Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown, director of the Biodesign Institute Center for Health Through Microbiomes at Arizona State University, is known for using microbiome science to develop solutions for human health and environmental challenges.
She was recently named the Helmick Professor of Environmental Engineering in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at ASU.
Krajmalnik-Brown says she is grateful for the Helmick Professorship, which will provide seed funding for new interdisciplinary work, assist her in offering meaningful opportunities for students and support collaborations outside ASU through travel to key conferences in her field.
“The Helmick Professorship underscores the importance of investing not only in ideas but also in people and connections,” Krajmalnik-Brown says. “Supporting travel and seed collaborations helps foster a vibrant research ecosystem where mentorship, innovation and real-world impact are closely intertwined.”
Question: How will the Helmick Professorship support or accelerate your research plans?
Krajmalnik-Brown: The Helmick Professorship provides flexible funding that will help accelerate microbiome research by allowing greater freedom to pursue high-impact, translational projects.
It will provide discretionary funds needed to support new projects and help enhance external collaborations by supporting travel to important conferences.
What is the translational focus of your work? Why is that important now?
Krajmalnik-Brown: All the work in my lab and center is translational. The focus of the work is on using microbiome science to develop solutions for human health and environmental challenges, such as microbiome-based therapies.
This is especially important today as microbiome research is rapidly advancing and there is an urgent need to convert discoveries into treatments that can improve lives.
We have made great progress on understanding how the microbiome affects human metabolism, energy extraction and the gut-brain interaction, including important projects on the connection between autism and the microbiome.
What new directions, collaborations or scaling up might the professorship help you to achieve?
Krajmalnik-Brown: By supporting conference travel and interdisciplinary seed work, the professorship makes it possible to initiate and strengthen collaborations across engineering, medicine, environmental science and industry.
These early-stage investments will hopefully help catalyze new research directions and position projects to scale into larger, externally funded efforts with translational impact.
What opportunities, experiences or assistance might the professorship aid you in offering or providing for students?
Krajmalnik-Brown: The Helmick Professorship allows me to create meaningful networking opportunities for students by supporting their participation in conferences, interdisciplinary research teams and early-stage collaborative projects.
These experiences expose students to diverse perspectives, expand their professional networks and prepare them to transform scientific discoveries into practical solutions.
How do you see your role as a research leader, mentor and collaborator evolving with this professorship?
Krajmalnik-Brown: With the Helmick Professorship, my role evolves toward facilitating connections — bringing together researchers, students and partners across disciplines.
The ability to support travel and seed work strengthens my capacity to mentor trainees, build collaborative teams and lead these important research efforts.
What research, questions, challenges or opportunities are you most interested in pursuing next?
Krajmalnik-Brown: We want to better understand mechanisms of how the gut microbiome affects human metabolism and energy extraction. More specifically, we are investigating which microbes are important to reduce gastrointestinal and autism-related symptoms and how chemicals made by these gut microbes are possibly modulating these important effects.
How does the professorship support your long-term vision or goals?
Krajmalnik-Brown: The professorship supports my long-term vision of building sustainable, collaborative and translational research programs at the intersection of environmental science and human health.
By enabling conference engagement and interdisciplinary seed work, it helps lay the groundwork for innovative projects, long-term partnerships and continued leadership in microbiome research and mentorship.
