Spring 2026 Grantee Highlight:
Andrew L. Goodman

Andrew L. Goodman, PhD

Professor, Department of Microbial Pathogenesis, Yale University School of Medicine

The bacteria that live in our gut microbiome can chemically transform drugs and other small molecules that enter the body, sometimes changing their effects. Yet scientists cannot predict which molecules will be transformed, which bacteria will carry out these reactions, or what products they will make.

Andrew Goodman and his team are building a large-scale map of how gut bacteria metabolize diverse drugs and drug-like molecules. By combining this map with information about the chemical structures of the molecules and bacterial genomes, the team will search for general rules that predict interactions that have never been directly tested.

This work could reveal how gut bacteria reshape their chemical environment and establish a foundation for anticipating how the microbiome may alter drug effectiveness, toxicity, and individual differences in drug response. More broadly, it may provide a new framework for understanding how microbes interact with the many small molecules they encounter.

Learn more about the Goodman Lab: https://medicine.yale.edu/lab/goodman/