{"693393":{"#nid":"693393","#data":{"type":"news","title":"AI Improves Diabetes Care One Decision at a Time","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EPublic health systems often face a difficult challenge when time, funding, and resources are limited: who should receive care first? These decisions are complicated further by differences in patient needs, disease progression, and social factors like access to care.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA team of computer scientists and doctors led by Georgia Tech aims to change that. Using a system of artificial intelligence (AI) models, the team can help clinicians deliver the right intervention to the right patient at the right time.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETheir system uses Restless Multi-Armed Bandit (RMAB) models. While the name is technical, the idea is simple. The RMAB framework helps decision-makers choose the best actions over time when conditions are complex and constantly changing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis project will tackle Type 2 Diabetes (T2D), building on previous experience expanding RMAB models to support maternal health care in India. Success on this front could lead to treating other chronic illnesses, like hypertension, heart disease, kidney disease, and mental health.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERecognizing the RMAB system\u2019s potential, the National Institutes of Health (NIH)\u0026nbsp; awarded the group an R01 grant.\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:https:\/\/reporter.nih.gov\/search\/Dar1PemdxE2k-lko4bhfMQ\/project-details\/11418002\u0022\u003EThe award will fund the project\u003C\/a\u003E with $1.2 million through 2029.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur goal is to address the immense challenge of allocating limited health intervention resources in optimal ways,\u201d said\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:https:\/\/guaguakai.com\/\u0022\u003EKai Wang\u003C\/a\u003E, an assistant professor in the School of Computational Science and Engineering (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:https:\/\/cse.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECSE\u003C\/a\u003E).\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBy leveraging rich contextual data and accounting for social determinants, we envision RMAB models that empower health centers to customize interventions to individual patient profiles. Ultimately, this advances precision medicine and ensures equitable healthcare access for diverse populations.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ET2D is a diabetes condition where the body resists insulin or doesn\u2019t produce enough to regulate blood sugar levels. Left unmanaged, high blood sugar leads to severe health problems like heart disease and stroke, damage to organs like eyes and kidneys, nerve damage, infections, and ulcers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ET2D is challenging to treat because patients have different ages, genetics, lifestyles, and body composition, all of which affect the progress of the disease. Social factors, like transportation and family support, matter just as much as biology to treat the disease.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor these reasons, patients who get the same medications may get very different results. While treatment plans now incorporate new GLP-1 drugs, they remain expensive and difficult to distribute equitably.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cDiabetes is a great example of a complicated, multi-faceted problem. It is a natural playground for the kind of high-dimensional machine learning algorithms we want to build and deploy,\u201d said School of CSE Professor\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:https:\/\/faculty.cc.gatech.edu\/~badityap\/\u0022\u003EB. Aditya Prakash\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAs a chronic disease, diabetes also creates opportunities for sequential decision-making. Providers are not making just one decision to treat the condition, but rather a series of decisions over time.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETrue to its multi-armed name, the team\u2019s framework applies RMAB models across three different thrusts.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EContextual RMABs use patient histories, biomarkers, demographics, and other data to predict how each individual will respond to an intervention. These models directly provide personalized, data-driven treatments.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy incorporating patient-specific information, contextual RMAB models can help healthcare providers prioritize the most timely interventions. The goal is to improve patient outcomes while making more efficient use of limited healthcare resources.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENext, the group wants to understand social life and community influence in public health. Families and social networks shape how people manage chronic health conditions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENetwork RMABs study and account for the role of social factors in health interventions. For example, the models can recognize when one patient responds better to treatment than others through benefits of their social circle.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMore broadly, hospitals, clinics, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations often share responsibility for the same population in an area. Sometimes, they even compete for the same medications or funding.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMulti-agent RMABs are the third glass of models aimed at decentralized health systems to make fairer decisions. These tools examine how to coordinate resources and decisions between stakeholders. This in turn leads to policies that encourage cooperation and equitable resource distribution.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI feel extremely confident in RMABs because we have already seen these frameworks deliver real-world impact,\u201d Wang said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cPrior success has proven the value of data-driven decision-making under resource constraints, giving us a strong blueprint to effectively address the nuances and complexities of diabetes.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWang previously built RMAB models to expand maternal healthcare for women in India. Working in conjunction with the non-profit organization ARMMAN, the models used healthcare information to identify and reach the most vulnerable populations.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy integrating RMAB models into ARMMAN mobile health technology, the partnership has reached over 350,000\u0026nbsp;mothers. This further led to a 31% improvement in engagement with health information.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECompared to maternal healthcare, diabetes is a more nuanced disease with differing causes, symptoms, and treatments. This requires a team effort spanning institutions and backgrounds. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr. \u003Cstrong\u003ESara Cromer\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;is an endocrinologist at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). Experienced diagnosing and treating diabetes, she has studied how social issues and equity influences the disease. MGH will provide much of the patient data to train the RMAB models.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAssociate Professor\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:https:\/\/sites.google.com\/stonybrook.edu\/jianli\u0022\u003EJian Li\u003C\/a\u003E studies reinforcement learning at Stony Brook University. His expertise in applying reinforcement learning for resource allocation plays a key part tailoring models for the T2D problem. Wang and Li have previously worked together on RMAB research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPrakash is an expert in computational epidemiology at Georgia Tech. He has led substantial contributions to the use of AI for networks to predict outbreaks and track disease spread. This experience has led to collaborations with NIH, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Science Foundation, and others.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis project speaks to the interdisciplinary problem-solving we try to achieve in CSE. Despite having different backgrounds, our interest in applying our strengths to real-world healthcare problems unites us together,\u201d Prakash said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThese problems require experts from all sides. Without computational scientists, we can\u2019t take advantage of available data. We lean on clinical experts to provide the data and expertise needed to guide our methods and make sense of results. Ultimately, these approaches need to be clinically validated if we want to make real-world progress.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EPublic health systems often face a difficult challenge when time, funding, and resources are limited: who should receive care first? These decisions are complicated further by differences in patient needs, disease progression, and social factors like access to care.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA team of computer scientists and doctors led by Georgia Tech aims to change that. Using a system of artificial intelligence (AI) models, the team can help clinicians deliver the right intervention to the right patient at the right time.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETheir system uses Restless Multi-Armed Bandit (RMAB) models. While the name is technical, the idea is simple. The RMAB framework helps decision-makers choose the best actions over time when conditions are complex and constantly changing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis project will tackle Type 2 Diabetes (T2D), building on previous experience expanding RMAB models to support maternal health care in India. Success on this front could lead to treating other chronic illnesses, like hypertension, heart disease, kidney disease, and mental health.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"School of CSE researchers Kai Wang and B. Aditya Prakash are PIs of a $1.2 million NIH R01 grant to build AI models that consider individual, social, and system factors when treating patients with Type 2 Diabetes and other chronic illnesses."}],"uid":"36319","created_gmt":"2026-10-22 13:51:13","changed_gmt":"2026-10-26 12:55:43","author":"Bryant Wine","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-10-22T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-10-22T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"681512":{"id":"681512","type":"image","title":"Wang-Prakash-NIH-R01-Head-Image.jpg","body":null,"created":"1792677082","gmt_created":"2026-10-22 13:51:22","changed":"1792677082","gmt_changed":"2026-10-22 13:51:22","alt":"CSE Wang Prakash NIH R01 Grant","file":{"fid":"265923","name":"Wang-Prakash-NIH-R01-Head-Image.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/22\/Wang-Prakash-NIH-R01-Head-Image.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/22\/Wang-Prakash-NIH-R01-Head-Image.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":174520,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/10\/22\/Wang-Prakash-NIH-R01-Head-Image.jpg?itok=F247Tcxl"}},"681513":{"id":"681513","type":"image","title":"RMAB-Figure-3.png","body":null,"created":"1792677124","gmt_created":"2026-10-22 13:52:04","changed":"1792677124","gmt_changed":"2026-10-22 13:52:04","alt":"CSE Wang Prakash NIH R01 Grant","file":{"fid":"265924","name":"RMAB-Figure-3.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/22\/RMAB-Figure-3.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/22\/RMAB-Figure-3.png","mime":"image\/png","size":82207,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/10\/22\/RMAB-Figure-3.png?itok=DiMd3WJi"}}},"media_ids":["681512","681513"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"50877","name":"School of Computational Science and Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"194606","name":"Artificial Intelligence"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"654","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"166983","name":"School of Computational Science and Engineering"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"9153","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"10199","name":"Daily Digest"},{"id":"181991","name":"Georgia Tech News Center"},{"id":"170447","name":"Institute for Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"176858","name":"machine learning center"},{"id":"9167","name":"machine learning"},{"id":"187812","name":"artificial intelligence (AI)"},{"id":"192863","name":"go-ai"},{"id":"194384","name":"Tech AI"},{"id":"49591","name":"Diabetes"},{"id":"186687","name":"diabetes research"},{"id":"755","name":"public health"},{"id":"108101","name":"chronic disease"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"193655","name":"Artificial Intelligence at Georgia Tech"},{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71891","name":"Health and Medicine"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBryant Wine, Communications Officer\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:bryant.wine@cc.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ebryant.wine@cc.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"693363":{"#nid":"693363","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Electrical Method Could Help Detect Signs of Life Beyond Earth","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EA team of researchers has developed a new method for detecting potential biosignatures in space. The study,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-026-77947-6\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EChiral discrimination of amino acids in meteorite and desert soil extracts via single-molecule nanogap conductance\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, was published in\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003ENature Communications\u003C\/em\u003E this October.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech contributors included corresponding author\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/people.research.gatech.edu\/christopher-e-carr\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EChristopher E. Carr\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, an\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003Eassistant professor in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E and the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ae.