{"602221":{"#nid":"602221","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Chemical Biology to the Forefront","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EChemical biologists at Georgia Tech and peer institutions in the Greater Atlanta area are poised for a grand debut on April 21, 2018 \u0026ndash; at the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/gacbs\/\u0022\u003EFirst Annual Greater Atlanta Chemical Biology Symposium\u003C\/a\u003E, to be held at Emory University.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIt is show time for the Southeast\u0026rsquo;s talent in chemical biology \u0026ndash; the interdisciplinary field that uses chemistry tools and methods to understand and manipulate biological systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Atlanta institutions are becoming a hotbed for research in chemical biology and related fields,\u0026rdquo; says \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/biosci.gatech.edu\/people\/matthew-torres\u0022\u003EMatthew Torres\u003C\/a\u003E, an associate professor in the Georgia Tech School of Biological Sciences. \u0026ldquo;Institutional commitments and federal funding in the past five years,\u0026rdquo; he says, \u0026ldquo;have enhanced infrastructure to support world-class chemical biology research programs,\u0026rdquo; not only at Georgia Tech, but also at the symposium\u0026rsquo;s other host institutions: Emory University, Georgia State University, and the University of Georgia.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFaculty hiring has expanded the breadth of chemical biology research in the host institutions. \u0026ldquo;New hires, myself included, have been attracted to the community that is developing here,\u0026rdquo; says \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/chemistry.emory.edu\/home\/people\/faculty\/wuest-bill.html\u0022\u003EWilliam Wuest\u003C\/a\u003E, who joined Emory University in 2017 and chairs the symposium\u0026rsquo;s organizing committee.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;A lot is going on,\u0026rdquo; says \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.chemistry.gatech.edu\/people\/finn\/m.g.\u0022\u003EM.G. Finn\u003C\/a\u003E, professor and chair of the School Chemistry and Biochemistry and a member of the symposium\u0026rsquo;s organizing committee. \u0026ldquo;Chemical biology underpins vast activity in Atlanta on immunology, drug development, diagnostics, and many other applications. The symposium\u0026rsquo;s host institutions boast an impressive number and quality of chemical biology investigators.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cblockquote\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u0026ldquo;Atlanta institutions are becoming a hotbed for research in chemical biology and related fields.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn Georgia Tech alone, Finn notes, chemical biology research spans at least seven schools in the Colleges of Sciences and Engineering: Biological Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Physics.\u0026nbsp; Chemical biology is also one of the main research areas supported by the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/petitinstitute.gatech.edu\/research\/chemical-biology\u0022\u003EParker H. Petit Institute of Bioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/a\u003E (IBB), where the labs and offices of many Georgia Tech faculty doing chemical biology research are located.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn planning the April 21 symposium, Wuest drew upon his experience at his previous institution. Temple University regularly participates in an annual symposium on the chemistry-biology interface that highlights local talent in the Mid-Atlantic region, focusing on early-career faculty and students and featuring some keynote speaker, Wuest says. \u0026ldquo;It was wildly successful. I believe the time is right to start one in Atlanta.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The idea,\u0026rdquo; Finn says, \u0026ldquo;is to give chemical biologists in Atlanta \u0026ndash; including undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty scientists \u0026ndash; a venue to exchange results and ideas.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cblockquote\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u0026ldquo;Chemical biology underpins vast activity in Atlanta on immunology, drug development, diagnostics, and many other applications.\u0026quot;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe organizers have invited a diverse and interdisciplinary slate of nine keynote speakers, five of whom are from outside Georgia. Among the speakers from host institutions is Torres, who is also a member of IBB.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;My lab\u0026rsquo;s mission,\u0026rdquo; Torres says, \u0026ldquo;is to understand how post-translational modifications regulate the signaling of G proteins.\u0026rdquo; G proteins comprise a family of proteins mediating the transmission of myriad signals from outside the cell into the cell interior. They are major targets in the search for drugs to treat a variety of diseases. At the symposium, Torres will describe his lab\u0026rsquo;s work on the use of machine learning and neural networks to identify protein modifications involved in pharmacology and disease.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe symposium offers a way to liberate \u0026ldquo;chemical biology perspectives that are often maintained in isolation and rarely cross institutional boundaries,\u0026rdquo; Torres says. \u0026ldquo;A great deal can be gained by breaking these boundaries to create a more fluid and open community that is bigger and better than any one lab or any one institution alone.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe symposium is free to all attendees, thanks to the generosity of the host institutions, the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/gra.org\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Research Alliance\u003C\/a\u003E, and five journals\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/pubs.acs.org\/journal\/jmcmar\u0022\u003E: \u003Cem\u003EJournal of Medicinal Chemistry\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/journal\/10.1002\/(ISSN)1439-7633\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EChemBioChem\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Cem\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/pubs.acs.org\/journal\/amclct\u0022\u003EACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/pubs.acs.org\/journal\/aidcbc\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EACS Infectious Diseases\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/pubs.acs.org\/journal\/acsccc\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EACS Combinatorial Science\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, whose editor-in-chief is Finn.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERegistration, abstract submission, schedule, and other information are available at the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/gacbs\/schedule\/\u0022\u003Esymposium website\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/gacbs\/schedule\/\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/gacbs\/schedule\/\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Symposium to highlight wealth and breadth of talent in Atlanta"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EChemical biologists at Georgia Tech and peer institutions in the Greater Atlanta area are poised for a grand debut on April 21, 2018 \u0026ndash; at the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/gacbs\/\u0022\u003EFirst Annual Greater Atlanta Chemical Biology Symposium\u003C\/a\u003E, to be held at Emory University.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"It is show time for the Southeast\u2019s talent in chemical biology \u2013 the interdisciplinary field that uses chemistry tools and methods to understand and manipulate biological systems."}],"uid":"30678","created_gmt":"2018-02-12 14:50:59","changed_gmt":"2018-02-21 14:28:16","author":"A. Maureen Rouhi","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-02-21T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2018-02-21T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"602360":{"id":"602360","type":"image","title":"Matthew Torres, invited speaker","body":null,"created":"1518633413","gmt_created":"2018-02-14 18:36:53","changed":"1518633413","gmt_changed":"2018-02-14 18:36:53","alt":"","file":{"fid":"229576","name":"2018 Matthew Torres.tall200.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2018%20Matthew%20Torres.tall200.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2018%20Matthew%20Torres.tall200.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":59315,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/2018%20Matthew%20Torres.tall200.jpg?itok=BRqy-7pW"}},"602219":{"id":"602219","type":"image","title":"M.G. Finn, member, organizing committee","body":null,"created":"1518446438","gmt_created":"2018-02-12 14:40:38","changed":"1518446438","gmt_changed":"2018-02-12 14:40:38","alt":"","file":{"fid":"229523","name":"M.G. 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