Shinichi Sunagawa

Shinichi Sunagawa was born in Germany, where he studied Biochemistry (Diploma, 2002; Goethe University Frankfurt) and Marine Ecology (MSc, 2005; University of Bremen). In 2010, he earned a PhD in Systems Biology at the University of California, Merced, before joining the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany. At EMBL, he initially worked as a postdoctoral researcher (2010–2011) and later as a Research and Staff Scientist (2012–2016). In 2016, he was appointed Assistant Professor of Microbiome Research at ETH Zürich. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2020 and Full Professor in 2026.

The Microbiome Research Laboratory studies microbial communities living in diverse environments, from the open ocean and coral reefs to the atmosphere. Research interests include understanding how these microbes interact, adapt, and influence the ecosystems they inhabit. To explore these questions, the team develops bioinformatic tools and genomic data resources, often combining large-scale computational analyses with experimental laboratory work.