Georgia Tech scientists with expertise in microbial chemical ecology, evolution, and quantitative modeling have formed the Center for Microbial Dynamics and Infection. The center will investigate the mechanisms and consequences of microbial community dynamics in the environment and during infection. Researchers will study how microbe-microbe and microbe-host interactions are shaped by the environment and how they affect human health and ecosystem services.
“Georgia Tech has one of the nation’s strongest collection of faculty interested in understanding how microbial communities assemble and function,” says the center’s director, Marvin Whiteley, a professor in the School of Biological Sciences. “We will focus on acute societal problems, including antibiotic resistance, the onset of infection and disease, and altered biogeochemical cycles and environmental function under global change.”
Many of the most widespread chronic health problems in the U.S. – including allergies, asthma, and obesity – have been linked to an imbalance in the body’s native microbial flora. How these imbalances affect health remain largely unknown and may be the result of complex interactions between microbes. The center aims to understand these interactions.
The growing recognition that microbial communities – or microbiomes – play key roles in human health has given rise to many microbiome research centers in the U.S. “None has a goal of manipulating communities to control functional outcomes,” says Frank Stewart, the center’s associate director and an associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences.
Whiteley and Stewart are members of the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience.
“Our goal is to optimize the balance of interacting species to bring about positive ecological outcomes,” Stewart says. Examples of functional outcomes are breakdown of potentially harmful waste products in natural and engineered ecosystems and production of microbial chemical cocktails that serve as an animal’s defense against disease-causing bacteria.
The center hopes to be a focal point for microbial sciences in Atlanta through collaborations with academic institutions such as Emory University, federal agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and private institutions such as the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
Center members already are collaborating with other researchers in the Atlanta area. For example, Stewart’s team has partnered with Georgia Aquarium to examine microbe-fish-health relationships. Whiteley is associate director of the Emory-Children’s Center for Cystic Fibrosis and Airways Disease Research.
The immediate goals are “to synergize microbial sciences on campus and provide a focal point for outreach to the Atlanta community,” Whiteley says. “Then we will leverage this expertise to develop a comprehensive framework for addressing microbe-driven problems facing humanity.”
The center accentuates the “tremendous momentum for microbial sciences at Georgia Tech,” Whiteley says. “The next few years will be a lot of fun.”
Cylie Williams , PhD
School of Primary and Allied Health Care, Monash University
Peninsula Health, Allied Health, Australia
Abstract
This presentation will provide the latest research on the diagnosis and assessment of treatment outcomes for idiopathic toe walking (ITW). It will also summarise the evidence supporting different treatments and how different health professionals use this evidence in their treatment pathways. Lastly, it will tell stories from parents of children with ITW in the USA and Australia about their treatment pathways and what they really want health professionals to know about about this challenging diagnosis.
Physiology Brownbag Seminars
The Physiology Group in the School of Biological Sciences hosts Brownbag Lunchtime Seminars twice a month on Wednesdays at noon in room 1253 of the Applied Physiology Building located at 555 14th Street NW, Atlanta, GA 30318. You are welcome to bring a lunch and join us as we ruminate with us on topics in Physiology! A full listing of seminars can be found at http://pwp.gatech.edu/bmmc/physiology-brownbag-seminars-spring-2019/.
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As part of Georgia Tech’s year-long celebration of 2019 as the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements (#IYPT2019GT), the College of Sciences and the College of Design’s School of Music have partnered to present a performance of original music inspired by the periodic table.
Avneesh Sarwate, a student in the Masters of Science in Music Technology program, has composed music for #IYPT2019GT to be played by the School of Music’s Laptop Orchestra. The orchestra comprises first-year music technology majors enrolled in MUSI 2015 Laptop Orchestra, a required music technology course. They will play the original composition and other repertory pieces using electronic devices, mostly laptop computers and mobile phones.
Closest public parking is Visitors Area 4, Ferst Street and Atlantic Drive, http://pts.gatech.edu/visitors#l3.
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A Frontiers in Science Lecture to celebrate 2019, the International Year of the Periodic Table
The history of silicon is usually told as a history of electronic materials and devices. However, it is better told as a history of manufacturing innovation. This talk will take a journey through the manufacturing innovations that transformed silicon from its humble beginnings as the most abundant metal in Earth’s crust to the enabler of the computer chips that underpin the modern economy.
The journey begins with the extraction of silicon from sand and its processing into the most compositionally pure and structurally perfect human-made material. It continues through the mid-20th century breakthroughs that allowed fabrication and interconnection of high-quality electronic devices to form integrated circuits.
