Dr. Ari Kozik

Dr. Ari Kozik

@drkozik.bsky.social

Scientist. Prevotella Host-Microbe Interactions. Airway Microbiome. Multi-omics. Asst. Prof @ UMich. PI of @koziklab Nerd. https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/koziklab/

6.4K followers1.5K following107 posts

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Dr. Ari Kozik
@drkozik.bsky.social

🧪 Excited to finally share the published version of our work showing that P. melaninogenica (affectionately called 'P. mel' in my lab) has more superpowers... Aerotolerant capacity of the lung symbiont Prevotella melaninogenica | Journal of Bacteriology journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

journals.asm.orgAerotolerant capacity of the lung symbiont Prevotella melaninogenica | Journal of BacteriologyThis study provides a correction to the 100-year-old classification of Prevotella melaninogenica as a strict obligate anaerobe. We demonstrate that this key member of the human microbiome is capable o...

Dr. Ari Kozik reposted

Tatta Bio
@tattabio.bsky.social

We just published a case study on how the @drkozik.bsky.social Lab at the University of Michigan uses SeqHub to work with understudied members of the respiratory microbiome. 🧵 seqhub.org/blog/kozik-l...

seqhub.orgHow the Kozik Lab Uses SeqHub to Make Sense of the Understudied Respiratory Microbiome - SeqHubThe Kozik Lab at the University of Michigan studies host-microbe interactions in chronic respiratory disease using patient-derived bacterial isolates. SeqHub replaced a patchwork of tools with one pla...

Dr. Ari Kozik reposted

Tatta Bio
@tattabio.bsky.social

Replying to @tattabio.bsky.social

Huge thanks to @drkozik.bsky.social and her lab for sharing their workflows with us and providing feedback on the platform that has benefitted the broader SeqHub community!

Dr. Ari Kozik reposted

Lars Bädeker
@larsbaedeker.bsky.social

Great talk by @drkozik.bsky.social at the GMbC event yesterday. Great paper as well: "Concepts of race and ethnicity are highly nuanced, inconsistent, and culturally specific. Without training, microbiome researchers risk continuing to misconstrue these concepts as fixed biological factor."

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.govPrioritizing precision: guidelines for the better use of population descriptors in human microbiome researchMicrobiome science is a celebration of the connections between humans, our environment, and microbial organisms. We are continually learning more about our microbial fingerprint, how each microbiome m...

Dr. Ari Kozik reposted

ATS Assemblies
@ats-assemblies.bsky.social

Happy Labor Day from the ATS! Today, we honor the contributions of workers from across the United States, including those that help the world breathe better. All ATS offices are closed in honor of this federal holiday.

Dr. Ari Kozik reposted

Animalcules
@bacteriophile.bsky.social

#microsky

Dr. Ari Kozik@drkozik.bsky.social

🧪 Excited to finally share the published version of our work showing that P. melaninogenica (affectionately called 'P. mel' in my lab) has more superpowers... Aerotolerant capacity of the lung symbiont Prevotella melaninogenica | Journal of Bacteriology journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

journals.asm.orgAerotolerant capacity of the lung symbiont Prevotella melaninogenica | Journal of BacteriologyThis study provides a correction to the 100-year-old classification of Prevotella melaninogenica as a strict obligate anaerobe. We demonstrate that this key member of the human microbiome is capable o...
Dr. Ari Kozik
@drkozik.bsky.social

With Prevotella recently split into many new genera (over 55 species down to ~21!), what's left? Our new review explores the remaining mucosal species, with a particular focus implications for the human oral, airway, and vaginal niches. 🧪 Journal of Bacteriology journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

