Currently serving as external advisor to the NIH Human Virome Program. Formerly, served as program director for the NIH Human Microbiome Project as well as for research programs at the National Science Foundation and at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Broad expertise in the microbial sciences with Ph.D. in Oceanography at SUNY Stony Brook (1990), postdoc appointment in microbial genetics at UCLA (1990-1994) and faculty appointments at Florida State University (1994-2004) and UC Santa Cruz (2004-2006).

Publications relevant to WMP:

• Stulberg, E., D. Fravel, L. M. Proctor, et al. (2016). “An Assessment of US Microbiome Research”. Nature Microbiol. doi:10.1038/nmicrobiol.2015.15.
• Proctor, L. M. (2019). Commentary “Priorities for the Next 10 Years of Human Microbiome Research”. Nature. doi:10.1038/d41586-019-01654-0. 
• NIH Human Microbiome Portfolio Analysis Team (2019). “A Review of 10 Years of Human Microbiome Research Activities at the US National Institutes of Health, Fiscal Years 2007-2016”. BMC Microbiome. doi:10.1186/s40168-019-0620-y. (L.M. Proctor, lead author)
• Martiny, J.B.H., Whiteson, K.L., Bohannan, B.J.M. et al. (2020). “The Emergence of Microbiome Centres”. Nature Microbiol. doi:10.1038/s41564-019-0644-x.  (28 co-authors including L.M. Proctor)
• Proctor, L.M., J. Dore, E. Maguin, K. Wannerberger, C. Vincent (2025). “A Global Partnership to Advance the Microbiome in Human, Plant, Animal and Planetary Health”. The Lancet Microbe doi:10.1016/j.lanmic.2025.101120.