Rob Knight is an international leader in the study of microbiomes and how they affect human health
Rob Knight wears many hats in his career, whether as a professor of pediatrics, bioengineering, computer science and engineering at UC San Diego in La Jolla, Wolfe Family Endowed Chair in microbiome research at Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego, principal investigator at the Knight Lab or director of the Center for Microbiome Innovation at UCSD.
That isn’t to mention his success as a writer with 2015’s “Follow Your Gut: The Impact of Microbes” and being technical co-founder of the microbiome start-up Biota Inc. Or winning the 2017 Massry Prize and 2019 National Institutes of Health Director’s Pioneer Award for his research.
Knight’s impressive resumé and reputation have cemented his status as a leader in studying microbiomes — the collection of good and bad microbes living in people’s skin, mouths and guts.
And now he is being recognized as Scientist of the Year by San Diego’s chapter of the Achievement Rewards for College Scientists Foundation, or ARCS.
ARCS is a national organization led entirely by women aiming to provide financial support to college students in science, technology, engineering and math. The San Diego chapter is one of 15 across the country.
Since the local chapter was formed in 1985, ARCS has donated $12.8 million through 1,680 scholarship awards for students at UCSD, San Diego State University, University of San Diego and Scripps Research.
