Robert Quinn
Assistant Professor of Biochemistry
Robert Quinn's current research is on how the human microbiome is a consortium of microorganisms living on and in our bodies.
Get in touchBiography
As an assistant professor at Michigan State University I use multi-omics methods including metagenomics, metabolomics and classic microbiology approaches to understand the causes of dysbiosis in host-associated microbial communities. I have studied the microbiome of everything from salmon, to lobsters, to corals, to lungs to guts, to….whatever is next. I’m a huge sports fan and spend some of my spare time trying figure out how to apply advanced baseball statistics to microbiome research.
I was
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raised in Bancroft, Ontario, Canada in close proximity to Algonquin Park which sparked my early interest in biology through constant interaction with the outdoors.
I received my undergraduate and Master degrees in microbiology at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. I then completed a PhD with Dr. Andrei Chistoserdov at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette studying the microbiome of Epizootic Shell Disease in the American Lobster. I completed my postdoctoral studies with Dr. Forest Rohwer at San Diego State University and Pieter Dorrestein at UC San Diego studying the cystic fibrosis lung microbiome, coral reefs and other complex microbial systems.
Education
University of Louisiana at Lafayette: PhD, Environmental and Evolutionary Biology | 2012
University of Guelph: MSc, Microbiology | 2008
University of Guelph: BSc, Microbiology | 2005
Selected Press
Scientists can tell how some corals survive climate-related coral bleaching events
CBC | 2021-02-12
Increasing ocean temperatures due to climate warming are putting the world's coral reefs at risk of bleaching, a devastating process by which where once vibrant and colorful corals become a ghostly, skeletal white. Now scientists in Hawaii and Michigan think they know why some corals are susceptible to bleaching and others are not. Canadian scientist Robert Quinn, an assistant professor of microbiology at Michigan State University, spoke with Quirks & Quarks host Bob McDonald about what might be driving that crucial difference in how corals respond to the heat. Back in 2015, an extreme heating event that led to the bleaching of corals around the world created an opportunity for Quinn and his colleagues to study why some corals — even of the same species — turn white and others don't.
How well antibiotics work for cystic fibrosis patients may be affected by PH, oxygen
MSU Today | 2018-10-15
People living with cystic fibrosis spend their lives battling chronic lung infections resistant to antibiotic therapy. A one-size-fits all approach to wiping out the bacterium may not be the best approach for all patients with the disease, according to a new study led by Pieter Dorrestein, a professor at the University of California San Diego, and Robert Quinn, a Michigan State University researcher who conducted the research at UC San Diego.