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EDaniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E, and Research Scientist\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EJos\u00e9 L. Ram\u00edrez-Col\u00f3n\u003C\/strong\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EThe technique the team developed focuses on the handedness, or chirality, of amino acids. Biotic processes largely use one form of amino acid, whereas nonliving processes produce both forms in roughly the same amounts. As a result, the ratio of amino acid forms present can be used as a potential indicator of life.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003ETo detect these ratios, the researchers harnessed recent developments in nanotechnology: passing molecules through a gap between two gold nanowires. The resulting technique distinguished between amino acid forms with over 80% accuracy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EThe team hopes their work could lead to compact instruments capable of analyzing samples and identifying biosignatures.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThis story is adapted from an article originally published by the University of Osaka.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.sanken.osaka-u.ac.jp\/en\/achievement\/release\/20261005.html\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERead the full story in the University of Osaka newsroom.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EDOI: 10.1038\/s41467-026-77947-6\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EFunding: Japan Science and Technology Agency, NASA PICASSO\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers are using artificial intelligence and nanotechnology to identify amino acid biosignatures.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers are using artificial intelligence and nanotechnology to identify amino acid biosignatures."}],"uid":"35599","created_gmt":"2026-10-21 16:36:50","changed_gmt":"2026-10-21 19:12:51","author":"sperrin6","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-10-21T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-10-21T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"681501":{"id":"681501","type":"image","title":"The Atacama Desert","body":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Atacama Desert serves as a Mars analogue site. (Credit: Vinicius Henrique \/ Unsplash)\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1792601305","gmt_created":"2026-10-21 16:48:25","changed":"1792601305","gmt_changed":"2026-10-21 16:48:25","alt":"A landscape of red mountains and valleys in the arid Atacama Desert.","file":{"fid":"265911","name":"vinicius-henrique-photography-A7GwggrhXm4-unsplash.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/21\/vinicius-henrique-photography-A7GwggrhXm4-unsplash.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/21\/vinicius-henrique-photography-A7GwggrhXm4-unsplash.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1785490,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/10\/21\/vinicius-henrique-photography-A7GwggrhXm4-unsplash.jpg?itok=kM9Cgqln"}},"681500":{"id":"681500","type":"image","title":"The North of Antofagasta site in the Atacama Desert, a Mars-analog environment where samples analyzed in this study were collected. (Credit: Christopher E. Carr)","body":"\u003Cp\u003EThe North of Antofagasta site in the Atacama Desert, a Mars-analog environment where samples analyzed in this study were collected. (Credit: Christopher E. Carr)\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1792601305","gmt_created":"2026-10-21 16:48:25","changed":"1792601305","gmt_changed":"2026-10-21 16:48:25","alt":"Scattered rocks across the dry desert floor.","file":{"fid":"265910","name":"chriscarr.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/21\/chriscarr.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/21\/chriscarr.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2011672,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/10\/21\/chriscarr.jpg?itok=RPSVQGgl"}}},"media_ids":["681501","681500"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.sanken.osaka-u.ac.jp\/en\/achievement\/release\/20261005.html","title":"An electrical technique for identifying signs of life in space"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"364801","name":"School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (EAS)"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"194606","name":"Artificial Intelligence"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"192252","name":"cos-planetary"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"193653","name":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"},{"id":"193657","name":"Space Research Initiative"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:sperrin6@gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESelena Langner\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr\u003EWriter \/ Editor\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr\u003EGeorgia Tech College of Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"692842":{"#nid":"692842","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Beyond DNA: Large Study Adds Context of Life Circumstances, Environment to Genetic Risks","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EWhat if a DNA test could help predict what diseases you might be at risk for \u2014 years before they appear? This is one of the dreams of genome-enabled personalized medicine, with DNA tests and screenings opening an unprecedented window into a person\u2019s unique genetic risk of developing certain illnesses.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003ENew research from Georgia Tech shows that the contexts in which genes act \u2014 lifestyle and environmental factors \u2014 are also important in understanding how genes express themselves, and how genetic risk may lead to disease.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EIn a new study published in\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/ng\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003ENature Genetics\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41588-026-02674-z?utm_source=researchgate.net\u0026amp;utm_medium=article\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EPervasive Interactions Between Exposures and Polygenic Risk Can Inform More Effective Clinical and Behavioral Interventions\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, researchers analyzed the genetic data, health outcomes, and lifestyle factors of over 400,000 individuals.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cGenetic risk is often seen as something that can\u2019t be controlled, but that approach assumes a determinism that does not reflect reality,\u201d says the study\u2019s corresponding author\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/people\/gregory-gibson\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGreg Gibson\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, Regents\u2019 Professor, Tom and Marie Patton Chair in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E, and director of the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cig.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECenter for Integrative Genomics\u003C\/a\u003E at Georgia Tech. \u201cOur research shows that people with low genetic risk who live in disadvantaged environments face disease risks similar to those with high genetic risk living in more resourced circumstances.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EThe findings suggest that people at highest genetic risk may also be the individuals who benefit the most from targeted interventions \u2014 paving the way for more informed genetic counseling and social policy.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EScience at Scale\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EGibson began his career studying the genetics of\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EDrosophila\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003Efruit flies before turning his attention to human genetics when he joined Georgia Tech in the late 2000s, soon after the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.genome.gov\/human-genome-project\u0022\u003EHuman Genome Project\u003C\/a\u003E successfully delivered the first complete sequence of the human genome. \u201cIt transformed the way we do this type of research,\u201d he recalls. \u201cSuddenly it was possible to analyze genetics across large groups of people.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EBecause the effects of genetics can be small in an individual, large datasets are key to understanding genetics and disease at scale. \u201cIf we need to study 200,000 people to see a genetic effect, it takes even more than that to see how those genes interact with the environment,\u201d Gibson says.\u202f\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EThe team, which included first author\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003ESini Nagpal\u003C\/strong\u003E, formerly a postdoctoral fellow at the Georgia Tech Center for Integrative Genomics, leveraged the\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ukbiobank.ac.uk\/\u0022\u003EUK Biobank\u003C\/a\u003E, a program that collects genetic information from half a million volunteers in the United Kingdom to understand who falls ill and why. Started in 2006, the UK Biobank is home to the world\u2019s largest single set of genetic sequencing data \u2014 along with the world\u2019s largest whole-body imaging and long-term health tracking. This type of data is critical, Gibson says, to the advancement of genetic research, and is in large part what has made this new research possible.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cOur research shows that we do have a way to capture situations where a person\u2019s lifestyle and environment interacts with genetics in interesting ways,\u201d he explains. \u201cThese genotype-environment interactions matter. They are important, but they can\u0027t be captured one variant at a time. An integrated approach \u2014 utilizing information in the thousands of genes influencing each disease \u2014 is much more powerful.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EImproving Health Outcomes \u2014 For Everyone\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EThe team is now interested in expanding their research outside of the British database. \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bioinformatics.gatech.edu\/sini-nagpal\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ENagpal\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003Eis now an assistant professor at the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.kcdh.iitb.ac.in\/\u0022\u003EKoita Centre for Digital Health at IIT Bombay\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E,\u003C\/strong\u003E where she is investigating translational genetics in India, including research into diabetes, cardiovascular disease and asthma.\u202f Gibson is interested in translating the research to more broadly apply to the United States, with a focus on rural and disadvantaged communities.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u201c\u003C\/strong\u003EUltimately, if we can quantify which people are at highest risk, we believe we can suggest therapeutic and environmental interventions that could help mitigate their risk, reducing the prevalence of disease in the first place,\u201d he says.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cWe want to dig deeply in ways that reveal disease pathways and begin to unearth the mechanisms behind disease,\u201d Gibson says. \u201cIt\u0027s not just our ancestry that determines health; it\u0027s also culture and environment. We want to incorporate those factors into treatment of individuals and at scale.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EThese themes are also present in Gibson\u2019s newly published book,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Natural-Virtue-Genetics-Anti-Eugenics-Philosophy\/dp\/B0H8MMHW45\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003ENatural Virtue: Genetics, Anti-Eugenics, and Moral Philosophy\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, which explores how nature and nurture impact social issues like educational and gender disparities.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EGibson adds that the message is hopeful. \u201cThe genetic differences between different socioeconomic groups aren\u2019t meaningful,\u201d he explains. \u201cOur genetics do not predetermine our health outcomes. If we can create more equitable environments, we can improve outcomes across the board.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003ENew research from Georgia Tech shows that a person\u0027s environment and life circumstances can amplify or reduce the health risks encoded in our DNA \u2014 leading to an array of health outcomes.\u003C\/div\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"New research from Georgia Tech shows that a person\u0027s environment and life circumstances can amplify or reduce the health risks encoded in our DNA \u2014 leading to an array of health outcomes."}],"uid":"35599","created_gmt":"2026-09-28 12:36:59","changed_gmt":"2026-10-05 15:27:45","author":"sperrin6","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-09-28T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-09-28T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"681353":{"id":"681353","type":"image","title":"It\u0027s not just our ancestry that determines health, Gibson says. It\u0027s also culture and environment. (Credit: Juliane Liebermann \/ Unsplash)","body":"\u003Cp\u003EA grandmother walks with her grandchildren on a hiking path.\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1791209610","gmt_created":"2026-10-05 14:13:30","changed":"1791209610","gmt_changed":"2026-10-05 14:13:30","alt":"It\u0027s not just our ancestry that determines health, Gibson says. It\u0027s also culture and environment. (Credit: Juliane Liebermann \/ Unsplash)","file":{"fid":"265733","name":"juliane-liebermann-Pw7i-YVg5uM-unsplash.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/05\/juliane-liebermann-Pw7i-YVg5uM-unsplash.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/05\/juliane-liebermann-Pw7i-YVg5uM-unsplash.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3015261,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/10\/05\/juliane-liebermann-Pw7i-YVg5uM-unsplash.jpg?itok=aVjOXwOO"}},"655270":{"id":"655270","type":"image","title":"Greg Gibson 22","body":"\u003Cp\u003EA portrait of Greg Gibson\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1644256033","gmt_created":"2022-02-07 17:47:13","changed":"1790702683","gmt_changed":"2026-09-29 17:24:43","alt":"Greg Gibson","file":{"fid":"248431","name":"greg_gibson.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/greg_gibson.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/greg_gibson.