Michael Andrew Fischbach was born on November 3, 1980. He is an American scientist who studies chemicals, tiny living things, and genes. He is a teacher and researcher at Stanford University and also holds the title of ChEM-H Faculty Fellow. Additionally, he works as a researcher at the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub.

Education

Fischbach received his Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Harvard College in 2003. Between 2000 and 2003, he worked in the laboratory of Jeffrey Settleman at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, studying the biochemistry of cancer-related mutations in a protein called Ras. In 2007, he completed his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Chemistry and Chemical Biology from Harvard University. During this time, he conducted research in the laboratory of Christopher T. Walsh at Harvard Medical School, focusing on how bacteria obtain iron and the chemical processes involved in creating natural substances.

Career

Fischbach worked as a junior fellow in the Department of Molecular Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital from 2007 to 2009. In 2009, he became a faculty member at the University of California, San Francisco. In September 2017, he moved to Stanford University as an associate professor. As a Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigator, Fischbach is one of eight faculty members from Stanford, UCSF, and the University of California, Berkeley who lead the CZ Biohub Microbiome Initiative. This initiative, started in 2018, aims to study how the microbiota can affect human health. Fischbach is currently a member of the scientific advisory board of NGM Biopharmaceuticals and a co-founder of Revolution Medicines.

Research

Fischbach's lab studies small molecules made by microorganisms, with a special focus on the human microbiome.

In 2014, Fischbach and his team published a study about biosynthetic genes in the human microbiome. This study showed that microbes living in the human body can make thiopeptide antibiotics. The lab found that a gut bacterium called Bacteroides fragilis produces a special type of fat molecule called alpha-galactosylceramide, which helps control the immune system. They also discovered that many gut bacteria make neurotransmitters and identified the process by which gut bacteria create a common type of bile acid.

Fischbach's lab created an algorithm named ClusterFinder, which helps find biosynthetic genes in bacterial genomes. With Marnix Medema, he also helped develop another algorithm called antiSMASH, which is now combined with ClusterFinder.

Fischbach's team has made important progress in modifying bacteria for medical use. They changed a common skin bacterium, Staphylococcus epidermidis, into a way to deliver vaccines on the skin. This method caused strong and lasting immune responses in mice, which could be a new way to give vaccines. In 2023, a postdoc named Erin Chen led a project to modify skin bacteria to help T cells fight melanoma, a type of skin cancer. This work shows the possible role of the skin microbiome in treating cancer with immunotherapy.

Personal life

Fischbach is married to Elizabeth Sattely, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at Stanford.