Slava Epstein is an American academic of Soviet-Jewish origin, researcher and entrepreneur working in the field of

Microbial ecology Microbial ecology (or environmental microbiology) is a discipline where the interaction of Microorganism, microorganisms and their environment are studied. Microorganisms are known to have important and harmful ecological relationships within t ...

. He is currently a professor in the biology department of

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU or NEU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by the Boston Young Men's Christian Association in 1898 as an all-male instit ...

and co-founder of NovoBiotic Pharmaceuticals. As a researcher his most covered contribution is the development of the Isolation chip (iChip) and the discovery of a new antibiotic,

Teixobactin Teixobactin () is a peptide-like secondary metabolite of some species of bacteria, that kills some gram-positive bacteria. It appears to belong to a new class of antibiotics, and harms bacteria by binding to lipid II and lipid III, important ...

. Epstein's research has been published in many leading scientific journals including ''Nature'' and ''Science''.

Early life

Slava Epstein was born in the Soviet Union in a Jewish family. As a kid he was fascinated with astronomy and dreamed of being a physicist, however due to strict Soviet anti-semitic quotas he was advised to switch to biology.

Education

Slava Epstein received an M.S. in marine biology from

Moscow State University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public university, public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, a ...

in 1981 and PhD in microbial ecology from the

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...

, Shirshov Institute of Oceanology in 1986. For his research he traveled to the

White Sea The White Sea (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; ) is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the nort ...

to study protozoan organisms.

Immigration to the United States

Epstein immigrated with his family from the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in late 1980's. He first volunteered, then completed a postdoc at the

University of Massachusetts, Boston The University of Massachusetts Boston (stylized as UMass Boston) is a public US-based research university. It is the only public research university in Boston and the third-largest campus in the five-campus University of Massachusetts system. ...

. Since 1992, he has worked at Northeastern University, where he is a professor in the biology department.

Career

His main field of research is microbial ecology along with cultivation and discovery of previously unculturable microorganisms. Along with Kim Lewis, he is credited with development of the Isolation Chip (iChip). He was on the team along with Kim Lewis that discovered a previously unknown antibiotic

, by screening soil bacteria using novel cultivation methods, particularly by cultivating the '' Eleftheria terrae,'' the antibiotic-producing bacteria in soil, which is the organism's natural environment.

Awards and honors

Foreign Policy Magazine Leading Global Thinkers 2015, along with Kim Lewis. For the discovery of antibiotic Taixobactin in a pile of dirt.

Bibliography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Epstein, Slava Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Soviet marine biologists American ecologists Pharmaceutical company founders Soviet emigrants to the United States Soviet Jews Moscow State University alumni Northeastern University faculty