Rob Knight is the founding Director of the Center for Microbiome Innovation and Professor of Pediatrics, Bioengineering, and Computer Science & Engineering at UC San Diego. He is the Wolfe Family Endowed Chair in Microbiome Research.  His work is at the intersection of data science, bioinformatics, and microbiology, and has linked microbes to a range of health conditions including obesity, inflammatory bowel disease, Parkinson’s Disease and multiple sclerosis, has enhanced our understanding of microbes in environments ranging from the oceans to the tundra, and has made high-throughput DNA sequencing and data analysis techniques accessible to thousands of researchers around the world. This work resulted in the 2019 NIH Director’s Pioneer Award and 2017 Massry Prize. Dr. Knight can be followed on Twitter (@knightlabnews) or on his web site: knightlab.ucsd.edu.