Victoria Bae-Jump, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Division of Gynecologic Oncology
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
“50 Years of Solitude: Lessons in Evolution from a Neglected Strain of C. elegans”
Most biological traits have a strong genetic, or heritable, component. Understanding how genetic variation influences these phenotypes will be important for understanding common, heritable diseases like autism. However, the genetic architecture controlling most biological traits is incredibly complex – hundreds of interacting genes and variants combine in unknown ways to create phenotype. The McGrath lab is interested in using fundamental mechanistic studies in C. elegans to identify, predict, and understand how genetic variation impacts the function of the nervous system. We are studying laboratory adapted strains and harnessing directed evolution experiments to understand how genetic changes affect development, reproduction, and lifespan. We combine quantitative genetics, CRISPR/Cas9, genomics, and computational approaches to address these questions. We believe this work will lead to insights into evolution, multigenic disease, and systems biology.
The Petit Institute Breakfast Club seminar series was started with the spirit of the Institute's interdisciplinary mission in mind and started to feature local Petit Institute faculty member's research in a seminar format. Faculty are often asked to speak at other universities and conferences, but rarely present at their home institution, this seminar series is an attempt to close that gap. The Petit Institute Breakfast Club is open to anyone in the bio-community.
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The work is part of a project that examines how the community of species living around Natural Trap Cave has changed since the extinction of megafauna in North America.
All are welcome. Bring your friends.
Fossil Wednesdays will take place from Aug. 24 through Nov. 30, except Nov. 23.
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As in previous years, ASF is expected to attract huge numbers of curious people, young and old.
“I’m thrilled by the size of the crowds that ASF is attracting to its numerous events,” said College of Sciences Dean Paul M. Goldbart. “We’ve long known that science paves the way for the advances in technology and medicine that enrich the quality of our lives. But the recent explosion in our fascination with technology seems to have triggered a thirst in the community to know more about science and mathematics themselves, and I’m delighted that Georgia Tech and our festival partners are helping satisfy this thirst.”
“We are especially eager to spark young people’s interest in careers in science,” Dean Goldbart added. “We’d love for them to become students at Georgia Tech and join us in our quest to advance the frontiers of scientific knowledge.”
The Georgia Tech community will be hosting 10 events through March 25. On March 26, 13 Georgia Tech exhibitors will join others at the Exploration Expo, which will be held at Centennial Olympic Park from 11am to 5pm.
Below is a complete list of Georgia Tech-hosted events. You may also download the program from here.
Saturday, March 19, 2016
KIDS Club - Kids Interested in Discovering Science!
(9:00am to 12:00pm) Georgia Tech Instructional Center
Enjoy Saturday morning science fun with Georgia Tech’s K.I.D.S. Club! Age-appropriate, student-centered, hands-on activities will encourage curiosity and enthusiasm for science, technology, and mathematics. 2nd-5th graders will make discoveries through STEM enrichment programming, while 6th-12th graders learn about App Development and LEGO robotics! Admission $40 or $60 per family.
STEM Mini Conference
(9:00am to 1:00pm) Georgia Tech CULC
Georgia Tech’s Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing (CEISMC) hosts middle and high school science and math teachers in a STEM Mini-Conference that will focus on real-world applications of mathematics and science. This event will feature activity-based sessions conducted by faculty and graduate students from Georgia Tech, Clayton State University, and other USG institutions. Registration required http://b.gatech.edu/1RRKJ0p.
What’s All the Buzz about Nanotechnology?
(10:00am to 1:00pm) Marcus Nanotechnology Building
How do scientists and engineers interact with a world too small for the eyes to see? Learn how at Georgia Tech’s Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology! Explore how micro- and nanoscale objects can be seen with powerful microscopes. Learn hands-on about unique properties at the nanoscale. Bring a sample to view with our tabletop scanning electron microscope (sample must be dry and smaller than an inch), and take home a digital copy of what we see!
4th Annual Latino College and STEM Fair
(9:00am to 2:30pm) Georgia Tech Student Center
Bilingual workshops, fun hands-on activities for the entire family, a college fair, a majors fair, and a panel with Latino college students, parents, professors, and other professionals. This will be a free, fun, educational, and inspiring event organized by the Georgia Tech-CEISMC GoSTEM and the University of Georgia LISELL-B programs.
