Kaixiong Ye, Ph.D.
Department of Genetics
University of Georgia

ABSTRACT
Diet plays important roles in human evolution. Genetic adaptation to local diet assisted the global expansion of modern humans and contributed to geographically varying patterns of genetic variations. Identifying genetic variants adaptive to diet not only unravels the history of human evolution but also elucidates the genetic basis of current individual differences in dietary responses and metabolic disease risks. In this talk, I will present a research paradigm that integrates evolutionary genomics, functional genomics, genotype-phenotype association studies, and human clinical studies to identify nutritionally relevant genetic variants. I will present a novel case of genetic adaptation to diet: the recurrent dietary adaptation of FADS (Fatty Acid Desaturases) genes in multiple human populations by modulating the biosynthesis of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids. I will elaborate on the geographically and temporally varying adaptive patterns of FADS genes with genomic data from global populations and ancient samples (i.e., ancient DNA). I will further demonstrate the effects of these adaptive genetic variants on gene expression, fatty acid biosynthesis, and cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases. My research aims to assist the development of genome-informed Personalized Nutrition, which holds the promise of addressing the current public health burden of metabolic diseases by fulfilling individual nutritional needs. 

About the Ye Lab

Host: Patrick McGrath

Libusha Kelly, Ph.D.
Department of Systems & Computational Biology
Department of Microbiology & Immunology
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

ABSTRACT
The microbiome is unique in individuals, associated with numerous diseases, and rapidly changeable by diet. Despite many studies profiling the microbiome in health and disease and insights into how our microbiomes can influence our physiology, to date the only condition for which we use the microbiome as a treatment is recurrent infection with the bacterium Clostridium difficile. I will discuss the promise and current limitations of using the microbiome as a clinical diagnostic and treatment tool. I will argue that we still need discovery-based basic research, particularly when it comes to the viruses that stalk the microbial allies and enemies in our bodies. We recently reported a novel family of tailless viruses that are major unrecognized killers of marine viruses with the Polz lab at MIT. With this work as a foundation, my lab discovered and is characterizing related, broadly distributed, viruses in the human microbiome. In the clinic, we aim to provide patients and their doctors with actionable information about their microbiomes to improve health and treatment plans. We recently reported that the microbiomes of different individuals have different capacities to activate irinotecan, an anti-cancer drug. We linked this differential metabolism to specific microbial carbohydrate active enzymes. We hypothesize that the life-threatening diarrhea that afflicts metastatic colorectal cancer patients who take this drug might also be caused by microbial turnover. We are working with oncologists to analyze the fecal microbiomes and metabolomes of patients receiving irinotecan. Our goal is to provide patients with early warnings that they are likely high irinotecan metabolizers, enabling prophylactic diarrheal treatment and closer monitoring. More broadly, we are constructing a chemical landscape of the gut to identify new microbe/drug/food interactions that influence drug efficacy and toxicity and suggest unrecognized off-target effects driven by microbial activity.

About the Kelly Lab

Nick Willett, Ph. D.
Department of Orthopedics
School of Medicine
Emory University

Abstract
The field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine has long integrated fundamental principles of stem cell biology, biomaterials and mechanical engineering to better design new tissues. As regenerative technologies become more prevalent in the clinic, however, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the rehabilitation regimen and management of the intervention after the delivery/implantation is just as critical to the success of the implant as the fundamental technology itself. The research of the Willett lab focuses on a systems integration approach to musculoskeletal disease and regenerative engineering by applying novel imaging and engineering techniques to clinical motivated challenges. The lab’s current work has three main thrusts: (i) cell and biologic therapies for the healing of large bone and muscle defects, (ii) multi-scale mechanical regulation of bone regeneration, and (iii) intra-articular therapeutic delivery for post-traumatic osteoarthritis. This seminar will discuss fundamental principles to Regenerative Rehabilitation and show how we utilize these rehabilitation principles to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of regenerative and tissue engineering therapies.