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":234224,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/greg_gibson.jpeg?itok=q835EI5j"}}},"media_ids":["681353","655270"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Natural-Virtue-Genetics-Anti-Eugenics-Philosophy\/dp\/B0HG8QY94Y\/ref=sr_1_1?crid=MH2TQJ2ZA94K\u0026dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.YmGr_m5ttU3TNxRO4MgkjUPIeqPba_Uh9FCZs2mJuiM9qDvLrVg2LRbcXJO9Tya8rW2KueieFc-kO9wJZdVtj20xbqNDjaUuND5wrTu0w15uWV305ISMYv-RHlQ1FvpXKMN6KC14Bk9KzquTLdZYl-GZedZGFJIHx2yZjSfBbGWNXBjv2e_sKKerr0tP5qdJQjHokXh3A4fClZRq03iK4iuWo1PaCEEKch9BjUY0bjU.0RFR5R2bovmcvmLTg7NIFRhSF0vT2yOsYyRFKfjY-Bo\u0026dib_tag=se\u0026keywords=greg+gibson\u0026qid=1790598945\u0026sprefix=greg+gibso%2Caps%2C228\u0026sr=8-1","title":"Natural Virtue"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"}],"categories":[{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"192250","name":"cos-microbial"},{"id":"187423","name":"go-bio"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"193653","name":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:sperrin6@gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESelena Langner\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EWriter \/ Editor\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr\u003EGeorgia Tech College of Sciences\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"691930":{"#nid":"691930","#data":{"type":"news","title":"A Neuroscientist Went Looking for Prediction. She Found Time Instead.","body":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFew neuroscientists would dispute that the brain relies on prediction. From houseflies evading swatters to humans catching baseballs, living things are constantly anticipating what comes next. Understanding how the brain generates those predictions could help explain one of neuroscience\u0027s most enduring questions: how the brain builds internal models of the world that allow us to learn, adapt, and anticipate what comes next.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWithout actively predicting the world, we cannot survive,\u201d says \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/people.research.gatech.edu\/farzaneh-najafi\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EFarzaneh Najafi\u003C\/a\u003E, an assistant professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E and a faculty affiliate of Georgia Tech\u0027s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/neuro.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EInstitute for Neuroscience, Neurotechnology, and Society\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cThere is quite some sensory-motor delay in the processing. We can\u2019t just sit there, wait for the brain to process our environment, and then react.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPart of the puzzle may lie in signals known as neural ramps. Almost like a drumroll leading up to a big reveal, neurons in some areas of the brain have shown gradual increases in activity immediately before a stimulus appears. For decades, researchers have interpreted this ramping activity as a neural signature of prediction, reflecting anticipation of an upcoming event.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERecently published in \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.science.org\/doi\/10.1126\/sciadv.aed6417\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EScience Advances\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, a new study from Najafi\u2019s lab reveals these signals may not be \u201cpredictions\u201d at all, but instead a way neurons track elapsed time.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cSurprisingly,\u201d says Najafi, \u201cthe very first study from my lab called the Predictive Processing Lab showed that no, these are not prediction signals.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe finding challenges a long-standing interpretation of one of neuroscience\u0027s most studied signals and reveals that the search for predictive neurons may lead to different circuits \u2014 or require different experiments to uncover.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Problem With Prediction\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThere is a challenge in separating simple time tracking from active prediction. Just because numbers on a stopwatch are increasing doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s counting up to a specific event.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo tease the problem apart, the team designed a series of experiments that progressively stripped prediction out of the equation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWorking with mice, the researchers presented audio and visual cues at carefully controlled intervals. Some appeared at regular, hence predictable, times, while others arrived unpredictably. If neurons are making predictions, their activity should look different when events are predictable versus when they are not.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut that\u2019s not what they found. Even when the researchers introduced errors into those predictable patterns, activity remained largely the same.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt was in the first year of collecting data in my newly established lab that my student, Yicong Huang, started showing me the data and I was shocked: how come we are not seeing a difference between the expected case and the unexpected case?\u201d Najafi recalls. \u201cBecause the entire theory is that there is a difference.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team found even more definitive evidence by monitoring \u201cnaive\u201d mice that had never seen the stimuli before. The brain must learn a pattern before it can anticipate it, yet they found that these neural ramps were present even in the first few trials.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDrumroll, Please\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIf these signals aren\u2019t predictions, then what\u2019s happening?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhat we are seeing are pure sensory signals,\u201d she says. \u201cThey are not about predicting the timing of the upcoming stimulus. They\u0027re about encoding the time that is elapsed.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENajafi thinks that what neuroscientists have long interpreted as an anticipatory \u201cbuildup\u201d to a future event is actually a \u201crelaxation\u201d from the past. Rather than a drummer rolling up to a specific event, imagine one who is always rolling. Each stimulus briefly interrupts the performance before the rhythm gradually returns.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut they found that not every neuron behaves like a drummer. While \u201cdrummers\u201d recover their interrupted rhythm after a stimulus, other neurons operate more like a reverberating gong, firing strongly after a stimulus before gradually quieting down.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe beautiful part of this story is that neurons don\u0027t all do the same thing,\u201d Najafi says. \u201cOne neuron ramps up quickly, another more slowly, another with a completely different time course. When you put that heterogeneous population together, you get a very robust readout of time.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe finding may also have implications for how neuroscientists think the brain represents time itself.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur findings support the theory that time representation in the brain is an intrinsic property of neurons,\u201d says Najafi. Because the signals appeared even in na\u00efve mice and in sensory brain regions, the results suggest that timing may emerge from the properties of neurons themselves, rather than from a specialized timing system elsewhere in the brain.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor Najafi, the study doesn\u0027t close the case on predictive processing. Time, after all, is an important variable to track if you want to make predictions. Instead, it opens more questions about when and where those signals emerge.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cMaybe we didn\u0027t find them because this was a passive perception task, meaning mice just passively received stimuli without being instructed to attend to them. Maybe we need active perception or an active movement task, and that\u0027s when we can extract these predictive signals from the brain. Alternatively, we may need to search other brain areas to find neural signatures of temporal predictions.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cDo I believe now that the brain is not doing predictive processing? Absolutely not,\u201d Najafi says. \u201cBut before we say we\u0027ve found evidence for a theory, we really need to do multiple carefully designed experiments. We need to attack this from many different angles.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EFunding: This research was supported by the Whitehall Foundation, the Research Corporation for Science Advancement, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and the Georgia Institute of Technology.\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDOI: 10.1126\/sciadv.aed6417\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA Georgia Tech study challenges a decades-old explanation for one of neuroscience\u0027s most famous signals, revealing an intrinsic neural code for tracking time.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A Georgia Tech study challenges a decades-old explanation for one of neuroscience\u0027s most famous signals, revealing an intrinsic neural code for tracking time."}],"uid":"35575","created_gmt":"2026-08-24 19:39:14","changed_gmt":"2026-09-29 18:47:09","author":"adavidson38","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-08-24T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-08-24T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680972":{"id":"680972","type":"image","title":"Najafi-SciAdv.jpeg","body":"\u003Cdiv\u003EGeorgia Tech neuroscientist Farzaneh Najafi studies how the brain predicts future events. A new study from her lab challenges a long-standing interpretation of one of neuroscience\u0027s most famous \u0022prediction signals,\u0022 suggesting it may instead help the brain track elapsed time. Photo via Georgia Tech College of Sciences.\u003C\/div\u003E","created":"1787600538","gmt_created":"2026-08-24 19:42:18","changed":"1787600957","gmt_changed":"2026-08-24 19:49:17","alt":"Farzaneh Najafi standing outside smiling with her arms crossed. Green foliage is visible in the background.","file":{"fid":"265314","name":"Najafi-SciAdv.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/24\/Najafi-SciAdv.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/24\/Najafi-SciAdv.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":7788922,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/08\/24\/Najafi-SciAdv.jpeg?itok=DPVq2zuE"}}},"media_ids":["680972"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/neuro.gatech.edu\/molecules-mind-farzaneh-najafi-receives-multiple-awards-cognitive-research","title":"From Molecules to Mind: Farzaneh Najafi Receives Multiple Awards for Cognitive Research"},{"url":"https:\/\/neuro.gatech.edu\/nathan-mcdonald-and-farzaneh-najafi-awarded-curci-foundation-grants","title":"Nathan McDonald and Farzaneh Najafi Awarded Curci Foundation Grants"},{"url":"https:\/\/neuro.gatech.edu\/georgia-tech-researchers-make-waves-worlds-largest-neuroscience-conference","title":"Georgia Tech Researchers Make Waves at the World\u2019s Largest Neuroscience Conference"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"66220","name":"Neuro"},{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"}],"categories":[{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"172970","name":"go-neuro"},{"id":"192253","name":"cos-neuro"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"193656","name":"Neuro Next Initiative"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71891","name":"Health and Medicine"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWriter and Media Contact:\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:audra.davidson@research.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EAudra Davidson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr\u003ECommunications Manager\u003Cbr\u003EInstitute for Neuroscience, Neurotechnology, and Society (INNS)\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"692738":{"#nid":"692738","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Launches ETHOS Initiative to Accelerate Human-Centered Medical Research","body":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBefore a promising new therapy can reach a patient, researchers need to answer a deceptively simple question: Will it work?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor decades, part of the answer has come from animal testing. Animal models have helped scientists make countless medical advances and understand how potential treatments behave in a living system. But they also present scientific and ethical challenges, including one unavoidable limitation: A mouse isn\u0027t a human. This limitation is one reason \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.science.org\/doi\/10.1126\/science.aeb0045\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Emany promising drug candidates fail during human clinical trials\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENow, Georgia Tech is launching a new Institute-wide initiative focused on technologies that help researchers close that gap by studying human health and disease in ways that more closely reflect human biology. This interdisciplinary venture, called Emerging Technologies for Human-Oriented Systems (ETHOS), will advance human-centered research technologies, including new approach methodologies (NAMs) that improve prediction of human responses and support the development of safer, more effective therapies.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cETHOS reflects Georgia Tech\u0027s commitment to advancing innovative approaches to some of society\u0027s most pressing health challenges,\u201d said Executive Vice President for Research Tim Lieuwen. \u201cBy bringing together expertise from across the Institute and investing in technologies that more closely reflect human biology, we have an opportunity to accelerate discovery, strengthen translation, and help shape the future of biomedical research.\u0022\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EUnifying Research\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESupported by the Office of the Executive Vice President for Research, ETHOS is built on an interdisciplinary framework that connects researchers across Georgia Tech and with clinical and translational partners. The initiative draws on expertise in bioengineering, materials science, device engineering, computing, and data science. It will be led jointly by the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bioresearch.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/a\u003E (IBB) and the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ideas.