Dr. Karen E. Nelson is the President of the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI). Prior to being appointed President, she held a number of other positions at the Institute, including Director of JCVI’s Rockville Campus, and Director of Human Microbiology and Metagenomics in the Department of Human Genomic Medicine at the JCVI.
Dr. Nelson has authored or co-authored over 150 peer reviewed publications, edited three books, and is currently Editor-in-Chief of the journals Microbial Ecology. She also serves on the Editorial Boards of BMC Genomics, GigaScience, and the Central European Journal of Biology. Dr. Nelson has led several genomic and metagenomic efforts, including the first human metagenomics study that was published in 2006.
Dr. Nelson received her undergraduate degree from the University of the West Indies, and her Ph.D. from Cornell University.