Sanjay K. Shukla, Ph.D., and director of Marshfield Clinic Research Institute's Center for Precision Medicine Research (CPMR), was named the recipient of the 2024 Gwen D. Sebold Fellowship.
The Gwen D. Sebold Fellowship recognizes an outstanding medical researcher and supports their research in their chosen field. Since its beginning in 1988, a financial award and a memorial plaque was presented by D. David “Dewey" Sebold in memory of his sister, Gwen. She joined Marshfield Clinic as a medical stenographer in 1955 and passed in July 1974.
Focus of the Gwen D. Sebold Fellowship is to recognize outstanding research investigators who are in early-stage to mid-stage of their scientific career and have demonstrated excellence in their scientific field. The recipient of the fellowship has the discretion to use a $7,500 monetary award in support of their research activities. This year's fellowship recipient will be celebrated on Oct. 9 in Marshfield.
“I am truly honored and humbled to receive the prestigious Sebold award," Dr. Shukla said. “Impactful research is a team-based enterprise and I have been fortunate to build teams with so many talented colleagues and collaborators to advance the science of medicine in a small way. I want to thank past and present MCHS and MCRI leaders for valuing and supporting research."
Dr. Shukla earned his bachelor's in biology from the University of Calcutta in India, followed by a master's in microbiology. He earned his PhD in 1996 from the University of Oklahoma in microbiology/molecular microbiology.
Dr. Shukla has been part of the Marshfield Clinic Research Institute for 25 years where he has become a world-renowned researcher and recognized for his team-building research. He has held the prestigious James Weber Endowed Chair since 2019.
A focus on the small things
Dr. Shukla is a broadly trained molecular microbiologist with a research focus on understanding genetic mechanisms of infectious and chronic diseases, particularly how the human or animal microbiome may play a role. His current research interests are focused on how any perturbations in niche-specific microbiome could modulate human health and enhance risks for autoimmune disease such as multiple sclerosis.
Early in his career, he was among the first to describe two new pathogens, Corynebacterium nigricans and Leptotrichia amnionii, now considered emerging pathogens. Dr. Shukla's special interests of research have always included topics such as Staphylococcus aureus, the pathogen, and its diseases particularly bacteremia, and oral and intestinal microbiome.
Out of his more than 110 peer-reviewed publications, over 50 are in the field of MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and Staphylococcus aureus genetics, genomics, and epidemiology, where he has made several field-defining contributions. For example, he was among the first scientists to explore how genetic characteristics distinguish between community vs. healthcare-associated MRSA. He introduced the use of optical mapping to understand S. aureus genomics and has been invited to speak at several international conferences, including National Institutes of Health-sponsored conferences on MRSA.
Dr. Shukla was nominated by a collaborative of researchers from across the Institute. His co-workers credit him as a master in building multi-disciplinary teams to address complex scientific questions. In his recent CDC/NIOSH R01-funded study, he formed a team including a cultural anthropologist and a behavioral epidemiologist, to investigate the effect of occupational and environmental microbiome on gastrointestinal and respiratory issues in dairy farm workers. This work was among the first studies to show how the microbiome of cows and dairy workers are connected, and it culminated in a very recent publication in the prestigious journal, Nature Microbiology.
“He works to see where and how collaborative efforts can be mutually effective and potentially successful and productive," Richard Dart, M.D., a CPMR emeritus researcher wrote in the nomination letter. “He has been supportive of efforts to work with clinicians and residents which are vital to the integration of clinically relevant questions into research studies that can be addressed with the expertise and skill of the scientists within CPMR."