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EInstitute for Data Engineering and Science\u003C\/a\u003E (IDEaS).\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhat sets Georgia Tech apart is our ability to unify deep expertise in foundational life sciences, bioengineering, and materials science with artificial intelligence and data science,\u201d said Vice President for Interdisciplinary Research Julia Kubanek. \u201cETHOS creates a framework for connecting those strengths, fostering new collaborations, and enabling researchers to tackle complex health challenges in ways that no single discipline could accomplish alone.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnkur Singh, Carl Ring Family Professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/me.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bme.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University\u003C\/a\u003E (BME), will lead ETHOS in his new administrative role as deputy director of IBB. Although ETHOS is a new initiative, Georgia Tech researchers have already begun building a NAMs community through an institutional task force and other collaborative efforts. That momentum will continue with the 2027 \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bioresearch.gatech.edu\/news\/events\/suddath-symposium\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ESuddath Symposium\u003C\/a\u003E, which will focus on NAMs and bring researchers together across disciplines.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGeorgia Tech has expertise across the full spectrum of these approaches, from AI and computational modeling to engineered tissues and experimental systems,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/people.research.gatech.edu\/james-gumbart\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EJC Gumbart\u003C\/a\u003E, Dunn Family Professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cETHOS gives us a framework to connect those strengths and accelerate human-centered biomedical research.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGumbart co-led the NAMs task force and is co-organizing the symposium with \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/people.research.gatech.edu\/shuichi-takayama\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EShuichi Takayama\u003C\/a\u003E, a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar and chair of regenerative engineering medicine within BME.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EAdvancing Discovery\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhat are new approach methodologies, or NAMs, and how can they help researchers address human health challenges?\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENAMs include both physical models, such as organoids and organ-on-chip technologies, and computational models that use artificial intelligence. Each approach has its own advantages and limitations.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOrganoids and organ-on-chip are living tissue systems grown in the lab that mimic key features of human biology and help researchers study how the body may respond to new drugs or treatments. These models allow researchers to observe biological responses in human tissue systems, but they are limited by the steep cost of time and resources required to create them.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EComputational models take advantage of AI and supercomputing technology to rapidly explore and predict thousands of possibilities. They use existing datasets to examine complex relationships at scale and simulate how potential changes might affect a system. Though these simulations can provide a large-scale prediction of what might happen, they can\u2019t provide evidence of how cells actually respond.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EETHOS emphasizes a bidirectional approach that combines engineered biological systems with predictive computational models. For instance, a scientist who is testing a new drug on an organoid may use AI to predict how the drug could affect a larger population with differing demographics. Conversely, a researcher using a computational model may use an organ-on-chip experiment to validate (or disprove) the computer\u2019s prediction.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThese human platforms allow us to look broad \u2014 exploring how therapies behave across populations \u2014 and look deep, engineering precise models that reflect an individual patient\u2019s unique health profile,\u201d Singh said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ch2\u003ELeading the Way\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe adaptability of NAMs gives researchers a more human-centered way to study \u2014 and hopefully one day treat \u2014 some of humanity\u2019s most pervasive health problems, such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune diseases, neurological disorders, infection, and more. Therapies developed using NAMs could be broad-use solutions that impact entire populations or tailored treatments for personalized healthcare. By bringing together strengths in engineering, computing, data science, and the life sciences, ETHOS positions Georgia Tech to help shape the future of NAMs research and technology development.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe next generation of medical research increasingly relies on models that are both more human and more intelligent. Georgia Tech\u0027s strength lies in connecting the physical and digital worlds of biology,\u201d Singh said. \u201cThat closed loop between human biology and computation gives us a powerful advantage in developing the next generation of non-animal models for research and drug development.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe initiative will also include the development of a platform designed to connect researchers across the Institute and help them identify complementary expertise, shared experimental systems, and collaborative funding opportunities. The digital matchmaking system, along with pilot research and technology development, AI integration, grant development, and community building, makes ETHOS a potentially groundbreaking program launching at an opportune time.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cETHOS is an initiative of convergence. Few institutions combine strengths in advanced human tissue systems, engineering, AI, and data science at the scale of Georgia Tech. ETHOS provides a framework to unite those capabilities and accelerate biomedical discovery and translation,\u201d Singh said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EETHOS is designed to strengthen connections between fundamental research and real-world health applications. By developing research models that more closely reflect human biology, the initiative could help researchers identify promising therapies earlier and better understand how they may perform in people. ETHOS could also strengthen collaborations among Atlanta\u0027s academic, clinical, and industry partners, creating new opportunities for translational research and technology development.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBefore a promising new therapy can reach a patient, researchers need to answer a deceptively simple question: Will it work?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor decades, part of the answer has come from animal testing. Animal models have helped scientists make countless medical advances and understand how potential treatments behave in a living system. But they also present scientific and ethical challenges, including one unavoidable limitation: A mouse isn\u0027t a human. This limitation is one reason \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.science.org\/doi\/10.1126\/science.aeb0045\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Emany promising drug candidates fail during human clinical trials\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENow, Georgia Tech is launching a new Institute-wide initiative focused on technologies that help researchers close that gap by studying human health and disease in ways that more closely reflect human biology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech\u0027s ETHOS initiative brings together expertise from across the Institute to advance human-centered research models that could accelerate the development of safer, more effective therapies."}],"uid":"36479","created_gmt":"2026-09-21 15:58:51","changed_gmt":"2026-09-29 16:23:19","author":"abowman41","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-09-21T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-09-21T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"681214":{"id":"681214","type":"image","title":"_0000_NAMs-1.jpg","body":"\u003Cp\u003EAnkur Singh will lead Georgia Tech\u2019s new ETHOS initiative to advance New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) and transform drug discovery through human-relevant systems. Singh is pictured alongside Ph.D. student Olivia Jones, holding a human immune organ engineered on-a-chip, a breakthrough innovation developed at Georgia Tech to model complex immune responses outside the body.\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1790006443","gmt_created":"2026-09-21 16:00:43","changed":"1790006443","gmt_changed":"2026-09-21 16:00:43","alt":"A woman with brown hair wearing a navy blue blouse holds a microscope slide up to the camera. To her right is a male researcher wearing a suit holding a round lab dish with plastic organ-on-chip experiments inside.","file":{"fid":"265577","name":"_0000_NAMs-1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/09\/21\/_0000_NAMs-1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/09\/21\/_0000_NAMs-1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":128202,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/09\/21\/_0000_NAMs-1.jpg?itok=Cgtrcz6B"}}},"media_ids":["681214"],"groups":[{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"194606","name":"Artificial Intelligence"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"188776","name":"go-research"},{"id":"187082","name":"go-ideas"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"193655","name":"Artificial Intelligence at Georgia Tech"},{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71891","name":"Health and Medicine"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAshlie Bowman | Communications Manager\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"692127":{"#nid":"692127","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tiny Motors, Big Structures: Kolvin Awarded NSF CAREER Grant for Soft Materials Research","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EOur bodies build remarkably complex structures from tiny protein fibers, forming tissues, tendons, muscles, and organs. Scientists can recreate many of these biological building blocks in the lab, but controlling how they organize themselves into larger assemblies remains one of the most fundamental challenges in soft materials research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/people\/itamar-kolvin\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EItamar Kolvin\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E is aiming to solve that problem using molecular motors powered by tiny chemical reactions, giving researchers a new way to guide how fibers assemble into larger structures in the lab. The work could open the door to advances in wound healing, artificial tissues, and organ repair.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003ENow, Kolvin, an assistant professor in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E, has been\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/awardsearch\/show-award?AWD_ID=2541531\u0022\u003Eawarded a $747,000 CAREER grant\u003C\/a\u003E from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support this research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EThe NSF Faculty Early Career Development Program is a five-year grant designed to help promising researchers establish a foundation for a lifetime of leadership in their field. Known as CAREER awards, the grants are NSF\u2019s most prestigious funding for early-career faculty.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cThe CAREER award is a crucial opportunity to push this research forward,\u201d says Kolvin. \u201cNSF plays a critical role in advancing science, and we wouldn\u2019t be able to do our work without their support.\u0026nbsp;I\u2019m incredibly grateful for their commitment to advancing science.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMicroscopic Motorboats\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EWhile the body naturally assembles these fibers, their small size makes protein filaments difficult to control in a lab setting. Without guidance, the materials grow randomly, creating weak and disorganized structures. But Kolvin has found that exposing the filaments to controlled fluid flows can help them grow in predictable ways.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EThat\u2019s where Kolvin\u2019s molecular motors come in. He attaches the motors to rod-shaped particles called microtubules, transforming the otherwise inert particles into microscopic motorboats. Powered by chemical reactions, the microtubules move through the fluid and generate tiny currents. Those currents guide the suspended protein filaments, directing how they align and assemble.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003ELike sticks in a stream, the current helps the protein filaments align with the flow around them. When millions of filaments interact in this way, they can form bundles, clusters, and large-scale networks.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cHow do these rods align, when do they tangle, and when do they form networks?\u201d Kolvin asks. \u201cI\u2019m interested in learning how we may be able to predict and ultimately control that behavior in order to direct the ways these structures can grow.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFlexible Filaments\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EKolvin\u2019s earlier work has already shown success with actin, the filaments responsible for building muscles. When suspended in fluid, the molecular motors helped actin fibers bundle together and form a membrane-like structure.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EWhile that work demonstrated that molecular motors could influence assembly, Kolvin now aims to create a more dynamic, tunable system. Actin is limited, he explains, because of its simple rod-like shape, lack of rigidity, and because its bonds become permanent once the fibers bundle together.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EHe believes the more rigid, helix-shaped flagella in this new work will offer a wider range of opportunities. \u201cThe shape and rigidity of flagella expand the variety of patterns they can form,\u201d he explains. \u201cThese new structures could have different applications.