To request a media interview, please reach out to School of Biological Sciences experts using our faculty directory, or contact Jess Hunt-Ralston, College of Sciences communications director. A list of faculty experts and research areas across the College of Sciences at Georgia Tech is also available to journalists upon request.
Those who are slow or reluctant runners or walkers might soon be able to slip on a lightweight, lower-body exoskeleton and up the speed and ease of our exercise, according to several new studies examining the effects of these high-tech robotic devices. “There is no doubt in my mind that within 10 years, exoskeletons and soft, wearable exosuits to improve mobility will be commercially available,” said Gregory Sawicki, associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences who directs the Human Physiology of Wearable Robotics Lab.
Extension of Self | 2021-08-18T00:00:00-04:00
More media outlets are reporting on the fossil hunt this summer at Natural Trap Cave in Wyoming, where Jenny McGuire, assistant professor in the Schools of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and Biological Sciences, is one of several researchers who visit the unique cave to study sediment and fossils. McGuire uses the time in Wyoming to learn more about climate change's impact on the animal and human population of North America 30,000 years ago.
Information and Cyber Sciences Directorate | 2021-08-07T00:00:00-04:00
Andrew Chetcuti, a 2016 School of Biological Sciences graduate who was on the Georgia Tech swim team, represented his native Malta in the recent Tokyo Olympics. Chetcuti was one of seven former or current Georgia Tech athletes competing in the Olympics, all in either swimming or men's basketball.
Olympics through the eyes of Georgia Tech grad Andrew Chetcuti | 2021-08-03T00:00:00-04:00
Masks and vaccines have reemerged as topics for debate in recent weeks as cases rise again — there were 2,568 confirmed cases in Georgia as of Friday, up from 355 on July 1, according to state health department data. "In the absence of mandates, we are receiving late-breaking aspirational messaging, which the virus won’t care about," says Joshua Weitz, professor and Tom and Marie Patton Chair in the School of Biological Sciences, and Co-Director of the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Quantitative Biosciences.
Whistle Bistro | 2021-08-03T00:00:00-04:00
Over the last two years, the Institute for Data Engineering and Science (IDEaS) operations, research, and service portfolios have grown significantly. To accommodate this, IDEaS has taken steps to expand its current leadership team, granting new titles to two College of Sciences researchers. New Thrust Lead positions were created to focus on and opportunistically expand capabilities in important areas. Jeffrey Skolnick, Regents' Professor, Mary and Maisie Gibson Chair, and GRA Eminent Scholar in Computational Systems Biology in the School of Biological Sciences, is now Thrust Lead for Precision Medicine and Drug Discovery. David Sherrill, professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, is the new Director for the Center for High Performance Computing (CHiPC). Sherrill previously served as IDEaS Asst. Director for Research and Education.
Finance and Planning | 2021-07-26T00:00:00-04:00
Since 2016, Jenny McGuire, an assistant professor in the Schools of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and Biological Sciences, has traveled from Atlanta to northern Wyoming and its Natural Trap Cave to hunt fossils. The goal is to use those fossils to learn more from them about climate change's inpact on animal and human population. Pack rats and their cave nests are helping McGuire and her fellow scientists in their search for clues about how that region, its plant and animal life has changed over the last 30,000 years. The Billings Gazette has more coverage here.
Rat Nests Contribute To Fossil Record In Odd Wyoming Cave | 2021-07-25T00:00:00-04:00
This Reuters roundup of the latest scentific studies on the coronovirus and Covid-19 vaccines includes new research from Joshua Weitz, Professor and Tom and Marie Patton Chair in Biological Sciences, and Co-Director of the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Quantitative Biosciences in the School of Biological Sciences. In a report recently posted on the medical website medRxiv ahead of peer review, Weitz and his co-authors advise, based on their computer models, that unvaccinated healthcare workers be assigned to work with vaccinated patients. In that scenario, if a healthcare worker becomes infected but does not realize it and shows up to work, "then the chance of onward spread is significantly reduced ... leading to lower rates in the facility as a whole," says Weitz.
nutritiiono | 2021-07-23T00:00:00-04:00
To help answer Scientific American's question, the authors seek the expertise of Joshua Weitz, Patton Distinguished Professor and Co-Director of the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Quantitative Biosciences in the School of Biological Sciences. Two tools built by Weitz's team are included: the Covid-19 Event Risk Assessment Planning Tool that estimates the probabilty of infection in groups of all sizes, given the rates of infection in an area; and a guide for estimating what proportion of each state's population has Covid-19 immunity, either through vaccination or natural infection.
work family interactions | 2021-07-14T00:00:00-04:00
For the first time in several weeks, the Covid-19 seven-day moving average increased for Clarke County, from 1.3 daily new cases on July 1 to 5.9 on July 9, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health. A new tool from Georgia Tech researchers looks at vaccination immunity alongside natural immunity rates, i.e., rates of people previously infected with Covid-19. One of the Population Level Immunity tool developers is Joshua Weitz, Professor and Tom and Marie Patton Chair in the School of Biological Sciences, and Co-Director of the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Quantitative Biosciences.
Georgia Tech’s Army ROTC | 2021-07-13T00:00:00-04:00
Joshua Weitz, Patton Distinguished Professor and Co-Director of the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Quantitative Biosciences in the School of Biological Sciences, says some two-thirds of Georgians could have some immune protection against the coronavirus, either through vaccination or natural infection.
2022 benefits | 2021-07-07T00:00:00-04:00
