Michael Schmidt earned his Ph.D. from Indiana University, Bloomington and rose through the ranks of Medical University of South Carolina earning the rank of tenured professor and vice chair of microbiology and immunology. He was elected to fellowship to the American Academy of Microbiology, named an honorary fellow to the American College of Dentists and Pierre Fauchard Academy. In 2017 he was selected as the South Carolina Governor’s Awardee for Excellence in Science and Scientific Awareness, was elected as Chair of the Council for Microbial Sciences in 2019 and is the immediate past Councilor to the South Carolina Branch of ASM. He is also a regular contributor to the internationally recognized podcast This Week In Microbiology (TWiM)
Currently, he is leading an inter-institutional-interdisciplinary team of professionals investigating the role that microbes in the built clinical environment serve in the acquisition of healthcare associated infections (HAI). Building on the results of a successful multi-center clinical trial, where they established that by controlling the microbial burden in the built clinical environment, through the introduction of limited and targeted placement of copper alloys, a significant reduction (58%, p<0.0013) of HAI was achieved. The results from this study were the basis of a talk he provided to TEDxCharleston, and featured in articles in the Smithsonian Magazine and Vice.