Robert Dickson

Robert Dickson, MD is the Galen B. Toews Legacy Professor of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and Associate Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Microbiology & Immunology at the University of Michigan. He serves as Associate Chief (Research) for the Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine and Deputy Director of the Weil Institute for Critical Care Research & Innovation. His clinical roles include attending in the Critical Care Medicine Unit and leading the Washtenaw County Tuberculosis Clinic.

Dr. Dickson’s research focuses on the microbiome’s role in lung disease and critical illness, integrating molecular microbiology with clinical translational science. Key areas include the microbiome’s influence on sepsis, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), pneumonia, pulmonary fibrosis, and lung transplantation. His work combines ex vivo models, animal studies, and human clinical trials to explore mechanisms linking microbial communities to disease outcomes.

His lab’s research has identified microbiome-derived metabolites (e.g., acetate) as critical mediators of sepsis severity and skeletal muscle atrophy. Recent studies highlight the unintended consequences of broad-spectrum antibiotics on gut microbiota, linking such treatments to worsened kidney injury and hyperinflammatory responses in sepsis.

Dr. Dickson directs the Multidisciplinary Training Program in Lung Disease (T32 grant) and co-leads the Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine Fellowship Program. He is a Senior Editor at Microbiome and serves on editorial boards of European Respiratory Journal and Lancet Respiratory Medicine. His research is supported by NIH grants, the European Commission, and institutional funds.

Lab collaborations span pulmonology, microbiology, bioinformatics, and critical care. Current projects aim to develop novel diagnostic tools (e.g., GenomicGapID for microbial identification) and microbiome-based therapies to treat sepsis, ARDS, and lung transplant complications.