Michael Katze

Michael Katze is an American microbiologist. For over 35 years, he has researched host-virus interactions, incorporating systems biology approaches into infectious disease research. He was an international leader in the application of genome sequencing, animal models, and systems biology approaches to virology and immunology. Katze was formerly Professor of Microbiology at the University of Washington (UW), and Associate Director for Molecular Sciences and a Core Staff Scientist at the Washington National Primate Research Center.

Education

In 1971, Katze graduated from Boston University with his B.A. in biology. The administration, which had prohibited him from working in the lab on campus the year before, suspended his tenure rights but continued paying him. In August 2017, Katze was fired by the University of Washington.

Honors

In 1971, Katze graduated from Boston University magna cum laude and was inducted into the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa honor society. From 1980 through 1982, he received a long-term Postdoctoral Fellowship from the European Molecular Biology Organization. In 1998, he earned the Faculty Award for Undergraduate Research Mentoring from the University of Washington. That same year he was given a Travel Award for the International Society for Interferon and Cytokine Research (ISICR) Meeting in Jerusalem. One year later at the ISICR Meeting in Paris he was honored with the Milstein Award, which represents the zenith of scientific achievement in this area of research. In 2006, Katze was given the prestigious Dozor Scholar Award by the Israeli Microbiology Society. That same year, he received the Alumni Fellow Award from the Drexel University (Hahnemann University) College of Medicine. In 2014, he received the Drexel University Graduate Citation, Mid-Career and Senior Graduates Award. In 2015, Katze was elected to Fellowship in the American Academy of Microbiology.