journals.asm.orgThe redefined identity of Prevotella: new implications for oral, respiratory, and vaginal health | Journal of BacteriologyOver a century ago, Dr. William Wherry and his student, Wade Oliver, reported the isolation of a bacterium they called Bacterium melaninogenicus (1). This organism was described as a pigmented, Gram-negative, strictly anaerobic organism found frequently in the human mouth on carious teeth, but also recovered from the throat, tonsils, genitalia, and wound abscesses. Later classified under the genus Bacteroides, these and related organisms were frequently described as difficult to grow and maintain in pure culture, with biochemical assays yielding inconsistent fermentation and proteolytic profiles (2, 3). In 1947, Schwabacher, Lucas, and Rimington found that the characteristic pigments were not composed of melanin, as the name suggests, but rather hematin (4). In the 1960s, others showed that some strains required both hemin and vitamin K/vitamin K derivatives for growth (5). Consequently, as similar organisms were isolated from human oral and mucosal sites in the following decades, Shah and Collins proposed the reclassification of several species into their own genus, Prevotella, in 1990. Shah and Collins had previously argued that Bacteroides contained considerable heterogeneity, particularly with regard to fermentative capacity. They suggested that inclusion in Bacteroides should be limited only to highly fermentative species phenotypically similar to B. fragilis. The “nonsaccharolytic Bacteroides” were reclassified into the genus Porphyromonas, while the remaining 15 “moderately saccharolytic Bacteriodes” became Prevotella. Using a combination of biochemical and 16S rRNA-based analyses, they described Prevotella as organisms that may or may not produce pigment, are sensitive to bile salts, are moderately saccharolytic, and lack both glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGDH) (6).
Dr. Ari Kozik
@drkozik.bsky.social

🧪 Excited to finally share the published version of our work showing that P. melaninogenica (affectionately called 'P. mel' in my lab) has more superpowers... Aerotolerant capacity of the lung symbiont Prevotella melaninogenica | Journal of Bacteriology journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

journals.asm.orgAerotolerant capacity of the lung symbiont Prevotella melaninogenica | Journal of BacteriologyThis study provides a correction to the 100-year-old classification of Prevotella melaninogenica as a strict obligate anaerobe. We demonstrate that this key member of the human microbiome is capable o...
Dr. Ari Kozik
@drkozik.bsky.social

Returned safely from my first ASM as a lab group! We had five posters and my students did a great job with their presentations! Special shoutout to @clairealbright.bsky.social whose manuscript was accepted right before we arrived! 🧪

Claire E Albright@clairealbright.bsky.social

Had the best time at #ASMMicrobe2026 presenting my research along with other members of the Kozik Lab!🔬 Science was shared, colleagues were met, and lots of free merch was taken! 🦠 Looking forward to next year!

Dr. Ari Kozik
@drkozik.bsky.social

❤️❤️🧫🧬🌱🥦 it was so good to see you!!

Dr. Sue Ishaq@drsueishaq.bsky.social

I love hanging out with the incomparable @drkozik.bsky.social and nerding out about host factors and the microbiome, envisioning better human microbiome research, and abstract art 👩‍🎨. Delighted to meet your lab and share so many laughs with you!

Dr. Ari Kozik
@drkozik.bsky.social

Just when we think we've got them figured out, bacteria find a way to surprise us. For a century we've been calling Prevotella melaninogenica a strict anaerobe (oxygen =☠️), but its been chillin' in oxygen rich parts of the body -- the respiratory tract 👄🫁. A thread on a new preprint from my lab🧵:

bioRxiv Microbiology@biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social

Aerotolerant Capacity of the Lung Commensal Prevotella melaninogenica https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.19.700327v1

View full thread
Dr. Ari Kozik
@drkozik.bsky.social

This discovery doesn't just change a label—it opens an entirely new chapter in respiratory microbiology. 🫁✨ We still have a lot to learn about the mechanisms that allow these "anaerobes" to adapt to our airways so seamlessly. We are looking forward to working to understand how Prevotella thrives 5/6

Dr. Ari Kozik
@drkozik.bsky.social

& interacts in the lungs, and what that means for us in both health and in disease. 🧬🔬 Stay tuned! Shoutout to my incredible trainees, especially @clairealbright.bsky.social,who took the lead on this project when it was just one of my crazy ideas & hit the ground running 🏃‍♀️💨 #MicroSky /fin

Dr. Ari Kozik
@drkozik.bsky.social

Just when we think we've got them figured out, bacteria find a way to surprise us. For a century we've been calling Prevotella melaninogenica a strict anaerobe (oxygen =☠️), but its been chillin' in oxygen rich parts of the body -- the respiratory tract 👄🫁. A thread on a new preprint from my lab🧵:

bioRxiv Microbiology@biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social

Aerotolerant Capacity of the Lung Commensal Prevotella melaninogenica https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.19.700327v1

