyping, a computational method to examine the diversity of microorganisms within high throughput sequencing datasets. Following his Ph.D., Eren joined the

Marine Biological Laboratory The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is an international center for research and education in biological and environmental science. Founded in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, in 1888, the MBL is a private, nonprofit institution that was independent ...

as a postdoctoral scientist, during which he applied oligotyping to microbes that live in the human genitourinary tract, oral cavity, and sewage. In 2015 he joined the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

as an assistant professor, where he started using

metagenomics Metagenomics is the study of all genetics, genetic material from all organisms in a particular environment, providing insights into their composition, diversity, and functional potential. Metagenomics has allowed researchers to profile the mic ...

to investigate the ecology and evolution of microbes found in the human gut, human mouth, and surface ocean. In 2022, Eren was appointed Professor of Ecosystem Data Science at the

University of Oldenburg The Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg () is a university located in Oldenburg, Germany. History The first teachers training was held in Oldenburg as early as 1793, launched by Duke Peter Friedrich Ludwig. A garden seminar for te ...

and the

Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research The Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (German: ''Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung'') is located in Bremerhaven, Germany, and a member of the Helmholtz Association ...

. Eren is an advocate of open-source software and leads the community development of anvi'o, a platform to allow analysis and visualization of large datasets.

Selected publications

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Awards and honors

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is an American philanthropic nonprofit organization. It was established in 1934 by Alfred P. Sloan Jr., president and chief executive officer of General Motors. The Sloan Foundation makes grants to support origina ...

Research Fellowship in Ocean Sciences (2020) *

American Society for Microbiology The American Society for Microbiology (ASM), originally the Society of American Bacteriologists, is a professional organization for scientists who study viruses, bacteria, fungi, algae, and protozoa as well as other aspects of microbiology. It wa ...

Award for Early Career Environmental Research (2021) * Research Parasite Award Sustained Parasitism (2022)https://researchparasite.com/#past-recipients

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eren, A. Murat University of Chicago faculty University of New Orleans alumni Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University alumni Living people Turkish computer scientists Ecologists Free software programmers 1980 births