Affiliation: Department of Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley

Dr. Michael Shapira is an Associate Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. He has been studying host-microbe interactions in C. elegans since 2004, expanding an initial focus on host-pathogen interactions to a broader interest in animal-associated bacteria and microbiomes. The research in the Shapira lab at the University of California Berkeley seeks to understand the fundamentals of host-microbe interactions in the context of the whole organism, and to gain insights about their evolution. The main areas of research include the role of host genetic factors in shaping gut microbiome structure and function, how gut commensals affect host fitness, and the effects of aging on host-microbiome interactions.