About the Speaker
Nick Willett is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Orthopaedics at Emory University and runs a research lab with a focus on engineering strategies for musculoskeletal regeneration and rehabilitation. Nick has a secondary appointment in the joint Biomedical Engineering Department between Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology as well as an appointment in the Research Division at the Atlanta VA Medical Center. Nick performed his postdoctoral training at the Georgia Institute of Technology working with Prof. Robert Guldberg in Mechanical Engineering. He received his Ph.D. (2010) in Biomedical Engineering from the joint program between Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University. Prior to his graduate work he received his B.S. (2005) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Nick has been an active member of TERMIS since 2011 and is a member of the TERMIS thematic group on Regenerative Rehabilitation. He is the Emory Representative for the International Consortium on Regenerative Rehabilitation and was on the scientific organizing committee for the 2016 Alliance for Regenerative Rehabilitation Research and Training, Regenerative Rehabilitation Symposium. He has received numerous awards and honors including the Gandy Diaz Teaching Fellowship from Georgia Tech, the Young Investigator Award from the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, and the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Postdoctoral Fellowship from the NIH. Nick has published 24 peer reviewed manuscripts—including multiple in Tissue Engineering—and 4 book chapters. He has served as a reviewer for grant proposals for the Arthritis Foundation and applications for the Petit Scholars program at Georgia Tech. He currently reviews for numerous journals including Tissue Engineering, Biomaterials, and Acta Biomaterialia, among numerous others. The research of the Willett lab focuses on a systems integration approach to musculoskeletal disease and regenerative engineering by applying novel imaging and engineering techniques to clinical motivated challenges. The lab’s current work has three main thrusts: (i) cell and biologic therapies for the healing of large bone and muscle defects, (ii) multi-scale mechanical regulation of bone regeneration, and (iii) intra-articular therapeutic delivery for post-traumatic osteoarthritis. The Willett lab sits at the interface between the engineering and clinical disciplines and is composed of engineering students, medical students, residents, and fellows.

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-fall-2018/.

Host: Young C. Jang, Ph.D.

Erol Akçay, Ph.D.
Department of Biology
University of Pennsylvania

Abstract
Evolution of social behaviors is one of the most fascinating and active fields of evolutionary biology. During the past half century, social evolution theory developed into a mature field with powerful tools to understand the dynamics of social traits such as cooperation under a wide range of conditions. But when these conditions themselves evolve remains a largely open question, which I argue represents the next step in the development of social evolution theory. In this talk, I will present a few examples of such co-evolutionary dynamics leading to unexpected results. In particular I will talk about two models where social network structure co-evolves with (i) a social trait such as cooperation, and (ii) with cumulative culture, and a third model where the strategies individuals play in a game co-evolves with the resource environment that determines with game is being played.

About the Akçay Lab

THIS SEMINAR WAS CANCELED DUE TO WEATHER.

Michael Hecht, Ph.D.
Department of Chemistry
Princeton University

ABSTRACT
A key goal of synthetic biology is to design novel proteins that fold and function in vivo.  A particularly challenging objective would be to produce non-natural proteins that don’t merely generate interesting phenotypes, but which actually provide essential functions necessary for the growth of living cells. Successful design of such life-sustaining proteins would represent a step toward constructing “artificial proteomes” of non-natural sequences.  In initial work toward this goal, we designed large libraries of novel proteins encoded by millions of synthetic genes.  Many of these new proteins fold into stable 3-dimensional structures; and many bind biologically relevant metals, metabolites, and cofactors.  Several of the novel proteins function in vivo providing essential activities necessary to sustain the growth of E. coli cells. In some cases, these novel proteins rewire gene regulation and alter the expression of endogenous genes.  In other cases, the novel protein sustains cell growth by functioning as bona fide enzyme that catalyzes an essential biochemical reaction. These results suggest that (i) the molecular toolkit of life need not be limited to sequences that already exist in nature, and  (ii) artificial genomes and proteomes might be built from non-natural sequences.

About the Hecht Lab

Host: Frank Rosenzweig

The 71st American Physical Society Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting will take place at the Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Georgia. This premier annual meeting is the largest gathering of the year for the fluid dynamics community. Organizers expect 3,400 attendees from around the world.

Georgia Tech faculty are helping organize the meeting. College of Engineering Professors Donald Webster and  P. K. Yeung co-chairs of the local organizing committee. Seven faculty from the College of Sciences are members of the local organizing committee

• Annalissa Bracco, School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
• Daniel Goldman, School of Physics
• Roman Grigoriev, School of Physics
• David Hu, Schools of Biological Sciences and Physics
• Michael Schatz, School of Physics
• Marc Weissburg, School of Biological Sciences
• Jeannette Yen, School of Biological Sciences

Georgia Tech faculty are working with colleagues from the other hosts institutions: Auburn University, Clemson University, Emory University, University of Alabama, University of Georgia, and Vanderbilt University. 

