Catherine Anne Lozupone (born 1975) is an American

microbiologist A microbiologist (from Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, fungi, and some types of par ...

who specializes in bacteria and how they impact human health. Her noted work in trying to determine what constitutes "normal" gut bacteria, led to her creation of the UniFrac algorithm, used by researchers to plot the relationships between microbial communities in the human body. Dr. Lozupone is currently at Anschutz Medical Campus School of Medicine as an associate professor.

Biography

Catherine A. Lozupone earned a Bachelor of Science from

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Saint Thom ...

in 1997 and went on to obtain a master's degree from

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University Syst ...

Fort Collins, Colorado Fort Collins is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality in Larimer County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The population was 169,810 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, an i ...

in 1999. She went on to complete her doctoral work at the

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University o ...

studying under Rob Knight, who is the founder of the American Gut Project. At the time of her doctoral research, little was known about the

microbiome A microbiome () is the community of microorganisms that can usually be found living together in any given habitat. It was defined more precisely in 1988 by Whipps ''et al.'' as "a characteristic microbial community occupying a reasonably wel ...

(genes of the bacteria, archaea, microscopic eukaryotes, and viruses interacting in an environment) of the gut and the

symbiotic Symbiosis (Ancient Greek : living with, companionship < : together; and ''bíōsis'': living) is any type of a close and long-term biolo ...

relationship between host and bacteria. Her thesis delineated the UniFrac algorithm which has allowed researchers to visualize the relationships between microbial communities in the human gut, how they interact, and how they might be related to specific diseases. Lozupone's work, detailed in a 2012 paper which appeared in ''

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

'' entitled "Diversity, Stability and Resilience of the Human Gut Microbiota", was noted for its attempt to analyze what is the "normal" bacterial state in the human gut. By approaching the gut as an ecosystem, scientists are then able to factor in the effects of lifestyle, diet, health status which might change the bacterial makeup present in the

gastrointestinal tract The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the Digestion, digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The tract is the largest of the body's systems, after the cardiovascula ...

. In 2013, after completing her post-doctoral research in Knight's lab, Lozupone started her own lab at the

University of Colorado Denver The University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver) is a Public university, public research university located in downtown Denver, Colorado. It is part of the University of Colorado system. Established in 1912 as an extension of the University of C ...

, where she works in the Department of Biomedical Informatics as an associate professor. She has begun evaluating the composition differences in the microbiome of healthy individuals versus those of HIV positive individuals. She is attempting to determine if

T cell T cells (also known as T lymphocytes) are an important part of the immune system and play a central role in the adaptive immune response. T cells can be distinguished from other lymphocytes by the presence of a T-cell receptor (TCR) on their cell ...

loss causes change in the bacteria levels, thus prompting chronic inflammation for people living with HIV. According to Thomson Reuters, Lozupone was one of the most cited researchers in the world in 2014. One article that may have influenced that claim is her 2012 article, "Diversity, stability and resilience of the human gut microbiota," published in ''Nature.'' Data published by ''Nature'' show that this article ranked in the 99th percentile of nearly 200,000 articles published around the same time. Her most recent paper, published in 2024, provided evidence that an agrarian diet improves metabolic health of HIV positive males.

Selected work

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References

Bibliography

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External links

HuffPost Live interview with Catherine LozuponeWorldCat PublicationsUniversity of Colorado, extended publications list
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lozupone, Catherine A 1975 births Living people American microbiologists Villanova University alumni Colorado State University alumni University of Colorado Boulder alumni University of Colorado Denver faculty 21st-century American women scientists 21st-century American scientists American women academics