View full thread
Dr. Ari Kozik
@drkozik.bsky.social

By directly testing intermediate --- higher than 0%, but not only 21% (room air) oxygen levels--- we found that P. melaninogenica actually has a robust ability to grow in intermediate oxygen AND can even stay alive without replicating in higher levels of oxygen. 3/6

Dr. Ari Kozik
@drkozik.bsky.social

🔎💻 We then went to the transcriptome to look under the hood and found evidence for reprogramming associated with oxygen exposure that deploys defense strategies we didn't know it had!! 🛡️ 4/6

Dr. Ari Kozik
@drkozik.bsky.social

Just when we think we've got them figured out, bacteria find a way to surprise us. For a century we've been calling Prevotella melaninogenica a strict anaerobe (oxygen =☠️), but its been chillin' in oxygen rich parts of the body -- the respiratory tract 👄🫁. A thread on a new preprint from my lab🧵:

bioRxiv Microbiology@biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social

Aerotolerant Capacity of the Lung Commensal Prevotella melaninogenica https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.19.700327v1

Dr. Ari Kozik
@drkozik.bsky.social

Microbiome data shows that P. melaninogenica can make up ~10% of the airway bacterial community. We see it in datasets from both asthma/COPD and healthy people. Hiding in the one place it 'shouldn't' be. Turns out, P. melaninogenica is much more versatile than we thought 2/6

Dr. Ari Kozik reposted

Claire E Albright
@clairealbright.bsky.social

I am pleased to announce the submission of my first author manuscript, "Aerotolerant Capacity of the Lung Commensal Prevotella melaninogenica," now available as a preprint. 🧫🧫🧫 Thank you to my mentors Dr. Ariangela Kozik @drkozik.bsky.social and Dr. Gary Huffnagle at UM.

bioRxiv Microbiology@biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social

Aerotolerant Capacity of the Lung Commensal Prevotella melaninogenica https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.19.700327v1

Dr. Ari Kozik
@drkozik.bsky.social

…deeply saddened to see this. Zara, you will be missed. This year has taken so much from us.

Willow Coyote-Maestas@willowcoyote.bsky.social

Zara Weinberg passed away earlier this week. She joined my lab earlier this year when her postdoc lab formally closed. She was a brilliant scientist, supportive mentor, dear friend, avid music fan, rabid believer in public transit, open science champion, and above all just an amazing human.

Dr. Ari Kozik reposted

Chris Smith
@drchristsmith.bsky.social

Replying to @drchristsmith.bsky.social

If you applied to assistant professor positions in North America in 2024-2025, we want to hear from you as we continue to collect data on the applicant experience. Thanks also to @bwfund.bsky.social for their support of our work! Link to 2024-25 Applicant Survey. und.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

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Dr. Ari Kozik
@drkozik.bsky.social

Thrilled to share the first preprint from my group! Prevotella are predominant but understudied members of the respiratory microbiome. They have a reputation for being hard to work with, but understanding them is likely important for understanding how they contribute to respiratory health. 🧫🔬

bioRxiv Microbiology@biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social

Development of a basal media for carbon utilization assay and analysis of the starch utilization locus in Prevotella melaninogenica https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.04.663206v1

Dr. Ari Kozik
@drkozik.bsky.social

This. And that’s IF you can afford to be away for 5 days and you have enough support to keep things going while away. I can only sometimes manage this once per year unless the location is nearby. My spouse does not have the same kind of flexibility with his job and that’s a big deal.

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Dr. Ari Kozik
@drkozik.bsky.social

Today is World Asthma Day! I am a respiratory microbiome scientist partly because of my specific interest in understanding asthma. It is a condition that asserts the interconnectedness of our bodies with our environment. It is complex, dynamic, and life-altering.

Dr. Ari Kozik
@drkozik.bsky.social

This year's theme is "make inhaled treatments accessible for ALL!" Chances are, you know someone affected by asthma. It is one of the most common non-infectious conditions -- affecting over 260 million people. We need to work across sectors to ensure that people across the globe have access to

Dr. Ari Kozik
@drkozik.bsky.social

life-saving treatments. AND, we must continue to support and invest in scientific research and researchers like the talented individuals training in my laboratory. Science may move slowly, and it move behind the scenes of day to day life, but it absolutely saves lives.