Congratulations to US Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI) staff scientist Simon Roux, who was recently selected as the 2025 recipient of the Microbiome Data Prize by the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). Roux leads the Viral Genomics group within the JGI Metagenome Program, and coordinates the development of the virus and plasmid workflows for the National Microbiome Data Collaborative.
This award recognizes distinguished research achievements that support open data practices, development of standards and processes for data quality and sharing, and data workflows and management best practices that have advanced the microbial sciences. The Prize also recognizes innovative and impactful analysis of microbiome data that has changed our understanding of the microbiome and the microbial sciences field. Roux will be recognized at the 2025 ASM Microbe Meeting in Los Angeles, Calif.
Roux is also one of the lead organizers of the Viral EcoGenomics & Applications (VEGA) Symposium, which will take place later this year in Berkeley, Calif. Convening the “viral ecogenomics” community, the VEGA symposium provides networking opportunities and fosters discussions on how to capture and characterize viral diversity, understand the role of viruses in natural ecosystems, and functionally explore viral genetic diversity.
In 2021, he was among those selected by the DOE Office of Science as part of the Early Career Research Program (ECRP). His project, “Characterizing Virus-Driven Alterations of Microbial Metabolism in Model Soil Ecosystems,” uses a combination of experimental approaches and large-scale data analysis to better characterize how viruses infect soil microbes and influence how soil ecosystems function. He was one of the eight JGI researchers on the 2023 Highly Cited Researchers list, and has appeared on the list since 2020.