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EToward Tunable Materials\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EThrough molecular engineering, the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sites.gatech.edu\/ikolvinlab\/\u0022\u003EKolvin Lab\u003C\/a\u003E creates flagella that are temperature-sensitive, meaning that they can make and unmake bonds at different temperatures. This property might be key in creating a system that could be assembled and disassembled on demand.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cThis could make it possible to tune materials in real-time by warming or cooling the system,\u0022 Kolvin explains.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EBy combining molecular motors with temperature-sensitive protein fibers, Kolvin aims to create systems that can be predictably shaped, assembled, and disassembled on demand, opening the door to new possibilities for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EThe work could also help answer long-standing problems in physics about active matter and collective behavior, revealing how flow and shape influence the way millions of microscopic building blocks align, pack, and assemble into complex materials.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cThis CAREER award provides an exciting opportunity to pursue new ideas and tackle difficult, far-reaching questions,\u201d Kolvin says. \u201cI\u2019m looking forward to seeing where this research leads in the years ahead.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003EThe grant will support Kolvin\u2019s research using molecular motors powered by chemical reactions to direct how protein fibers assemble into larger structures in the lab. The work could open the door to advances in wound healing, artificial tissues, and organ repair.\u003C\/div\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The work could open the door to advances in wound healing, artificial tissues, and organ repair."}],"uid":"35599","created_gmt":"2026-08-31 16:26:21","changed_gmt":"2026-08-31 19:06:53","author":"sperrin6","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-08-31T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-08-31T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"679224":{"id":"679224","type":"image","title":"Itamar Kolvin","body":"\u003Cp\u003EItamar Kolvin\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1770657296","gmt_created":"2026-02-09 17:14:56","changed":"1770657296","gmt_changed":"2026-02-09 17:14:56","alt":"Itamar Kolvin","file":{"fid":"263357","name":"Itamar-Kolvin.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/02\/09\/Itamar-Kolvin_0.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/02\/09\/Itamar-Kolvin_0.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":154592,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/02\/09\/Itamar-Kolvin_0.jpeg?itok=e0T6C0ih"}}},"media_ids":["679224"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"192249","name":"cos-community"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"193653","name":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:sperrin6@gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESelena Langner\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr\u003EWriter \/ Editor\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr\u003EGeorgia Tech College of Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"692052":{"#nid":"692052","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Speare Earns Highly Competitive NIH MIRA Grant","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E Assistant Professor\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/people\/lauren%20speare\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;Lauren Speare\u003C\/a\u003E has received a Maximizing Investigators\u2019 Research Award (MIRA) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). According to the\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nigms.nih.gov\/Research\/mechanisms\/MIRA\/Pages\/default\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;MIRA website\u003C\/a\u003E, the awards provide investigators with long-term, flexible funding to pursue ambitious research programs and explore promising new directions as discoveries emerge.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003ESpeare plans to use the funding to build on her lab\u2019s previous finding that\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/news\/tiny-predatory-bacteria-help-protect-endangered-caribbean-corals?utm_source=newsletter\u0026amp;utm_medium=email\u0026amp;utm_content=Tiny%20Predatory%20Bacteria%20Help%20Protect%20Endangered%20Corals\u0026amp;utm_campaign=Daily%20Digest%20-%20Aug.%206%2C%202026\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;naturally occurring predatory bacteria can reduce disease severity in threatened staghorn corals by defending them against harmful bacteria.\u003C\/a\u003E Her new research will move beyond direct predator-prey interactions to better understand how bacterial predators influence the broader microbial communities living on corals.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cWe know bacterial predators can alter disease outcomes in corals,\u201d explains Speare. \u201cWhat we don\u2019t yet comprehend is what predation actually does to a complex microbiome inside a living animal. Does a predator simply remove particular bacteria, or can those interactions ripple through the entire microbiome and ultimately affect the host?\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EUnderstanding those changes could reveal why some corals are better able to resist disease and recover from environmental stress than others.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ENext Steps\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003ESpeare and researchers from the\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.spearelab.com\/\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;Speare Marine Microbial Ecology Lab\u003C\/a\u003E will investigate microbial predation outside the laboratory in a whole-community context.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cMost of what we know about microbial interactions comes from studying one or two populations in a test tube,\u201d says Speare. \u201cBut microbes can behave very differently in a living host. We want to understand those interactions where they are actually happening.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EHer research will use staghorn corals as a model for observing these interactions over time. Because corals are made up of colonies of genetically identical animal polyps, scientists can repeatedly sample the same colony and track how its microbial communities change. This approach offers a unique window into how microbiomes evolve within an animal host, something that is much more difficult to study\u0026nbsp; in many other animals used in research\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u0022One of the really powerful things about corals as a model is that we can repeatedly observe what is happening within the same host,\u0022 says Speare. \u0022Instead of taking a single snapshot of a microbiome, we can follow how interactions unfold through time and explore how those changes ultimately affect the animal.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003ESpeare hopes the research will uncover how bacteria interact within coral microbiomes and whether those interactions can help corals stay healthy and resist disease.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s unusual to have a model system where fundamental questions about microbial ecology can have such immediate relevance to conservation,\u201d says Speare. \u201cIf we learn something that can improve coral health or restoration efforts, we can communicate those findings directly to the practitioners who are actively working to restore these populations.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESeed Grant Support\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003ESpeare credits two prior grants for providing preliminary data for the MIRA award. A NOAA Ruth D. Gates Coral Restoration Innovation Grant helped her develop disease models and investigate the potential health applications of predatory bacteria in corals. A Georgia Tech\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sustainablesystems.gatech.edu\/research\/seed-grants\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;Sustainability Next Seed Grant\u003C\/a\u003E filled a critical knowledge gap in the research by testing how these bacterial predators interact with healthy corals.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cBefore we could ask what microbial predation does within a complex microbiome, we needed to establish that these predators could persist within corals without negatively affecting the host,\u201d says Speare. \u201cThat work gave us the foundation to start asking much bigger ecological questions.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EThe Sustainability Next Seed Grant, administered by the\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sustainablesystems.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems\u003C\/a\u003E, also supported workshops and collaboration-building efforts that strengthened partnerships with the University of Miami\u2019s Lirman Lab and Rescue a Reef which provide corals and expertise for ongoing restoration-focused research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELooking Ahead\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cThe flexibility that comes with this funding is incredibly exciting,\u201d says Speare. \u201cWe have five years to follow the biology wherever it leads us. If we discover an unexpected interaction or mechanism, we have the freedom to pursue it rather than being constrained by a single predefined project. That gives us the opportunity to build a much broader understanding of how microbial predation influences coral health.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESupport Acknowledgement\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EResearch reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number 1R35GM165598.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe award will support funding aimed at uncovering new insights that could support future coral restoration and disease management efforts.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The award will support funding aimed at uncovering new insights that could support future coral restoration and disease management efforts."}],"uid":"36607","created_gmt":"2026-08-26 18:29:49","changed_gmt":"2026-08-27 13:56:33","author":"ls67","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-08-26T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-08-26T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680992":{"id":"680992","type":"image","title":"Lauren Speare","body":"\u003Cp\u003EHeadshot\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1787769048","gmt_created":"2026-08-26 18:30:48","changed":"1787769048","gmt_changed":"2026-08-26 18:30:48","alt":"Headshot of a woman","file":{"fid":"265336","name":"55472992335_5e2145b021_k--1-.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/26\/55472992335_5e2145b021_k--1-.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/26\/55472992335_5e2145b021_k--1-.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":963283,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/08\/26\/55472992335_5e2145b021_k--1-.jpg?itok=Dim63k4S"}}},"media_ids":["680992"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/news\/tiny-predatory-bacteria-help-protect-endangered-caribbean-corals?utm_source=newsletter\u0026utm_medium=email\u0026utm_content=Tiny%20Predatory%20Bacteria%20Help%20Protect%20Endangered%20Corals\u0026utm_campaign=Daily%20Digest%20-%20Aug.%206%2C%202026","title":"Tiny Predatory Bacteria Help Protect Endangered Caribbean Corals"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"}],"categories":[{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"180325","name":"coral conservation"},{"id":"192254","name":"cos-climate"},{"id":"192249","name":"cos-community"},{"id":"8057","name":"faculty research"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ELaura S. Smith, writer\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["laura.smith@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"691698":{"#nid":"691698","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Institute for Neuroscience, Neurotechnology, and Society Names Simon Sponberg Associate Director for Interdisciplinary Research","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Institute of Technology\u0027s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/neuro.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EInstitute for Neuroscience, Neurotechnology, and Society\u003C\/a\u003E (INNS) has appointed \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/simon-sponberg\u0022\u003ESimon Sponberg\u003C\/a\u003E as associate director for Interdisciplinary Research, where he will help foster collaborations, support emerging research initiatives, and advance interdisciplinary neuroscience research across campus.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELaunched in 2025, INNS serves as a hub for neuroscience and neurotechnology research, connecting researchers across disciplines to advance discovery, innovation, and societal impact.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cA core part of INNS\u0027s mission is helping people find one another, connect around shared interests, and build something bigger than they could accomplish alone,\u201d says Executive Director \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/people.research.gatech.edu\/christopher-rozell\u0022\u003EChristopher Rozell\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cSimon has spent his career bringing together people, perspectives, and disciplines to tackle complex challenges. I can\u0027t think of a better person to help lead our interdisciplinary research efforts and support the next generation of collaborative neuroscience research.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA longtime leader in Georgia Tech\u0027s neuroscience community, Sponberg helped shape the institute\u0027s early foundations through the Neuro Next Initiative, which evolved into INNS. As associate director, he will help guide research strategy, foster new collaborations, and support interdisciplinary work across the neuroscience ecosystem.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cNeuro-related research touches so many fields that we inevitably have a problem of finding all the potential right people and opportunities to tap into,\u201d he said. \u201cA core responsibility of this role is helping catalyze the ideas of new teams of talented researchers, educators, and trainees from inception to realization.