It is from this perspective that we can most easily appreciate silicon’s impact on modern society and why it is finding increasing utility in technology areas as diverse as renewable energy, environmental sensing, and augmented reality. It is also from this perspective that we can understand silicon’s limitations and begin to see what innovations might be necessary to enable silicon’s next act.
About the Speaker
Michael A. Filler is an associate professor and the Traylor Faculty Fellow in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Georgia Tech. His research program lies at the intersection of chemical engineering and materials science, focusing on the synthesis, understanding, and deployment of nanoscale materials for applications in electronics, photonics, and energy conversion.
He is co-director of the Community for Research on Active Surfaces and Interfaces (CRĀSI) and the host of Nanovation, a bimonthly podcast about the intersection of nanoscience, technology, manufacturing, and society.
Filler has received numerous awards for his research and teaching, including the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, Georgia Tech Sigma Xi Young Faculty Award, and the CETL/BP Junior Faculty Teaching Excellence Award. He also has been recognized as a Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation Environmental Chemistry Mentor.
About Frontiers in Science Lectures
Lectures in this series are intended to inform, engage, and inspire students, faculty, staff, and the public on developments, breakthroughs, and topics of general interest in the sciences and mathematics. Lecturers tailor their talks for nonexpert audiences.
About the Periodic Table Frontiers in Science Lecture Series
Throughout 2019, the College of Sciences will bring prominent researchers from Georgia Tech and beyond to expound on little-discussed aspects of chemical elements:
- Feb. 6, James Sowell, How the Universe Made the Elements in the Periodic Table
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March 5, Michael Filler, Celebrating Silicon: Its Success, Hidden History, and Next Act
- April 2, John Baez, University of California, Riverside, Mathematical Mysteries of the Periodic Table
- April 18, Sam Kean, Author, The Periodic Table: A Treasure Trove of Passion, Adventure, Betrayal, and Obsession
- Sept. 12, Monica Halka, The Elusive End of the Periodic Table: Why Chase It?
- October, Taka Ito, Turning Sour, Bloated, and Out of Breath: Ocean Chemistry under Global Warming (This will take place on the Thursday of Homecoming Week 2019)
- Nov. 12, Margaret Kosal, The Geopolitics of Rare and Not-So-Rare Elements
Closest public parking for the March 5 lecture is Visitors Area 4, Ferst Street and Atlantic Drive, http://pts.gatech.edu/visitors#l3
Refreshments served after every lecture
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Breck A. Duerkop, Ph.D.
Department of Immunology & Microbiology
University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus
Abstract
My lab studies the interface between bacteriophages and other mobile DNA elements in Gram-positive enterococci. This seminar will explore how the development of bacteriophage resistance in Enterococcus faecalis influences antibiotic resistance and intestinal colonization. In addition, I will discuss how E. faecalis communities use CRISPR/Cas as a native barrier to conjugative plasmid acquisition in the intestine.
Host: Marvin Whiteley
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Michelle Antoine, Ph.D.
Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute
University of California, Berkeley
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Homa Ghalei, Ph.D.
Department of Biochemistry
Emory University School of Medicine
ABSTRACT
Non-coding (nc)RNAs account for the majority of the transcriptional output. Yet, their precise function and mode of regulation remain largely unclear. The interaction of ncRNAs with proteins for the formation of ribonucleoproteins (RNPs) dictates the spatial and temporal action of many of the cellular machines and is critically important for the regulation of gene expression. The complex assembly of small nucleolar (sno)RNPs for methylation and processing of the ribosomal RNA is an example of such regulated biogenesis and is essential in all eukaryotes from yeast to man. Although the major interacting partners of snoRNAs have been well-known for some time, the regulatory mechanisms that control the biogenesis and turnover of these important RNAs, which likely underlie their link to cancer, are not understood. This constitutes a critical gap in our current understanding of the function of snoRNAs and their involvement in diseases, which we aim to fill. Yeast genetics allows us to identify key interaction partners and essential steps in biogenesis and turnover of snoRNPs. Biochemical assays and enzyme kinetics enable us to in vitro reconstitute and validate our in vivo findings. Structural techniques allow us to uncover the molecular mechanism of the assembly of snoRNAs with their key protein partners. Together, our projects combine a multifaceted approach to provide a molecular understanding of how snoRNPs are regulated in the cell. Characterizing these regulatory mechanisms will reveal novel paradigms of RNA control in the cell that may be also used for controlling the level of other disease-related cellular ncRNAs.
Host: Francesca Storici, Ph.D.
