Julia Oh, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Our central goal is to investigate how our microbes contribute to our health. We seek to use diverse technologies like genomics, synthetic biology, and genome engineering to target and manipulate the microbiota for therapeutic purposes.

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Contact me at: 860-837-2014

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About Julia Oh, Ph.D.

Dr. Oh's main research interests focus on the human microbiome—the diverse bacteria, fungi, and viruses that inhabit our bodies—for its potential to deliver treatments for infectious and other diseases. Dr. Oh comes to the microbiome world by way of fungal chemogenomics with technologist and geneticist Dr. Ronald Davis at Stanford and comparative genomics of wild wine yeast at the FAS Center for Systems Biology at Harvard. Prior to joining the Jackson Laboratory, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Oh's research, exploring the complex interactions between the host and its microbes has lead to important implications for the contribution of the microbiome to disease.

More information at http://ohlabjax.weebly.com

Education and Experience

Assistant Professor, The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine

Postdoc, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health

Ph.D., Stanford University

B.A., Harvard University

Selected Publications

View full list of publications

Research HighlightFebruary 28, 2018
Partners in defense against skin cancer
An invisible ally in the fight against cancer? Researchers find evidence that healthy skin microbiomes contain a bacterial strain that helps prevent cancer from growing.
Research HighlightMay 24, 2017
How do babies get their bugs?
Where do a baby’s first microbes come from and what controls which bugs stick around?
- Microbiome
- Infectious Disease Research
Research HighlightJanuary 31, 2017
Julia Oh receives American Cancer Society grant for skin cancer research
The possible role of the microbiome — the bacteria, fungi and viruses living on and in us — in cancer is an intriguing area for research.
Research HighlightMay 06, 2016
Study: The human skin microbiome is largely stable over time
Despite near-constant assaults from bacteria, the microbial community on your hands is remarkably stable.

Press ReleaseOctober 05, 2017
New Innovator Award of $2.8M to Julia Oh of JAX for skin microbiome studies
Research in skin microorganisms could lead to better therapies for skin and infectious diseases.
- Microbiome
- Cancer
Search MagazineApril 25, 2017
Hidden in the skin
Julia Oh probes the depths of human skin to characterize the microbial communities that contribute to health and disease.
Press ReleaseAugust 24, 2016
Hoffman Foundation grant to fund Jackson Laboratory postdoctoral researcher
A grant of $225,000 from the Maximilian E. & Marion O. Hoffman Foundation, Inc., will provide funding to support a postdoctoral fellow at The Jackson Laboratory.
Research HighlightFebruary 11, 2016
Shedding light on microbes in the dark
“Microbial dark matter" undoubtedly contains key information about how our microbiome contributes to human health and disease. But how do you study something you can’t see?