William W. Metcalf

William W. Metcalf is the G. William Arends Professor in Molecular & Cellular Biology and Professor of Microbiology at the University of Illinois. His research focuses on microbial metabolism, particularly in methanogenic Archaea and phosphonate antibiotics. He holds affiliations with the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology and the School of Molecular & Cellular Biology within the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.

Education: B.S. in Anthropology (1981) and Microbiology (1984) from University of Illinois; Ph.D. in Microbiology from Purdue University (1991), followed by postdoctoral training at Purdue and UIUC until 1997.

Research interests include archaeal bioenergetics, drug discovery, and genomics. Key projects involve metabolic pathways in Methanosarcina species and phosphonate antibiotic biosynthesis. Awards include AAAS and American Academy of Microbiology Fellowships (2016, 2010).

Publications span over 30 years, with recent work on methanogen genetics, antibiotic mechanisms, and microbial genome mining. His lab develops genetic tools for archaea and explores applications in energy and healthcare.