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Paul Lawson

Paul A. Lawson

Paul A. Lawson, PhD

Presidential Professor


paul.lawson@ou.edu 
Lawson's Website

Rank/Title

  • President’s Associate Presidential Professor 

Degrees and Institutions

  • Ph.D., Microbiology, The London Hospital Medical College, University of London
  • BSc. Special Biochemistry, Royal Holloway College, University of London

Research Areas

  • Microbial Systematics / Taxonomy
  • Human and Animal Microbiomes
  • Cultivation of novel taxa
  • Pathogenic Microbiology

Research Interests

My primary interest focuses on human and animal microbiomes and their interactions between themselves and their host; I am particularly interested in the cultivation of novel organisms.

I publish in International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, Anaerobe, and Antoni Von Leeuwenhoek Journal of Microbiology. I make frequent contributions to Bergey's Manual of Systematics of Archaea and Bacteria and the Manual of Clinical Microbiology


Recent/Significant Publications

Lawson, P.A., Saavedra, L., and Sankaranarayanan K. (2023). Reclassification of Clostridium cocleatum, Clostridium ramosum, Clostridium spiroforme and Clostridium saccharogumia as Thomasclavelia gen. nov. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 73.


Lawson, P. A., Patel, N., Doyle, A., Moore, E. R.B., Lo, A. s., Testerman, T. L. (2020). Parapseudoflavitalea muciniphila gen. nov., sp. nov. a member of the family Chitinophagaceae isolated from a human peritoneal tumor. Reclassification of Pseudobacter ginsenosidimutans as Pseudoflavitalea ginsenosidimutans comb. nov. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 70:, 3639-3646.


Cox, L.M., Sohn, J.,  Tyrrell, K.L.,Citron, D.M., Lawson, P.A.,  Nisha B. Patel, N.B., Iizumi, T., Perez-Perez, G.I., Goldstein, E.J.C., and Blaser, M.J. (2017). Description of two novel members of the family Erysipelotrichaceae: Ileibacterium valens gen. nov., sp. nov. and Dubosiella newyorkensis, gen. nov., sp. nov., from the murine intestine, and emendation to the description of Faecalibacterium rodentium. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol. 67, 1247-1254.


Patel, N., Tito, R., Obregón-Tito,  A., Trujillo-Villaroel,  O.,  Marin-Reyes, L.,  Troncoso-Corzo, L.,  Guija-Poma,  E.,  Lewis Jr. C. and  Lawson, P. A. (2019). Citroniella saccharovorans gen. nov. sp. nov., a member of the family Peptoniphilaceae isolated from a human fecal sample from a coastal traditional community member..  Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol.69: 1142-1148.


Lawson, P. A., Citron, D. M., Tyrrell, K. L. & Finegold, S. M. (2016). Reclassification of Clostridium difficile as Clostridioides difficile (Hall and O'Toole 1935) Prévot 1938. Anaerobe 40, 95–99.