Zakee Sabree

Campus

UTSC

CSB Appointment

Full

Research Areas

Evolutionary Biology, Genetics / Genomics

Education

PhD University of Wisconsin-Madison 2007; B.S. Howard University 1998

Graduate Programs

Cell and Systems Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Academic or Administrative Appointments

2018-2025
Associate Professor, Dept. of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology
The Ohio State University, Main Campus, Columbus, Ohio, USA

2014-2025
Graduate Faculty Appointment, Department of Microbiology
The Ohio State University, Main Campus, Columbus, Ohio, USA

2021-2024
Faculty Director (30% position), Office for Postdoctoral Affairs, The Graduate School
The Ohio State University, Main Campus, Columbus, Ohio, USA

2012-2018
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology
The Ohio State University, Main Campus, Columbus, Ohio, USA

2010-2012
Postdoctoral Associate, Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
Postdoctoral Mentor: Nancy Moran

2007-2010
National Institutes of Health IRACDA Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of Arizona-Tucson, Tucson, Arizona, USA
Postdoctoral Mentor: Nancy Moran

Research Description

We focus on the identification of microbial products and processes that drive animal development, growth, and evolution. Specifically, we are interested in species- and function-rich — complex — gut microbiomes and how this complexity is adaptive for the host because system-level functions are thus resistant to species loss-inducing perturbations. Additionally, we are interested in estimating how microbiome-facing host functions (e.g. innate immunity, digestion and nutrient uptake) are evolving across all insects given distinct gut microbiome compositions. In service of our research interest, we use classical microscopic, microbiological and physiological approaches, including anaerobic cultivation and germ-free animals, in concert with modern -omics and predictive modeling tools.