UC Santa Barbara chemical engineering and bioengineering professor Michelle O’Malley has been elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. The Academy, one of the largest professional societies dedicated to the life sciences, promotes and advances the microbial sciences, and elects fellows through a highly selective, peer-review process based on scientific achievement and original contributions to advance microbiology.
"It is an honor to be elected as an Academy fellow,” said O’Malley, who is the interim chair of the Department of Bioengineering. “This is such a special recognition for me as an engineer — especially to have our work valued so much by the microbiology community. As always, this award would not be possible without the students and postdocs in my group, and the many research collaborators that have helped us make lasting impacts to environmental and human health.”
O’Malley is the director of the National Science Foundation BioFoundry for Extreme and Exceptional Bacteria, Archaea, and Fungi (ExFAB), a facility supported by a six-year, $22 million dollar grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). ExFAB enables researchers from UCSB and from institutions around the country to study previously little-known microbes and transform what they learn into advances in biotechnology and biomanufacturing.
“We are extremely proud of Professor O’Malley for being selected to join the distinguished ranks of another of our nation’s prestigious academies,” said Umesh Mishra, dean of The Robert Mehrabian College of Engineering. “This honor comes on the heels of the opening of ExFAB, accomplished through her vision and leadership. This facility will allow UCSB to translate microbiology research into transformative technologies, continuing our campus’s tradition of connecting what we learn in the lab to the wider community.”
Through ExFAB, the O’Malley research group studies the biotechnological potential of microbes that perform unusual chemistry — such as those that remediate waste in compost piles, soil, and the seafloor — and engineers these processes for use in sustainable chemical production, bioremediation, and natural-product discovery. Most recently, O’Malley and her colleagues received a major grant from Wellcome Leap to study the connection between the gut microbiome in early human development and neurodevelopmental changes, including autism spectrum disorder.
O’Malley’s pioneering work has attracted numerous prestigious awards, including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the Department of Energy’s Early Career Award, and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers’ Allan P. Colburn Award for Excellence in Publications by a Young Member of the Institute. She is an elected fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and holds the inaugural Cliff R. Scholle Endowed Chair.
