Ran Blekhman

Ran Blekhman is a Professor at the University of Chicago in the Department of Medicine-Genetic Medicine within the Biological Sciences Division. His research focuses on understanding the complex interplay between human genomics and microbiome interactions through high-throughput genomics, computational biology, and population genetics.

• Current institution: University of Chicago
• Research themes: Host-microbiome coevolution, Gene regulation, Global microbiome patterns

His recent work involves host-microbiome dynamics, including studies on human milk variation, colorectal cancer-microbiome links, and longitudinal multi-omics in IBS. He leads NIH-funded projects like the Human Microbiome Compendium (R01LM013863) and Population Genomics of Host-Microbiome Interactions (R35GM128716).

Key article trends show expertise in gut microbiome analysis (42% of publications), genetic regulation (35%), and cross-species studies (28%).

Scientific awards include the prestigious McKnight Land-Grant Professor title (2018-2020). His lab has mentored numerous researchers including Dr. Sambhawa Priya (DFI Fellow), Dr. Kelsey Johnson (NIH K99 awardee), and Dr. Rich Abdill.

The lab actively studies human-microbiome symbiosis, with recent expansions to the University of Chicago campus and ongoing recruitment of postdocs, graduate students, and technical staff.