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESponberg is the Glen Robinson Professor in Complex Systems with appointments in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E and the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E, where he directs the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sponberg.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EAgile Systems Lab\u003C\/a\u003E. His work also connects him to the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bioresearch.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EInstitute for Bioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/a\u003E (IBB) and the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/robotics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EInstitute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines\u003C\/a\u003E (IRIM), underscoring the cross-disciplinary approach that defines both his research and leadership.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESince joining Georgia Tech in 2014, he has built a highly collaborative research program spanning neuroscience, biology, physics, engineering, and robotics while helping foster interdisciplinary connections across campus. He currently leads a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/news.gatech.edu\/news\/2022\/04\/18\/mathematics-physics-use-moths-and-origami-structures-innovative-defense-research\u0022\u003EMultidisciplinary University Research Initiative\u003C\/a\u003E (MURI) that brings together neuroscientists and engineers from five universities to understand how brains achieve fast, flexible perception and decision-making in complex sensory environments. He also co-leads the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/neuro.gatech.edu\/georgia-tech-partners-15m-nsf-grant-explore-muscle-dynamics\u0022\u003EIntegrative Movement Sciences Institute\u003C\/a\u003E, an NSF Biological Integration Institute focused on understanding movement and muscle function across scales.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHis contributions have been recognized through numerous honors, including a Young Investigator Award from the International Society for Neuroethology, a Klingenstein-Simons Fellowship in the Neurosciences, and the Leddy Family Dean\u2019s Faculty Excellence Award.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs associate director, Sponberg will focus on helping researchers identify new opportunities for connection and collaboration. In addition to overseeing seed funding programs, he hopes to create pathways for researchers to build teams, access support resources, pursue ambitious interdisciplinary research ideas, and team with Georgia Tech\u2019s undergraduate and graduate neuroscience degree programs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI look forward to being a resource for our community when people are looking for help in building teams or finding opportunities to support their ideas,\u201d he said. \u201cBring your best ideas and please reach out if you want to talk about ideas in the interdisciplinary neuro space that you want to see realized.\u201d\u003Cbr\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech researcher and longtime neuroscience community leader will help catalyze new collaborations and research opportunities across the Institute for Neuroscience, Neurotechnology, and Society (INNS).\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The Georgia Tech researcher and longtime neuroscience community leader will help catalyze new collaborations and research opportunities across the Institute for Neuroscience, Neurotechnology, and Society (INNS)."}],"uid":"35575","created_gmt":"2026-08-14 20:32:01","changed_gmt":"2026-08-14 20:50:42","author":"adavidson38","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-08-14T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-08-14T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680883":{"id":"680883","type":"image","title":"Simon-Headshot.jpg","body":"\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to his new leadership role at INNS, Simon Sponberg leads a multidisciplinary research program spanning neuroscience, biology, physics, engineering, and robotics.\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1786739533","gmt_created":"2026-08-14 20:32:13","changed":"1786739533","gmt_changed":"2026-08-14 20:32:13","alt":"Simon Sponberg smiling in front of a whiteboard.","file":{"fid":"265215","name":"Simon-Headshot.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/14\/Simon-Headshot.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/14\/Simon-Headshot.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2798844,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/08\/14\/Simon-Headshot.jpg?itok=7P3QbQBX"}}},"media_ids":["680883"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/neuro.gatech.edu\/lab-life-inside-institute-neuroscience-neurotechnology-and-society","title":"From Lab to Life: Inside the Institute for Neuroscience, Neurotechnology, and Society"},{"url":"https:\/\/news.gatech.edu\/news\/2022\/04\/18\/mathematics-physics-use-moths-and-origami-structures-innovative-defense-research","title":"Mathematics, Physics Use Moths and Origami Structures for Innovative Defense Research"},{"url":"https:\/\/neuro.gatech.edu\/georgia-tech-partners-15m-nsf-grant-explore-muscle-dynamics","title":"Georgia Tech Partners on $15M NSF Grant to Explore Muscle Dynamics"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"66220","name":"Neuro"},{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"172970","name":"go-neuro"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"193656","name":"Neuro Next Initiative"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:audra.davidson@research.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EAudra Davidson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr\u003ECommunications Manager\u003Cbr\u003EInstitute for Neuroscience, Neurotechnology, and Society\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["audra.davidson@research.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"691259":{"#nid":"691259","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tiny Predatory Bacteria Help Protect Endangered Caribbean Corals","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EA microscopic predator may offer a new way to protect some of the Caribbean\u2019s most endangered corals. Georgia Tech researchers found that tiny predatory bacteria can halt the spread of a destructive coral disease by hunting and consuming pathogens responsible for the infection.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003ECaused by the\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EVibrio coralliilyticus\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003Epathogen, the infection is one of the most notorious causes of tissue loss and death in stony corals. In the study, all untreated corals bleached within 48 hours. But corals exposed to the predatory bacteria fared much better: more than half showed no signs of bleaching beyond the infection site \u2014 and disease progression was effectively halted.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cDisease is a major driver of death for these corals, and with sea surface temperatures continuing to rise globally, we anticipate that rates of disease will only increase. It\u2019s part of a deadly synergy profoundly threatening Caribbean coral reefs,\u201d says lead author\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/people\/lauren%20speare\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELauren Speare\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, assistant professor in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u201cPredatory bacteria function like a living probiotic, fighting coral disease without harsh side effects. This could be a targeted way to protect and treat our most vulnerable coral reefs.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EThe study, \u201c\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/ismej\/article\/19\/1\/wraf270\/8376498\u0022\u003EHalobacteriovorax Halts Disease Progression in Endangered Caribbean Corals\u003C\/a\u003E,\u201d was published in The\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EISME Journal\u003C\/em\u003E. In addition to Speare, the research team included Georgia Tech master\u0027s student\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EChloe Manley\u003C\/strong\u003E and postdoctoral scholar\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EMacey Coppinger\u003C\/strong\u003E; University of California, Santa Barbara graduate students\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003ESunni Patton\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003Eand\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EEddie Fuques\u003C\/strong\u003E, and Professor\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.eemb.ucsb.edu\/people\/faculty\/vega-thurber\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERebecca Vega Thurber\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, director of the UCSB Marine Science Institute.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2 dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ENatural Defenders\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003ESpeare became interested in the research while completing her postdoctoral training with Thurber. \u201cDr. Thurber discovered that predatory bacteria are present in many coral microbiomes,\u201d Speare recalls. \u201cWe theorized that they might be contributing to what keeps the ecosystem healthy, balancing it through predation.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EAt the time, the theory was hard to test. Marine predatory bacteria are difficult to preserve long-term, making experiments challenging. The bacteria are also extremely scarce, with populations increasing during a coral infection and rapidly declining after. Catching them while their populations are high is a matter of timing, Speare says.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u0022It\u0027s a bit like trying to catch a mountain lion in the act of hunting a deer. If we aren\u2019t looking at the right time, we might miss it entirely,\u201d Speare says. \u201cI knew that if I wanted to study these bacteria in more detail, I would need to carefully design my experiments and timing.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2 dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETesting the Treatment\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003ETo test their theory, the team spent six weeks conducting experiments at the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/mote.org\/location\/summerland-key-lab\/\u0022\u003EMote\u2019s Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reef Research and Restoration (IC2R3)\u003C\/a\u003E in Summerland Key, Florida, a facility that maintains lab-grown living corals in seawater aquariums.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cFirst, we had to make our corals sick,\u201d Speare says. \u201cBut there wasn\u2019t an established way to reliably create these infections in this species in a laboratory setting.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EAfter weeks of experimenting, Speare developed a \u201cpathogen-sticker,\u201d a small agar patch containing the disease-causing pathogens. When placed at the coral\u2019s base, it mimics how infections spread in the wild.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EThen,\u0026nbsp;at the first sign of infection, the team treated the coral with the \u003Cem\u003EHalobacteriovorax \u003C\/em\u003Epredatory bacteria\u003Cem\u003E. \u003C\/em\u003E\u201cSurprisingly, the most effective method was to pour the bacteria directly into the sick coral\u2019s tank,\u201d Speare says. \u201cThe bacteria are tiny, so we were able to create a concentrated liquid of them by using a filter small enough that only they can pass through.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EHalobacteriovorax\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003Eare among the fastest-known predatory bacteria, and quickly navigate to their food source \u2013 presumably the pathogen causing the infection.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2 dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFrom Aquariums to Oceans\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EBecause of the straightforward delivery method, Speare believes the team\u2019s methods could be readily adapted for coral restoration efforts, offering a simple way to deliver treatment on natural reefs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cThere are several approaches to treating corals and mitigating stress, but these techniques don\u2019t work for all situations and all species,\u201d she explains. \u201cCorals are complex, and there is no single cure-all, so we need as many tools as possible to help corals survive.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EFor Speare, the next step will be to move from lab-based work to reef environments.\u0026nbsp; She\u2019s particularly curious as to why the predatory bacteria aren\u2019t already moderating illness on natural reefs. \u201cIf this is such an effective way to control pathogens, why isn\u2019t this system preventing disease outbreaks on reefs already?\u0022 she says. \u0022We need to understand what\u0027s limiting this natural defense system \u2013 and that\u2019s what we\u2019re digging into next.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EFunding:\u0026nbsp;Lauren Speare was supported as a Simons Foundation Awardee of the Life Sciences Research Foundation. The Vega Thurber Lab was funded by the National Science Foundation.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EDOI:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1093\/ismejo\/wraf270\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003Ehttps:\/\/doi.org\/10.1093\/ismejo\/wraf270\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers found that predatory bacteria can halt the spread of a destructive coral disease by hunting and consuming pathogens responsible for the infection.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech researchers found that predatory bacteria can halt the spread of a destructive coral disease by hunting and consuming pathogens responsible for the infection."}],"uid":"35599","created_gmt":"2026-07-27 16:39:09","changed_gmt":"2026-07-29 01:42:03","author":"sperrin6","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-07-27T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-07-27T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680709":{"id":"680709","type":"image","title":"Staghorn coral samples used in Lauren Speare\u0027s research.","body":"\u003Cdiv\u003EStaghorn coral samples used in Lauren Speare\u0027s research.