Rate My Professor Scott Michael

Scott Michael is a Biology professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Florida Gulf Coast University, where he has served since 2004. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Biology and Chemistry from Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and completed postdoctoral training at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. His academic career has focused on molecular virology, with significant contributions to understanding viral pathogenesis and evolution. Earlier work included discoveries related to HIV protease inhibitor resistance and the origin of HIV-1 from chimpanzees, as detailed in high-impact publications such as “Origin of HIV-1 in the chimpanzee Pan troglodytes troglodytes” in Nature (1999) and “HIV-1 Vpr increases viral expression by manipulation of the cell cycle: A mechanism for selection of Vpr in vivo” in Nature Medicine (1998). More recent research addresses mosquito-borne viruses, including Zika and dengue, with key papers like “Zika virus evolution and spread in the Americas” in Nature (2017), “Genomic epidemiology reveals multiple introductions of Zika virus into the United States” in Nature (2017), and “Field-deployable viral diagnostics using CRISPR-Cas13” in Science (2018).

Dr. Michael’s current research interests center on viral evolution, genomic epidemiology of dengue virus dynamics in the Caribbean, and the development of antivirals and vaccines against mosquito-borne viruses. He has also contributed to studies on intrahost virus diversity using frameworks like PrimalSeq and iVar, published in Genome Biology (2019). In addition to his research, he serves on the editorial board of Virology Journal and acts as Course Director for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute SEA-PHAGES program, fostering undergraduate research in bacteriophage discovery. His publications demonstrate substantial influence in virology, spanning prestigious journals such as Nature, Science, and Nature Microbiology, including work on prophage-mediated defense mechanisms (2017).