Sunday, March 20, 2016
The Science of Circus
(2:00pm to 6:00pm) Buck’s Sports Barn 2303 Peachtree Rd
Ladies and Gentlemen! Boys and Girls! Step right up and be a part of the Science of Circus! The Imperial Opa Circus and scientists from Georgia Tech will be combining powers to bring an interactive circus science experience to Atlanta! Find out about forces in aerial trapeze! Be mystified by momentum in tumbling tricks! Encounter the counterbalances in acro balance feats! Admission $10; $8 before March 19.
Sunday, March 20, 2016
Science Today
(7:00pm to 9:00pm) Avondale Towne Cinema
Stephen Colbert may have taken over as the king of late night talk shows, but he’s got nothing on local science talk show hosts Pete Ludovice and Lew Lefton. Monologues! A house band! Celebrity [scientist] interviews! You don’t want to miss out on your chance to be in the audience for this evening of science- themed hilarity. Admission $5.
Monday, March 21, 2016
Geekapalooza
(8:00pm to 9:30pm) Gordon Biersch Brewery – Buckhead
Since 2010, the Geekapalooza Comedy Tour has been using stand-up comedy to prove that nerds can be funny, and not just funny-looking. Join these Georgia Tech student and faculty comedians in ASF’s third year of stand-up comedy with a decidedly science & technology theme. Admission $5 students; $10 adults.
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Science Improv
(7:30pm to 9:30pm) Whole World Improv Theatre
Improv comedy with a science twist! Scientists, improvisation artists, and the audience combine to show the lighter side of science and life in the lab through short improv games and sketches. Admission $5 students; $10 adults.
Science of Beer
(6:00pm to 9:00pm) SweetWater Brewing Company
Have you ever wondered how so much delicious flavor finds its way into a bottle of beer? Join the Georgia Tech School of Physics and SweetWater Brewing Company for an evening with scientists and brewmasters as we investigate the science of fermentation. Explore interactive home-brewing demonstrations and take a guided tour of the brewery. Attendees will enjoy 36 oz (that’s 1,064.65 mL) of their favorite SweetWater samplings in a keepsake ASF beaker/pint glass. Space is limited. Adults age 21 and over only. Admission $18.
Friday, March 25, 2016
The Leucine Zipper Science Show: Spring Break Edition!
(7:30-9:30pm) Historic Academy of Medicine
Ever been to a spring break party with a volcano simulation, Polynesian fire dancing, and the science of the spine limbo contest? Atlanta’s favorite genetically modified punk rock band returns to ASF with a variety show that’s all about the beach! Come dressed as your favorite aspect of the Bikini Atoll, get ready for a fluid dynamics ice luge race (for the 21+ attendees), and much, much, more! Admission $10; $5 students.
Exploration Expo!
Saturday, March 26, 11am-5pm
Centennial Olympic Park
What Kind of Bear Dissolves Well in Water? (Student Affiliates of the American Chemical Society)
Learn about polarity and its broad applications across a number of subspecialties in the field of chemistry.
The Science of Polymers (Student Polymer Network)
From diapers to displays, we’ll explain how polymers are shaping the 21st century.
Super Cool Computer Science by Georgia Tech! (College of Computing)
Robots and Animatronics will be available for interaction with the kids, as well as programmed games, videos, and computer-generated music!
Designing for a Better World(Georgia Tech Human Factors and Ergonomics Society)
Come check out “Designing for a Better World” to learn how psychologists design everyday things to make them easier to use!
Ocean Discovery Zone(School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences)
Discover the tools used by marine scientists in deep sea research! Explore the Gulf of Mexico and learn about the importance of healthy oceans.
Jump Higher, Go Further, Be Stronger (Georgia Tech School of Applied Physiology)
Learn about hydration, length, and electrical activity of muscles, and elastic energy in your body!
Edible Vesicles (Bioengineering and Bioscience Unified Graduate Students)
Experience the formation of edible alginate beads, learn the chemistry behind this seemingly magical phenomenon, and taste them yourself!
