{"620518":{"#nid":"620518","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Ratcliff and Yunker: 2019 Sigma Xi Faculty Best Paper Award","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech has named \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/people\/will-ratcliff\u0022\u003EWilliam Ratcliff\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/peter-yunker\u0022\u003EPeter Yunker\u003C\/a\u003E as recipients of the 2019 Sigma Xi Faculty Best Paper Award.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERatcliff was recently promoted to associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences and a member of the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/microdynamics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECenter for Microbial Dynamics and Infection\u003C\/a\u003E. Yunker is an assistant professor in the School of Physics. Both are members of the Parker H. Petit Institute of Bioengineering and Bioscience.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe award recognizes the authors of an outstanding paper. Ratcliff and Yunker are co-principal authors of the paper \u0026ldquo;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41567-017-0002-y\u0022\u003ECellular packing, mechanical stress and the evolution of multicellularity\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026rdquo; published in \u003Cem\u003ENature Physics\u003C\/em\u003E in 2018.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cblockquote\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026ldquo;[The paper] exemplifies the power of interdisciplinary collaboration and best reflects Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s institutional culture of creative and rigorous exploration.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe paper was the first to recognize the role of mechanics in the early evolution of multicellular organisms. Ratcliff and Yunker showed \u0026ldquo;how physical stress may have significantly advanced the evolutionary path from single-cell to multicellular organisms,\u0026rdquo; \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/hg\/item\/599147\u0022\u003Eaccording to a 2017 story about this work\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;In experiments with clusters of yeast cells called snowflake yeast, forces in the clusters\u0026rsquo; physical structures pushed the snowflakes to evolve.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Like the first ancestors of all multicellular organisms, in this study the snowflake yeast found itself in a conundrum: As it got bigger, physical stresses tore it into smaller pieces. So, how to sustain the growth needed to evolve into a complex multicellular organism?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;In the lab, those shear forces played right into evolution\u0026rsquo;s hands, laying down a track to direct yeast evolution toward bigger, tougher snowflakes.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe partnership has profoundly shaped the two scientists\u0026rsquo; research programs. \u0026ldquo;The paper reflects the deep collaboration between the Yunker and Ratcliff labs,\u0026rdquo; a colleague says. \u0026ldquo;It exemplifies the power of interdisciplinary collaboration and best reflects Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s institutional culture of creative and rigorous exploration.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u0026ldquo;There are few things better than doing exciting, creative science with good friends,\u0026rdquo; Ratcliff says.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I\u0026rsquo;m delighted to share this recognition with such a great team,\u0026rdquo; Yunker says.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Collaboration between biologist and physicist leads to groundbreaking discovery"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech has named \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/people\/will-ratcliff\u0022\u003EWilliam Ratcliff\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/peter-yunker\u0022\u003EPeter Yunker\u003C\/a\u003E as recipients of the 2019 Sigma Xi Faculty Best Paper Award. They\u0026nbsp;are co-principal authors of the paper \u0026ldquo;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41567-017-0002-y\u0022\u003ECellular packing, mechanical stress and the evolution of multicellularity\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026rdquo; published in \u003Cem\u003ENature Physics\u003C\/em\u003E in 2018.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Collaboration between biologist and physicist leads to groundbreaking discovery."}],"uid":"30678","created_gmt":"2019-04-16 23:34:12","changed_gmt":"2019-04-16 23:40:01","author":"A. Maureen Rouhi","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-04-19T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-04-19T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"620519":{"id":"620519","type":"image","title":"Will Ratcliff (left) and Peter Yunker","body":null,"created":"1555457732","gmt_created":"2019-04-16 23:35:32","changed":"1555457732","gmt_changed":"2019-04-16 23:35:32","alt":"","file":{"fid":"236270","name":"2018 ratcliff_and_yunker.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2018%20ratcliff_and_yunker.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2018%20ratcliff_and_yunker.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":336524,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/2018%20ratcliff_and_yunker.jpeg?itok=bN8JBzKC"}},"620520":{"id":"620520","type":"image","title":"Yunker and Ratcliff in Yunker\u2019s physics lab","body":null,"created":"1555457789","gmt_created":"2019-04-16 23:36:29","changed":"1555457789","gmt_changed":"2019-04-16 23:36:29","alt":"","file":{"fid":"236271","name":"2018 yunker.ratcliff.yeast_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2018%20yunker.ratcliff.yeast_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2018%20yunker.ratcliff.yeast_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":519688,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/2018%20yunker.ratcliff.yeast_.jpg?itok=4uVPzeA9"}}},"media_ids":["620519","620520"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/coffee-leads-collaboration","title":"Coffee Leads to Collaboration"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/hg\/item\/599147","title":"When physics gives evolution a leg up while breaking one"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/william-ratcliff-2018-sigma-xi-young-faculty-award","title":"William Ratcliff: 2018 Sigma Xi Young Faculty Award"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"}],"keywords":[{"id":"181036","name":"2019 Georgia Tech Awards"},{"id":"174014","name":"2017 Sigma Xi Faculty Best Paper Award"}],"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":""}}}