Two Vanderbilt Health investigators have received awards from the American Society for Microbiology. They are among 20 honorees of the 2027 ASM Awards and Prize Program, which recognizes “leading scientists and researchers in the microbial sciences for outstanding accomplishments and contributions to research, education and leadership,” according to an ASM news release.
David Gaston, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, received the 2027 ASM Award for Early Career Clinical Microbiology Research.
Wenhan Zhu, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, received the 2027 ASM Award for Early Career Basic Research.
“The honorees of the 2027 ASM Awards and Prize Program represent the breadth, excellence and impact of the microbial sciences,” said Vaughn Cooper, PhD, ASM President. “These awards recognize researchers whose groundbreaking achievements, transformative leadership and contributions to the field have made a lasting impact. Their continued commitment to advancing the microbial sciences is shaping the future of the field and inspiring the next generation of scientists.”
Gaston is a clinical microbiologist and infectious disease physician. He directs the Molecular Infectious Disease Laboratory at Vanderbilt Health, which provides clinical microbiology testing. His research focuses on developing and implementing molecular methods to identify and characterize pathogens for infectious disease diagnostics, primarily by using genetic sequencing techniques.
“I am tremendously grateful for this award, and I’m quite humbled by it,” Gaston said. “This award represents collaborative work with many people across my career. I’m proud to represent them and hope this platform enables me to point toward their great work in clinical microbiology research as well.”
Gaston earned his MD and PhD degrees from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He completed an internal medicine residency at the University of Utah, an infectious disease fellowship at Yale New Haven Hospital, and a clinical microbiology fellowship at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He joined the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine faculty in 2022 and was honored with a Credo Award in January 2025.
Zhu and his research team study the gut microbiota — the trillions of microbial organisms that live in the intestines. Using a variety of approaches, they study metabolic interactions of gut microbial organisms with each other and with the host. Their goal is to manipulate the gut microbiota to restore healthy microbial communities and prevent diseases like infectious diarrhea and colorectal cancer.
“I am deeply honored to receive this award from ASM. This recognition really belongs to the incredibly talented trainees, collaborators and mentors who have made our work possible,” Zhu said. “I am especially grateful for the amazing scientific community and leadership at Vanderbilt, which has supported us over the years to pursue some unconventional questions about how gut microbes survive, compete and reshape their environment during disease. We hope that understanding these fundamental mechanisms will ultimately give us new ways to manipulate the microbiota to improve human health.”
Zhu completed his PhD at Purdue University and a postdoctoral fellowship at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. He joined the VUSM faculty in 2020 and was the recipient of a V Scholar Award from the V Foundation for Cancer Research in 2022 and a G. Harold and Leila Y. Mathers Foundation award in 2023.
“David Gaston and Wenhan Zhu exemplify the innovative, collaborative science we strive to foster at Vanderbilt Health,” said Sebastian Joyce, PhD, the Dorothy Beryl and Theodore R. Austin Professor of Pathology and Vice Chair of Research Faculty Affairs for the Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology. “These ASM honors highlight the strength and breadth of our microbiology program — from advancing clinical diagnostics to uncovering fundamental mechanisms in the gut microbiome — and recognize not only their outstanding early-career achievements, but also the impact their work is having on diagnostics, microbiology and human health. We’re proud to see them recognized nationally and internationally, along with the trainees and collaborators who contribute to this work and help drive discoveries that ultimately improve patient care.”
ASM, one of the largest life sciences professional societies with over 38,000 national and international scientists and health practitioners, promotes and advances the microbial sciences.
