Alexander Khoruts MD

Dr. Alexander Khoruts is a physician-scientist. He began his research career as a cellular immunologist but shifted his focus in the 2000s to the development of microbial therapeutics targeting the gut microbiome. His group was the first to demonstrate engraftment of gut microbes from donor stool into a patient suffering from recurrent Clostridioides difficile infections. His group developed the first standardized product of fecal microbiota for transplantation and established the first volunteer stool donor program in the world. His clinical practice is focused on treating patients with complex C. difficile infections.

Dr. Khoruts is the Director of the University of Minnesota Microbiota Therapeutics Program. The Program manufactures different therapeutic formulations of fecal microbiota using Good Manufacturing Protocols. These are being tested in multiple clinical trials through a network of academic collaborators. Some of the indications include Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, optimization of cancer therapies, food allergies, antibiotic resistance, hepatic encephalopathy, autism, and others. His main research focus is on developing new microbiota-based therapeutics and their dosing regimens using a pharmacologic framework, which includes characterization of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.