Genes by All Means (Bioengineering and Bioscience Unified Graduate Students)
We know that DNA is the template of life, but did you know you can extract it from food? Watch DNA be extracted before your eyes!
Stem Cell Plinko (Bioengineering and Bioscience Unified Graduate Students)
How does a stem cell decide what type of cell to become? Come play an interactive plinko game to learn how scientists control stem cells.
Planets, Moons, and More from our Solar System! (Planetary Society)
See demos and get handouts designed to convey fascinating concepts and exciting new results from Solar System planets and bodies.
Makers Meet (CEISMC)
Come to Makers Meet to compete in Georgia Tech's Hungry Hungry Robots and Robo Dash to enjoy fun-filled adventures with family and friends!
Papermaking(Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking)
Discover how paper is made—from pulp to finished product. Take home your very own sheet of paper!
The Origins of Multicellularity (School of Biology)
The earth would be a boring place without multicellular organisms. Come explore the first steps in this major biological innovation!
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Pavel Pevzner, Ronald R. Taylor Distinguished Professor of Computer Science
University of California at San Diego
The Alberto Apostolico Lecture Series was endowed in 2015 to commemorate the life of Professor Alberto Apostolico, late of the Schools of Computational Science & Engineering and Interactive Computing. Prof. Apostolico was an influential figure in the computer science subdiscipline of string algorithms, and his contributions to the field will be honored by those chosen to deliver lectures bearing his name.
Abstract
In 2010-2015, Alberto Apostolico published an influential series of papers on alignment-free string comparison. In 2012, the original approach to alignment-free string comparison (based on comparing k-mers compositions) was extended to analyzing colored de Bruijn graphs to characterize the differences between strings. In this talk, I will discuss applications of the colored de Bruijn graphs to analyzing genome rearrangements.
A fundamental question in chromosome evolution is whether there exist fragile regions (rearrangement hotspots) where chromosomal rearrangements are happening over and over again. I demonstrate that the fragile regions do exist and further show that they are subject to a ``birth and death'' process, implying that fragility has limited evolutionary lifespan. To establish this biological result, I will prove some theorems about the breakpoint graphs, the workhorse of genome rearrangement studies. I will further illustrate that both breakpoint graphs and de Bruijn graphs are special cases of a more general notion of A-Bruijn graphs that found many applications in computational biology.
Bio
Pavel Pevzner is Ronald R. Taylor distinguished professor of computer science at UCSD where he directs the National Technology Center for Computational Mass Spectrometry. He holds a Ph.D. (1988) from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Russia. Pevzner was named Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor in 2006 and was elected as an Association for Computing Machinery Fellow in 2010 for "contribution to algorithms for genome rearrangements, DNA sequencing, and proteomics.” He is also a Fellow of the International Society for Computational Biology Fellow (2012), and in 2011 Pevzner was awarded an honorary degree from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. He is the author of multiple textbooks, including Computational Molecular Biology: An Algorithmic Approach (2000), Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms (2004 with Neal Jones), and Bioinformatics Algorithms: An Active Learning Approach (2014 with Phillip Compeau). In 2013 he offered Coursera’s first MOOC on bioinformatics, which was turned into a bioinformatics specialization in 2015.
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The meeting will include panel discussions, break-out groups, a poster session, and field-reports from W. Africa. Confirmed speakers include scientists, public health experts and policy makers. Total registration is limited to 200 participants due to space constraints, so please register early. A limited number of travel awards will be given, with preference to graduate students, postdocs and participants from developing countries.
Registration required:
$50 - registration on or before January 8, 2015
$100 - registration between January 9-January 14, 2015
Registration fee includes access to all events, as well as breakfast, lunch and coffee breaks on both days.
Participants who wish to present a poster must register and include a poster abstract before January 8, 2015. Expedited decisions on poster presentations will be made by January 12, 2015.
Register
Email questions about workshop HERE
Organizers: Joshua Weitz (Chair, Georgia Tech), Rustom Antia (Emory), John Drake (UGA), John Glasser (CDC), Jonathan Dushoff (McMaster), Pinar Keskinocak (Georgia Tech), Lauren Meyers (UT-Austin), Fredrik Vannberg (Georgia Tech)
During the Institute Address, President G. P. "Bud" Peterson will highlight recent Institute achievements, convey his vision and goals for the upcoming academic year, and answer audience questions. Those who are unable to attend in person may watch via webstream on the president's website, which will be live five minutes prior to the beginning of the address.