\u003C\/div\u003E","created":"1785289113","gmt_created":"2026-07-29 01:38:33","changed":"1785289113","gmt_changed":"2026-07-29 01:38:33","alt":"Staghorn coral samples used in Lauren Speare\u0027s research.","file":{"fid":"265012","name":"coral-3.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/07\/28\/coral-3.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/07\/28\/coral-3.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3474517,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/07\/28\/coral-3.jpg?itok=YDfZY4SX"}},"680710":{"id":"680710","type":"image","title":"Lauren Speare sampling corals in the lab. ","body":"\u003Cp\u003ELauren Speare sampling corals in the lab.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1785289113","gmt_created":"2026-07-29 01:38:33","changed":"1785289113","gmt_changed":"2026-07-29 01:38:33","alt":"Lauren Speare sampling corals in the lab. ","file":{"fid":"265013","name":"sampling-1.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/07\/28\/sampling-1.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/07\/28\/sampling-1.png","mime":"image\/png","size":2816600,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/07\/28\/sampling-1.png?itok=7gsS4R-m"}}},"media_ids":["680709","680710"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"}],"categories":[{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"192250","name":"cos-microbial"},{"id":"192254","name":"cos-climate"},{"id":"187423","name":"go-bio"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"193653","name":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:sperrin6@gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESelena Langner\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr\u003ETechnical Research Writer \/ Editor\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr\u003EGeorgia Tech College of Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"691264":{"#nid":"691264","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Jain Awarded Whitehall Foundation Grant","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/people\/saumya-jain\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESaumya Jain\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, assistant professor in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E, has received a $300,000 grant from the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.whitehall.org\/#introduction\u0022\u003EWhitehall Foundation\u003C\/a\u003E to support research examining how genes influence the brain\u2019s wiring and how these neural connections shape behavior.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EAs the brain develops, billions of neurons form precise networks that enable perception, movement, and cognition. Disruptions in this process can contribute to neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism and schizophrenia. To better understand how such disorders arise, Jain\u2019s lab will use molecular and genetic tools to trace the pathway from gene expression to neural connectivity to behavior.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cI am honored and excited to receive support from the Whitehall Foundation,\u201d Jain says. \u201cIt will help us pursue research questions at a stage when our findings can still shape our lab\u2019s long-term direction.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EJain joined Georgia Tech in 2024. He earned a Ph.D. in molecular and cellular biology from the University of Arizona and completed postdoctoral work at the University of California, Los Angeles.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAssistant Professor Saumya Jain received a grant to support research on how genes shape neural connectivity and behavior.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Assistant Professor Saumya Jain received a grant to support research on how genes shape neural connectivity and behavior."}],"uid":"36583","created_gmt":"2026-07-27 18:44:24","changed_gmt":"2026-07-28 19:09:21","author":"lvidal7","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-07-28T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-07-28T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680155":{"id":"680155","type":"image","title":"Saumya Jain","body":null,"created":"1777915309","gmt_created":"2026-05-04 17:21:49","changed":"1777915309","gmt_changed":"2026-05-04 17:21:49","alt":"Saumya Jain stands in front of plants","file":{"fid":"264397","name":"Saumya-Jain.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/05\/04\/Saumya-Jain.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/05\/04\/Saumya-Jain.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":577179,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/05\/04\/Saumya-Jain.jpg?itok=3UIiedV8"}}},"media_ids":["680155"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/sciences.gatech.edu\/news\/biology-faculty-named-searle-scholar","title":"Saumya Jain Named Searle Scholar "},{"url":"https:\/\/www.thejainlab.com\/","title":"The Jain Lab "}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"}],"categories":[{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"166882","name":"School of Biological Sciences"},{"id":"192253","name":"cos-neuro"},{"id":"172970","name":"go-neuro"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWriter: Lindsay C. Vidal\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"690967":{"#nid":"690967","#data":{"type":"news","title":"The Myth of the \u2018Lizard Brain\u2019 and the Real Trade-Off Inside Your Mind","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESo many of life\u2019s most pivotal decisions come down to one question: Should you listen to your logic or your emotions? Popular culture often frames this tension as a struggle between two minds \u2014 a \u201cmore evolved\u201d rational layer built atop an ancient \u201clizard brain\u201d driven by primal instincts.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis battle of the brains has also been playing out over the course of evolution, but not as a simple clash between old and new.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThere was a theory proposed in the \u201850s that the brain evolved in layers starting with basic bodily functions, to emotions in the reptilian brain, leading up to sophisticated reasoning in humans,\u201d explains \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/people.research.gatech.edu\/nabil-imam\u0022\u003ENabil Imam\u003C\/a\u003E, an assistant professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cse.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Computational Science and Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E and a faculty member with Georgia Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/neuro.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EInstitute for Neuroscience, Neurotechnology, and Society\u003C\/a\u003E (INNS). \u201cThis is not how an evolutionary biologist would think about the problem.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInstead of a \u201cnew\u201d brain layered over an \u201cancient\u201d one \u2014 or even a logical brain versus an emotional one \u2014 research published in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.science.org\/doi\/full\/10.1126\/sciadv.aec6112\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EScience Advances\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E reveals that brain evolution may come down to wiring.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy studying the architecture of both biological and artificial brains, Imam\u2019s team found that brain evolution is a strategic allocation of limited real estate. They propose a computational tug-of-war between two fundamentally different types of internal wiring \u2014 ones established even before birth.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis new understanding not only helps resolve a longstanding mystery in brain evolution but could also help us design more efficient AI systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Problem With the \u201cLizard Brain\u201d\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhen we refer to our \u201clogical\u201d or \u201clizard\u201d brains, we\u2019re really talking about different groups of brain regions. The logical brain is known as the neocortex, the brain\u2019s outer layer responsible for vision, perception, reasoning, and other higher-level functions. For the lizard brain, the story gets a bit complicated.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe limbic system, sometimes called the \u2018reptilian brain,\u2019 controls emotion broadly speaking \u2014 but it also has other components with distinct functions,\u201d explains Imam. The system has separate regions for memory, smell, and navigation in addition to emotional regulation. \u201cWhy do people group all these different regions into one big system? There hasn\u2019t been a good theory for what is common between these different circuits.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo investigate, Imam\u2019s team looked beyond individual regions to examine how these systems scale across species. Instead of comparing single areas based on function, the team analyzed how the limbic system and the neocortex change together across evolutionary history.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe result was remarkably consistent. When one component of the limbic system was larger, the others were also larger, while the neocortex was consistently smaller. These regions don\u2019t vary independently. \u201cRather,\u201d says Imam, \u201cit\u2019s a coordinated expansion of these regions across species.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis reveals something new: The limbic system behaves not as a loose collection of functions, but as a unified network that expands and contracts as a group across evolution.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut what is driving this coordinated push and pull?\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMaps Versus Barcodes\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EImam argues that it comes down to how these different parts of the brain are wired before birth.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the neocortex, neural circuits are organized as spatial maps. Areas that process touch in nearby parts of your body, like your index finger and thumb, are physically close to each other in the brain. The same is true for sight and sound.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWires in the limbic system, however, are not spatially organized. They function more like a bar code, firing in unique, distributed patterns to represent specific scents or complex memories.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo test whether this was an innate trait or acquired through experience, the team developed AI models for different senses. They found that when they pre-wired an AI with localized, spatial connectivity, the network was naturally very good at processing vision, sound, and touch information. Conversely, distributed, \u201cbarcode-style\u201d networks were essential for the AI to excel at scent recognition and memory.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Evolutionary Tug-of-War\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe final piece of the puzzle explains how the size of brain components changes predictably across species. Because resources like space and energy are limited, natural selection chooses which system to prioritize.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team simulated evolution by creating a multimodal network where the spatial and distributed domains competed for \u201creal estate.\u201d When the environment rewarded smell, all areas of the distributed system expanded and the neocortex shrank. When vision was rewarded, the opposite occurred.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis explains why the nine-banded armadillo, which relies on scent, has a massive limbic system, while the highly visual squirrel monkey is dominated by its neocortex. Across the 182 species studied, the research shows that brain evolution is not about adding new layers of \u0022logic,\u0022 but about strategically reallocating space between different wiring systems to support survival.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy translating this biological architecture to AI systems, engineers could create machines that learn as efficiently as the human brain, requiring far less data and energy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cToday\u0027s artificial neural networks are trained by vast amounts data \u2014 it\u2019s about nurture,\u201d says Imam. \u201cBut the brain is not a blank slate that gets trained by experience. It is a mix of nature and nurture, and the nature is that pre-wired architecture.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe could translate that architecture to AI systems to make it more brain-like, or make it learn or function as efficiently as the brain.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis work was a collaboration with Cornell University and was supported by the National Science Foundation.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EDOI:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1126\/sciadv.aec6112\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003Edoi.org\/10.1126\/sciadv.aec6112\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new study from Georgia Tech examines how different brain systems scale together across species, offering a new perspective on brain organization \u2014 and its potential applications in artificial intelligence.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new study from Georgia Tech examines how different brain systems scale together across species, offering a new perspective on brain organization \u2014 and its potential applications in artificial intelligence."}],"uid":"35575","created_gmt":"2026-06-29 18:27:57","changed_gmt":"2026-07-02 14:56:41","author":"adavidson38","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-06-29T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-06-29T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680528":{"id":"680528","type":"image","title":"brain-halves.jpeg","body":"\u003Cdiv\u003EResearchers found that coordinated changes across brain systems may be explained by two distinct wiring strategies \u2014 spatially organized circuits and distributed networks \u2014 that expand and contract together over evolution.\u003C\/div\u003E","created":"1782757701","gmt_created":"2026-06-29 18:28:21","changed":"1782757701","gmt_changed":"2026-06-29 18:28:21","alt":"Digital illustration of a brain surrounded by two distinct visual patterns. One side is composed of structured blue connections resembling an organized network map, while the other features colorful, dispersed light patterns, representing distributed neural activity. The image symbolizes competing brain architectures explored in the study.","file":{"fid":"264802","name":"brain-halves.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/06\/29\/brain-halves.