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Prof. Gianluca Tell
Head of the Laboratory of Molecular Biology and DNA repair
Deputy of Research of the Department of Medicine
Department of Medicine
University of Udine
ABSTRACT
The Base Excision Repair (BER) pathway, initially studied as a mere DNA repair pathway, has been later found to be implicated in the expression of cancer related genes in human. For several years, this intricate involvement in apparently different processes represented a mystery, which we now are starting to unveil. The BER handles simple alkylation and oxidative lesions arising from both endogenous and exogenous sources, including cancer therapy agents. Surprisingly, BER pathway involvement in transcriptional regulation, immunoglobulin variability and switch recombination, RNA metabolism and nucleolar function is astonishingly consolidating. An emerging evidence in tumor biology is that RNA processing pathways participate in DNA Damage Response (DDR) and that defects in these regulatory connections are associated with genomic instability of cancers. In fact, many BER proteins are associated with those involved in RNA metabolism, ncRNA processing and transcriptional regulation, including within the nucleolus, proving a substantial role of the interactome network in determining their non-canonical functions in tumor cells. Mammalian apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APE1) is a key DNA repair enzyme in canonical BER involved in genome stability but also in the non-canonical expression of genes involved in oxidative stress responses, tumor progression and chemoresistance. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying APE1’s role in these processes are still unclear. Recent findings from our Lab point to a novel role of APE1 in RNA metabolism. Through the characterization of the interactomes of APE1 with RNA and other proteins, we demonstrate a role for APE1 in pri-miRNA processing and stability via association with the DROSHA processing complex during genotoxic stress. We also showed that endonuclease activity of APE1 is required for the processing of miR-221/222 in regulation expression of the tumor suppressor PTEN. Analysis of a cohort of different cancers supports the relevance of our findings for tumor biology. We also showed that APE1 participates in RNA- and protein-interactomes involved in cancer development, thus indicating an unsuspected post-transcriptional effect on cancer genes.
Maybe these new insights of BER enzymes, along with their emerging function in RNA-decay, may explain BER essential role in tumor development and chemoresistance and may explain the long-time mystery. Although recent works have provided tremendous amount of data in this field, there are still lot of open questions.
Host: Francesca Storici, Ph.D.
Event Details
Craig Osenberg, Ph.D.
Odum School of Ecology
University of Georgia
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Craig W. Osenberg graduated with highest honors from the University of California Santa Barbara (BA, Biological Sciences, 1980), and later completed his graduate studies at the Kellogg Biological Station, Michigan State University (PhD, 1988, working with Earl Werner and Gary Mittelbach). He went on to a post-doctoral and research appointment at UC Santa Barbara and faculty appointments at UC Berkeley and the University of Florida; at UF, he served as Graduate Coordinator (Dept. of Zoology) and Chair (Department of Biology). Craig is now Professor of Ecology in the Odum School of Ecology at the University of Georgia.
His research in population and community ecology tackles problems across a diversity of habitats (terrestrial, freshwater, estuarine, and marine) and organisms (fish, amphibians, plants, invertebrates), but is organized around several interrelated research themes: (1) fish population dynamics – the role of stage-structure and the effects of density dependence; (2) the development and application of statistical tools designed to quantify impacts of human activities on ecological systems (including marine reserves); (3) the development and application of meta-analysis and quantitative synthesis; and (4) coral reef dynamics – especially the role of species interactions (including mutualisms) on the growth and survival of corals and the resulting feedbacks on coral-associated organisms. These projects have been supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, NSF IGERT program, Sea Grant, French-American Cultural Exchange, and the European Union. He and the students working in his lab have published over 170 papers.
Professor Osenberg was elected a Fellow of the Ecological Society of America in 2015. He also was Chair of the Aquatic Section of ESA, Editor-in-Chief of Oecologia, served on the editorial boards of Ecology, Ecological Monographs and Frontiers in Marine Science, and was on the Science Advisory Board to the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis. He has served as a consultant to a diversity of groups applying science to important environments issues, including human impacts in marine systems, the design and assessment of marine protected areas in Costa Rica and the Mediterranean, and restoration of the Everglades and the Gulf of Mexico.
Host: Mary Hay, Ph.D.
Event Details
Erik Andersen, Ph.D.
Department of Molecular Biosciences
Northwestern University
ABSTRACT
My laboratory studies the genetics and genomics of complex traits using Caenorhabditis nematodes, including the keystone model organism C. elegans. I will discuss our recent progress on the characterization of genetic variation across the C. elegans species with some new collections from the Hawaiian Islands. We see that population diversity is high in this location as compared to the rest of the world. This genetic variation resource can be leveraged for genome-wide association mappings. I will present our high-throughput fitness assays that measure growth and offspring production after exposures to diverse chemicals and toxins. We discovered and characterized natural variation in response to the metalloid arsenic, identifying a new metabolic effect of this toxin. Lastly, I will present data about how C. elegans disperses in the wild and natural variation in dispersal strategies with implications for niche preferences.
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