Financial support was provided by the host institutions, including Georgia Tech College of Engineering and College of Sciences.

Full information is available at the conference website. 

Important Dates

Registration Deadlines

• Early Registration Rate: on or before September 16, 2018
• Regular Registration Rate: September 17 – October 21, 2018
• On-Site Registration Rate: October 22 – November 20, 2018
• Cancellation Deadline (no registration refunds past this date): November 7, 2018

Housing

APS/DFD Hotel Block opens June 4, 2018 (See Hotels & Travel tab for more information)

Hotel's Reduced Rate Ends: October 14, 2018, or earlier if block sells out

Abstracts

Abstract Submission Deadline: August 1, 2018

Travel and Child Care

Travel Grant Application Deadline: August 1, 2018, 5:00 PM EDT

Child Care Grant Application Deadline: August 1, 2018, 5:00 PM EDT

Travel Assistance for Participants with Disabilities Deadline: August 1, 2018, 5:00 PM EDT

Gallery of Fluid Motion GFM

• GFM Posters and Video Submission Entries Must be Made by September 14, 2018
• Videos must be uploaded by October 5, 2018
• GFM Poster: Bring to meeting

Hangue Park, Ph. D.
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Texas A&M University

Abstract
Proper communications between the nervous and musculoskeletal systems is important for movement organization using feedback and feedforward control. If these communications are disrupted by peripheral nerve injury or neuropathy, spinal cord injury, etc., the patient encounters difficulties with control of movement. These difficulties potentially could be overcome with the use of prosthetic devices that provide communication channels between the nervous and musculoskeletal systems. The prosthetic devices modulate motor commands and/or sensory feedback, based on neural signal and sensor inputs. In this talk, I will discuss the development of neuroprostheses integrated with the body and their potential for enhancements of rehabilitative outcomes and augmentations of human abilities.

About the Speaker
Hangue Park is currently an assistant professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University. He is also affiliated with the Texas A&M Institute for Neuroscience, Institute for Rehabilitation and Research (TIRR) Foundation, and Texas Brain & Spine Institute, as a research faculty. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology, in 2017. Before joining Georgia Tech, he received B.S. and M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea, in 2006 and 2008, respectively. He also has 5+ years of industrial experience at multiple companies including Samsung Electronics. He is a recipient of the Trainee Professional Development Award from Society for Neuroscience in 2017, the Outstanding Research Award from the Association of Korean Neuroscientists in 2016, and the Best Demonstration Award at the IEEE Biomedical Circuits and Systems Conference in 2012.

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-fall-2018/.

Hopi Hoekstra, Ph.D.
Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology
Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology
Center for Brain Science
Museum of Comparative Zoology
Harvard University
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

About the Speaker
Hopi Hoekstra is studying the ultimate and proximate mechanisms responsible for traits that matter for the survival and reproduction of organisms in their natural environments. She uses wild and captive populations of deer mice to track down genetic changes that contribute to variation in morphology, reproduction and behavior. This work has implications for understanding the evolutionary process and may shed light on the genetic origins of variation in other species, including humans.

Reception with light refreshments will be held in EBB 4029 following the seminar.

More about the Hoekstra Lab

104th Annual Meeting, Southeastern Branch, American Society for Microbiology

Georgia Tech is hosting the 104th annual meeting of the Southeastern Branch of the American Society for Microbiology. The meeting's theme is "Microbial Dynamics and Infection."

The southeastern states of the United States, and the Atlanta, Georgia, area in particular, form a hotbed for microbial science and the study of microbe-microbe interactions. Researchers are answering questions for the health of both humans and ecosystems. 

Session Topics

• Microbes and hosts
• Evolutionary dynamics
• Molecular biology of microbes
• Viral pathogenesis
• Bacterial physiology and metabolism
• Antimicrobial resistance
• Climate change and microbial ecology
• Modeling microbial communities

Conference Chair: Frank Stewart

Conference Coordinator: Brandy Olmer

Registration

• Graduate Students: $75.00
• Postdoctoral Fellows: $100.00
• Faculty: $150.00
• More information is here. Register now here.

Abstract Submission

Interested individuals must submit an abstract for consideration no later than September 1, 2018, 5:00 p.m. ET to brandy.olmer@biosci.gatech.edu. Please specify  if you would like to be considered for an oral session or poster session. More information is here.

Accomodation

Booking deadline is Nov. 9, 2018. Hotel information is here. Book online here.