To ask a question in advance, send an email to townhall@gatech.edu.
]]>“It is invigorating to start the school year by warmly welcoming new colleagues into our scholarly community and celebrating our outstanding teachers, researchers, and mentors,” Goldbart said.
One program director, one professor of practice, eight assistant professors, two associate professors, and three professors joined the college in the 2017-18 academic year. Three of them – Felix Herrmann, Gregory Sawicki, and Carlos Silva – have joint appointments in other Georgia Tech units.
The Schools of Biological Sciences and of Chemistry and Biochemistry welcomed the most number of new colleagues in the 2017-18 academic year – four each.
The Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing (CEISMC) recruited Casey Bethel, Georgia’s 2017 Teacher of the Year, to coordinate campus communications.
The following individuals joined the college in the 2017-18 academic year:
Also celebrated as new colleagues were Rachel Kuske and Jenny McGuire. Kuske is a professor in and the chair of the School of Mathematics. She joined the College of Sciences on Jan. 3, 2017. McGuire previously held the position of Research Scientist II in the School of Biological Sciences. She is now assistant professor, tenure track, with joint appointment in the Schools of Biological Sciences and of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.
Also at the 2017 summer dinner, nine faculty members were named recipients of 2017 faculty awards.
School of Mathematics Professors John Etnyre and Ronghua Pan, with School of Chemistry and Biochemistry Associate Professor Raquel Lieberman, received the 2017 College of Sciences Faculty Mentor Awards. They were recognized for sharing their experience, providing advice and encouragement, and helping the next generation of faculty succeed.
The college selected School of Physics Professor and Chair Pablo Laguna for the 2017 Ralph and Jewel Gretzinger Moving Forward School Award. The award praises leadership of a school chair or senior faculty member who has played a pivotal role in diversifying faculty, creating a family-friendly work environment, or providing a supportive environment for junior faculty. Laguna was commended for driving equity and inclusion and for mentoring of groups underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The award is supported by an endowment fund from School of Mathematics alumnus Ralph Gretzinger.
School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Assistant Professors Chris Reinhard and Britney Schmidt received the 2017 Eric R. Immel Memorial Award for Excellence in Teaching. The award salutes exemplary teaching of a foundational class by junior faculty. In particular, Reinhard and Schmidt were commended for “their imaginative and effective redevelopment” of EAS 1601, How to Build a Habitable Planet. Their work has inspired teaching assistants, excited students, and raised enrolment. The award is supported by an endowment fund from School of Mathematics alumnus Charles Crawford.
School of Physics Assistant Professor James “JC” Gumbart, School of Biological Sciences Associate Professor Brian Hammer, and School of Mathematics Associate Professor Anton Leykin were recognized with 2017 Cullen-Peck Fellowship Awards. The awards recognize innovative research led by faculty who are at the associate professor or advanced assistant professor level. They are made possible by a gift from School of Mathematics and School of Industrial and Systems Engineering alumni Frank Cullen and Libby Peck. The awards applaud outstanding research in computational biophysics (Gumbart), in the biology of competition and cooperation in bacterial systems (Hammer), and in applied and computational algebraic geometry (Leykin).
“We are proud to have so many exceptional faculty members,” Goldbart said. “I am especially grateful for the generosity of our thoughtful alumni, whose gifts enable our colleagues to achieve the highest level of success in their teaching, research, and service.”
]]>“Computational Investigation of Biological Programs to Compare Resilience of Macaque Species Infected with Malaria Causing Plasmodium Pathogens”
Anuj Gupta
Graduate Student, Bioinformatics
Eberhard Voit, Ph.D., Advisor Georgia Tech
“A Model Community for Studying Microbial Dynamics”
Jacob Davis
Graduate Student, Bioengineering
Eberhard Voit, Ph.D., Advisor Georgia Tech
If you cannot attend in person, please join us virtually via BlueJeans.
This is a great opportunity to: