Todd Michael

Biography

Dr. Todd P. Michael, PhD is a Research Professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Chief Science Officer at the San Diego Botanic Garden (SDBG), and Adjunct Professor at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). He leads an interdisciplinary research program that integrates pangenomics, single-cell biology, and machine learning to define how genome architecture governs plant function, adaptation, and evolution across diverse species. A hallmark of Dr. Michael’s work is elucidating the role of the circadian clock in structuring plant genomes and coordinating complex traits, including yield and root system architecture. His group discovers how temporal regulation shapes key biological processes such as flowering time, metabolism, and stress resilience by combining time-resolved multi-omics with large-scale comparative genomics. Bridging fundamental discovery with application, his research extends to crops and emerging model systems, where circadian and developmental genetics are leveraged to inform next-generation breeding strategies and optimize plant performance. More broadly, Dr. Michael is advancing predictive frameworks that connect genome organization, temporal regulation, and phenotype, laying the foundation for a new era of data-driven crop improvement and plant conservation.