David Relman, MD

David A. Relman is the Thomas C. and Joan M. Merigan professor in medicine and a professor of microbiology and immunology at Stanford University, and chief of infectious diseases at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System. He is also senior fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford and served as the center’s science co-director from 2013 to 2017.

Relman was an early pioneer in the identification of previously unrecognized microbial pathogens, in the development of molecular methods for microbial diagnosis, and in the modern study of the human microbiome (the microbial communities that inhabit the human body). A 2005 paper was one of the first to describe the diversity of the human gut microbiota using molecular ecological approaches and has been cited almost 11,000 times. 

Relman has served as president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and as an advisor to the U.S. government for 25 years on matters related to emerging biological threats. He was a founding member of the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity, Chair of the Forum on Microbial Threats at the U.S. National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM), and a member of the Defense Science Board for the U.S. Department of Defense. He was vice-chair of the National Academies of Science committee that reviewed the investigation of the 2001 Anthrax Letters for the FBI and chaired the NASEM committee that examined the neurological health incidents of U.S. government personnel serving in Havana and elsewhere overseas. He currently serves on the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. From May 2024 to January 2025, Relman was senior advisor in the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response, Executive Office of the President, at The White House. 

His research on the human microbiome has been awarded a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Pioneer Award (2006), NIH Transformative Research Award (2013), and the Alexander Fleming Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Infectious Diseases Society of America (2021). His work for the National Academies of Science was recognized by the Walsh McDermott Award. He was elected to the American Academy of Microbiology in 2003, the National Academy of Medicine in 2011, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2022, and he received the 2025 Barry Prize for Distinguished Intellectual Achievement from the American Academy of Sciences and Letters. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from MIT and a Doctor of Medicine degree from Harvard Medical School.