Osterman is a full Professor in the Bioinformatics Program of Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases Center at Sanford-Burnham-Prebys Institute (SBP) in La Jolla, CA, USA. Osterman graduated from Moscow University (Russia) with M.S. degree in Chemistry, obtained PhD in Biochemistry at the same institution (in 1983) followed by training and research in the field of mechanistic enzymology and structural biology at the Institute of Microbial Genetics (Moscow, Russia). He continued his work in this field as a Research Instructor at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX (1993-1998) focusing on metabolic drug targets in pathogenic protozoa. In 1999, inspired by advents of “genomic revolution”, he accepted a VP(R&D) position at Integrated Genomics Inc. (IG), a biotech startup in Chicago, IL, where his research team pioneered integration of bioinformatics and experimental techniques for microbial gene, pathway and target discovery.

After joining the faculty of SBP (in 2003), Osterman is continuing his studies combining comparative microbial genomics and bioinformatics with microbial physiology, metabolic biochemistry and genetics to explore mechanisms underlying interactions between various types of microbiota (commensals, pathogens) and a mammalian hosts. In recent years, Osterman Lab has successfully extended genomics-driven reconstruction of metabolic and regulatory networks from the analysis of individual bacterial species toward microbial communities colonizing the human body. The latter work in collaboration with Dr. J. Gordon’s team at WUSTL supported by research grants from NIDDK and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has a translational goal of developing novel therapeutic solutions for dysbiosis-related syndromes in children [1-5]. Osterman is a co-founder of Phenobiome Inc, a start-up biotech company focusing on applications of the integrative bioinformatics methodology developed by Osterman Lab at SBP for diagnostics, personalized microbiome-targeting nutrient supplementation and other products to support health and wellness. Another long-term direction in Osterman Lab is on genomics-driven antimicrobial target and drug discovery as well as evolutionary and mechanistic analysis of acquired antibiotic resistance [6,7].

SELECTED RECENT PUBLICATIONS

(for a complete list of >130, see My Bibliography)

1. Delannoy-Bruno O, Desai C, Raman AS, Chen RY, Hibberd MC, Cheng J, Han N, Castillo JJ, Couture G, Lebrilla CB, Barve RA, Lombard V, Henrissat B, Leyn SA, Rodionov DA, Osterman AL, Hayashi DK, Meynier A, Vinoy S, Kirbach K, Wilmot T, Heath AC, Klein S, Barratt MJ, Gordon JI. Evaluating microbiome-directed fibre snacks in gnotobiotic mice and humans. 2021, PMID: 34163075.
2. Chen RY, Kung VL, Das S, Hossain MS, Hibberd MC, Guruge J, Mahfuz M, Begum SMKN, Rahman MM, Fahim SM, Gazi MA, Haque R, Sarker SA, Mazumder RN, Di Luccia B, Ahsan K, Kennedy E, Santiago-Borges J, Rodionov DA, Leyn SA, Osterman AL, Barratt MJ, Ahmed T, Gordon JI. Duodenal Microbiota in Stunted Undernourished Children with Enteropathy. N Engl J Med. 2020, PMID: 32706533.
3. Jones RB, Berger PK, Plows JF, Alderete TL, Millstein J, Fogel J, Iablokov SN, Rodionov DA, Osterman AL, Bode L, Goran MI. Lactose-reduced infant formula with added corn syrup solids is associated with a distinct gut microbiota in Hispanic infants. Gut Microbes. 2020, PMID: 32887539.
4. Gehrig JL, Venkatesh S, Chang HW, Hibberd MC, Kung VL, Cheng J, Chen RY, Subramanian S, Cowardin CA, Meier MF, O’Donnell D, Talcott M, Spears LD, Semenkovich CF, Henrissat B, Giannone RJ, Hettich RL, Ilkayeva O, Muehlbauer M, Newgard CB, Sawyer C, Head RD, Rodionov DA, Arzamasov AA, Leyn SA, Osterman AL, Hossain MI, Islam M, Choudhury N, Sarker SA, Huq S, Mahmud I, Mostafa I, Mahfuz M, Barratt MJ, Ahmed T, Gordon JI. Effects of microbiota-directed foods in gnotobiotic animals and undernourished children.  2019, PMID: 31296738.
5. Rodionov DA, Arzamasov AA, Khoroshkin MS, Iablokov SN, Leyn SA, Peterson SN, Novichkov PS, Osterman AL. . Micronutrient Requirements and Sharing Capabilities of the Human Gut Microbiome. Front Microbiol. 2019, PMID: 31275260.
6. Zlamal JE, Leyn SA, Iyer M, Elane ML, Wong NA, Wamsley JW, Vercruysse M, Garcia-Alcalde F, Osterman AL. Shared and Unique Evolutionary Trajectories to Ciprofloxacin Resistance in Gram-Negative Bacterial Pathogens. 2021 PMID: 34154405
7. Leyn SA, Zlamal JE, Kurnasov OV, Li X, Elane M, Myjak L, Godzik M, de Crecy A, Garcia-Alcalde F, Ebeling M, Osterman AL. Experimental evolution in morbidostat reveals converging genomic trajectories on the path to triclosan resistance. Microb Genom. 2021 PMID: 33945454