{"604496":{"#nid":"604496","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Jeffrey Skolnick: 2018 Sigma Xi Sustained Research Award","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech has named \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/cssb.biology.gatech.edu\/skolnick\/people\/jeff.html\u0022\u003EJeffrey Skolnick\u003C\/a\u003E the recipient of the 2018 Sigma Xi \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.provost.gatech.edu\/sustained-research-award\u0022\u003ESustained Research Award\u003C\/a\u003E. The award recognizes Skolnick\u0026rsquo;s exceptional sustained imagination and productivity in the fields of systems biology, computational biology, bioinformatics, cancer metabolomics, protein structure prediction and evolution, drug design, and simulations of cellular processes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESkolnick is the Mary and Maisie Gibson Chair, the Georgia Tech Alliance Eminent Scholar in Computational Systems Biology, and a professor in the School of Biological Sciences. He is also the director of the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/cssb.biology.gatech.edu\/skolnick\/people\/jeff.html\u0022\u003ECenter for the Study of Systems Biology\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn his research, Skolnick has developed algorithms to predict protein structure and function and ligand-protein interactions. Applications include drug discovery and prediction of off-target uses of already approved drugs.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESkolnick pioneered the field of ligand homology modeling, using the modeling algorithm \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/cssb.biology.gatech.edu\/findsite\u0022\u003EFINDSITE\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Csup\u003Ecomb\u003C\/sup\u003E to infer protein function, predict a protein\u0026rsquo;s binding site, and screen virtual ligands. The insights from this work has enabled use of even low-resolution protein structures in virtual ligand screening. Skolnick is applying this knowledge \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/hg\/item\/544581\u0022\u003Eto find other diseases that approved drugs could treat\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDrugs of interest include granisetron (Kytril), an antinausea and antiemetic agent; progesterone, a female hormone; acetaminophen, a pain reliever; and naproxen an anti-inflammatory and analgesic agent. Among diseases that existing drugs might help treat are cancer, pain, cardiovascular diseases, neurological diseases, cystic fibrosis, and diseases caused by genetic variations.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cblockquote\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u0026ldquo;The biochemical seeds of life could be prevalent.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUsing another algorithm, Skolnick has found a way to \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.cos.gatech.edu\/hg\/item\/592723\u0022\u003Eboost the odds that disease organisms will not quickly develop resistance to an antibiotic\u003C\/a\u003E. The algorithm identifies compounds that target two or more receptor sites on proteins that inhibit a key cellular function. To develop resistance to such drugs, microbes would have to simultaneously develop mutations in all the target receptor pockets. Simultaneous mutations would be more challenging to the bugs than developing resistance in only one receptor site. The technique has been validated for a drug-resistant \u003Cem\u003EEscherichia coli\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESkolnick\u0026rsquo;s adventures with protein structures and functions have profound implications for the origins of life. For example, Skolnick and coworkers have shown that \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.cos.gatech.edu\/hg\/item\/505401\u0022\u003Ethe ability to catalyze biochemical reactions is an intrinsic property of protein molecules, defined only by their structure and the principles of chemistry and physics\u003C\/a\u003E. Accordingly, evolution is not necessary for the existence of proteins\u0026rsquo; biochemical functions, although evolutionary selection may have optimized proteins for specific roles.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The biochemical seeds of life could be prevalent,\u0026rdquo; Skolnick said about the work in 2016. \u0026ldquo;If you rain meteorites containing amino acids and somehow these polymerize to form small proteins, then a subset of these would fold to stable structure and a small subset of these could engage in rudimentary metabolism, all without any selection for biochemical function. Thus, the background probability for function is much larger than had been previously appreciated.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBy extension, extraterrestrial life could be ubiquitous.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe ability to do out-of-the-box research has been a hallmark of Skolnick\u0026rsquo;s career. \u0026ldquo;I am most grateful,\u0026rdquo; Skolnick says, \u0026ldquo;to the environment provided by Georgia Tech and to my collaborators who have enabled these ideas to come to fruition.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Applying computational systems biology to improve human health"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe award recognizes Jeffrey Skolnick\u0026rsquo;s exceptional sustained imagination and productivity in the fields of systems biology, computational biology, bioinformatics, cancer metabolomics, protein structure prediction and evolution, drug design, and simulations of cellular processes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech has named Jeffrey Skolnick the recipient of the 2018 Sigma Xi Sustained Research Award."}],"uid":"34651","created_gmt":"2018-03-29 20:56:51","changed_gmt":"2018-04-01 23:58:30","author":"mrosten3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-04-05T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2018-04-05T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"604486":{"id":"604486","type":"image","title":"Jeffrey Skolnick","body":null,"created":"1522353871","gmt_created":"2018-03-29 20:04:31","changed":"1522353871","gmt_changed":"2018-03-29 20:04:31","alt":"","file":{"fid":"230441","name":"Jeffrey Skolnick.tall250.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Jeffrey%20Skolnick.tall250.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Jeffrey%20Skolnick.tall250.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":82212,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Jeffrey%20Skolnick.tall250.jpg?itok=KJ6DmfQD"}}},"media_ids":["604486"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/hg\/item\/544581","title":"Georgia Tech To Develop Tools To Improve Drug Efficacy"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.cos.gatech.edu\/hg\/item\/505401","title":"Extraterrestrial Life May Be Ubiquitous, Georgia Tech Research Suggests"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.cos.gatech.edu\/hg\/item\/592609","title":"Rattling DNA Hustles Transcribers to Targets"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"}],"categories":[{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"11937","name":"Jeffrey Skolnick"},{"id":"177605","name":"2018 Georgia Tech Awards"},{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"166882","name":"School of Biological Sciences"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA. Maureen Rouhi, Ph.D.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nDirector of Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maureen.rouhi@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}