Matin, A. C. (1941- )

Indian American microbiologist

A. C. Matin is a Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Stanford University in Stanford, California. He has made pioneering contributions to microbiology in a number of areas; these include his notable research into the ways in which bacteria like Escherichia coli adapt and survive periods of nutrient starvation. His studies have been important in combating infections and the remediation of wastes.

Matin was born in Delhi, India. He attended the University of Karachi, where he received his B.S. in microbiology and zoology in 1960 and his M.S. in microbiology in 1962. From 1962 until 1964 he was a lecturer in microbiology at St. Joseph's College for Women in Karachi. He then moved to the United States to attend the University of California at Los Angeles, from which he received a Ph.D. in microbiology (with distinction) in 1969. From 1969 until 1971 he was a postdoctoral research associate at the State University of The Netherlands. He then became a Scientific Officer, First Class, in the Department of Microbiology at the same institution, a post he held until 1975. That year Matin returned to the United States to accept a position at Stanford University, the institution with which he remains affiliated.

Matin has made fundamental contributions to the biochemical and molecular biological study of the bacterial stress response—that is, how bacteria adapt to stresses in parameters such as temperature, pH (a measure of the acidity and alkalinity of a solution), and food availability. Matin and his colleagues provided much of the early data on the behavior of bacteria when their nutrients begin to become exhausted and waste products accumulate. This phase of growth, termed the stationary phase, has since been shown to have great relevance to the growth conditions that disease-causing bacteria face in the body, and which bacteria can face in the natural environment.

Matin has also made important contributions to the study of multidrug resistance in the bacterium Escherichia coli, specifically the use of a protein pump to exclude a variety of antibacterial drugs, and to the antibiotic resistance of Staphylococcus aureus.

Matin has published over 70 major papers and over 30 book chapters and articles. He has consulted widely among industries concerned with bacterial drug resistance and bacterial behavior.

For his scientific contributions Matin has received numerous awards and honors. These include his appointment as a Fulbright Scholar from 1964 until 1971, election to the American Academy of Microbiology, and inclusion in publications such as Who's Who in the Frontiers of Science and Outstanding People of the 20th Century.

See also Antibiotic resistance, tests for; Bacterial adaptation