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/06\/29\/brain-halves.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":5350147,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/06\/29\/brain-halves.jpeg?itok=7doQLT23"}},"680530":{"id":"680530","type":"image","title":"Fig2.png","body":"\u003Cdiv\u003EA conceptual illustration of the two wiring strategies identified in the study. Spatially organized circuits in the neocortex (left) preserve map-like relationships, while distributed networks in the limbic system (right) connect information across locations, creating a tradeoff that may shape brain evolution.\u003C\/div\u003E","created":"1782758455","gmt_created":"2026-06-29 18:40:55","changed":"1782758455","gmt_changed":"2026-06-29 18:40:55","alt":"A balance scale holds two diagrams representing different brain wiring strategies. The left side shows an ordered rainbow-colored map labeled \u0022Neocortex,\u0022 illustrating localized connections that preserve spatial organization. The right side shows a web of interconnected colored nodes labeled \u0022Limbic System,\u0022 representing distributed connections that integrate information across space. The image symbolizes the tradeoff between these competing neural architectures proposed by the study.","file":{"fid":"264804","name":"Fig2.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/06\/29\/Fig2.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/06\/29\/Fig2.png","mime":"image\/png","size":866124,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/06\/29\/Fig2.png?itok=7rXvH4XZ"}},"680531":{"id":"680531","type":"image","title":"Fig1-Imam.png","body":"\u003Cp\u003ECross-sections of a squirrel monkey brain (left) and a nine-banded armadillo brain (right) illustrate how different neural systems expand or shrink together across species. The highly visual squirrel monkey has a larger neocortex (blue), while the scent-reliant armadillo has a larger olfactory complex (purple) and memory center (green).\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1782758808","gmt_created":"2026-06-29 18:46:48","changed":"1782758808","gmt_changed":"2026-06-29 18:46:48","alt":"Comparative brain images showing a squirrel monkey on the left and a nine-banded armadillo on the right. Colored overlays highlight major brain systems: extensive blue neocortical regions in the monkey and enlarged purple olfactory regions in the armadillo, illustrating how different species allocate brain space according to their sensory needs.","file":{"fid":"264805","name":"Fig1-Imam.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/06\/29\/Fig1-Imam.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/06\/29\/Fig1-Imam.png","mime":"image\/png","size":158938,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/06\/29\/Fig1-Imam.png?itok=dbPFTe7d"}}},"media_ids":["680528","680530","680531"],"groups":[{"id":"66220","name":"Neuro"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"194606","name":"Artificial Intelligence"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"172970","name":"go-neuro"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"193656","name":"Neuro Next Initiative"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EAudra Davidson\u003Cbr\u003EInstitute for Neuroscience, Neurotechnology, and Society\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:bwine3@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EBryant Wine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr\u003ECollege of Computing\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["bwine3@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"691018":{"#nid":"691018","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Research Seeks to Help Transplanted Cells Thrive in Type 1 Diabetes Treatment","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bme.gatech.edu\/bio\/alexander-e-vlahos\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAlexander Vlahos\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, has been awarded a five-year, research grant from \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.breakthrought1d.org\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener nofollow noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 title=\u0022(opens in a new window)\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBreakthrough T1D\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, the leading global type 1 diabetes (T1D) research and advocacy organization, to support pioneering work aimed at improving therapies for T1D. The award will support Vlahos\u2019 project, \u003Cem\u003E\u201cRewiring Cellular Microenvironments with Synthetic Circuits for Subcutaneous Islet Transplantation,\u201d\u003C\/em\u003E through the Georgia Tech Research Corporation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ET1D is caused by the autoimmune destruction of insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells, requiring individuals to manage their blood glucose levels through lifelong insulin therapy. Transplanting pancreatic islets has long been investigated as a potential curative treatment, but long-lasting success in extrahepatic sites has been limited\u2014particularly when islets are transplanted beneath the skin\u2014due to poor blood vessel formation, immune rejection, and cellular stress following transplantation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EVlahos\u2019 research addresses these limitations by combining synthetic biology\u003Cstrong\u003E \u003C\/strong\u003Eand tissue engineering\u003Cstrong\u003E \u003C\/strong\u003Ein a new way: engineering cells to actively reshape their local environment after transplantation to make it more hospitable for the graft. Rather than relying solely on biomaterials or porous structures to support transplanted cells, the project focuses on programming the cells themselves to sense stress and respond dynamically.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bme.gatech.edu\/news\/new-research-seeks-help-transplanted-cells-thrive-type-1-diabetes-treatment\u0022\u003ERead the full story.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe award will support Vlahos\u2019 project, \u003Cem\u003E\u201cRewiring Cellular Microenvironments with Synthetic Circuits for Subcutaneous Islet Transplantation,\u201d\u003C\/em\u003E through the Georgia Tech Research Corporation. Transplanting pancreatic islets has long been investigated as a potential curative treatment, but long-lasting success in extrahepatic sites has been limited. Vlahos\u2019 research addresses existing limitations by combining synthetic biology\u003Cstrong\u003E \u003C\/strong\u003Eand tissue engineering\u003Cstrong\u003E \u003C\/strong\u003Ein a new way: engineering cells to actively reshape their local environment after transplantation to make it more hospitable for the graft.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Alexander Vlahos has been awarded a five-year, research grant to support pioneering work aimed at improving therapies for T1D."}],"uid":"36479","created_gmt":"2026-07-01 17:34:15","changed_gmt":"2026-07-01 17:39:38","author":"abowman41","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-07-01T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-07-01T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680543":{"id":"680543","type":"image","title":"_0000_Vlahos-Blood-Glucose.jpg","body":null,"created":"1782927261","gmt_created":"2026-07-01 17:34:21","changed":"1782927261","gmt_changed":"2026-07-01 17:34:21","alt":"A medical worker wearing latex gloves uses a device to test a patient\u0027s blood sugar.","file":{"fid":"264817","name":"_0000_Vlahos-Blood-Glucose.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/07\/01\/_0000_Vlahos-Blood-Glucose.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/07\/01\/_0000_Vlahos-Blood-Glucose.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":76893,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/07\/01\/_0000_Vlahos-Blood-Glucose.jpg?itok=MSzUqn6I"}}},"media_ids":["680543"],"groups":[{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"171033","name":"Synthetic Biology"},{"id":"178211","name":"islet"},{"id":"49591","name":"Diabetes"},{"id":"195186","name":"cell engineering"},{"id":"1039","name":"pancreas"},{"id":"3344","name":"insulin"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EKelly Petty | Communications Manager\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"690757":{"#nid":"690757","#data":{"type":"news","title":"From Fossils to Function: Armita Manafzadeh Honored by Scientific American","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EScientific American\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E has named\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/qbios.gatech.edu\/user\/275\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EArmita Manafzadeh\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E to the inaugural class of\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/report\/young-american-scientists-2026\/\u0022\u003EYoung American Scientists\u003C\/a\u003E, recognizing a new generation of leaders and innovators in science, technology, and medicine. The 2026 cohort includes 28 early-career scientists based in the United States who are changing the world with their work.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s a tremendous honor to be recognized alongside such an inspiring group of scientists,\u201d Manafzadeh says. \u201cI\u2019ve always been motivated by big, fundamental questions, and it\u2019s exciting to see that kind of curiosity-driven research celebrated.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EManafzadeh will join Georgia Tech in August 2026 as an assistant professor in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E. Her research investigates how joints function and how they evolved, using advanced technology to create animations of moving skeletons with sub-millimeter precision.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cMy research is aimed at understanding how joints work and where they come from,\u201d she explains. \u201cPhysicians can repair ACL injuries and perform hip replacements, but we still don\u2019t fully understand joint mechanics at a fundamental level.\u201d Because joints are a shared feature of virtually all vertebrates, she adds, nearly all movement \u2014 from slithering to sprinting to soaring \u2014 depends on them.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EManafzadeh first applied these methods to pterodactyls, \u201creanimating\u201d the extinct animals to study how they flew. Now, her research could also open doors to personalized surgical treatments for people and new designs for bio-inspired robots.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe 2026 cohort includes 28 early-career scientists based in the United States who are changing the world with their work.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The 2026 cohort includes 28 early-career scientists based in the United States who are changing the world with their work. "}],"uid":"35599","created_gmt":"2026-06-16 15:23:38","changed_gmt":"2026-06-16 20:38:32","author":"sperrin6","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-06-16T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680460":{"id":"680460","type":"image","title":"Armita Manafzadeh (Credit: Scientific American)","body":"\u003Cdiv\u003EArmita Manafzadeh (Credit: \u003Cem\u003EScientific American\u003C\/em\u003E)\u003C\/div\u003E","created":"1781530791","gmt_created":"2026-06-15 13:39:51","changed":"1781530994","gmt_changed":"2026-06-15 13:43:14","alt":"Armita Manafzadeh (Credit: Scientific American)","file":{"fid":"264725","name":"saw070826YAS-21-Armita-Manafzadeh.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/06\/15\/saw070826YAS-21-Armita-Manafzadeh.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/06\/15\/saw070826YAS-21-Armita-Manafzadeh.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":499752,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/06\/15\/saw070826YAS-21-Armita-Manafzadeh.jpg?itok=8DV0mp8m"}}},"media_ids":["680460"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/report\/young-american-scientists-2026\/","title":"The Young American Scientists (Scientific American)"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/article\/armita-manafzadeh\/","title":"Armita Manafzadeh Profile in Scientific American"},{"url":"https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/news\/joints-motion-armita-manafzadeh-receives-carl-gans-young-investigator-award","title":"Joints in Motion: Armita Manafzadeh Receives Carl Gans Young Investigator Award"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"}],"categories":[{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"192249","name":"cos-community"},{"id":"187423","name":"go-bio"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"193653","name":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:sperrin6@gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESelena Langner\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETechnical Research Writer \/ Editor\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech College of Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"690754":{"#nid":"690754","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Wearable Reroutes Lost Sensation, Restores Stability","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMisjudge a curb or miss a step on the stairs, and there is a split second of panic as your foot doesn\u2019t land when you expect it to. That brief loss of pressure can be enough to throw off your balance entirely.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor most, that heart-pounding uncertainty ends the moment the foot finds solid ground. But for many individuals living with conditions like stroke or spinal cord injury (SCI), that sense of disconnect is a permanent reality.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThese conditions of course have a huge effect on our ability to move around and be independent \u2014 but the other side of it is the sensory feedback that we lose,\u201d says \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/people.research.gatech.edu\/matthew-t-flavin\u0022\u003EMatthew Flavin\u003C\/a\u003E, an assistant professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ece.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Electrical and Computer Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E. Most rehabilitation treatments primarily focus on restoring movement, but \u201ceven if you have motor control, if you can\u2019t feel when your foot\u0027s touching the ground it can be really hard for you to move around safely.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a new study published in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.pnas.org\/doi\/10.1073\/pnas.2536577123\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, Flavin and an interdisciplinary team of researchers introduce a way to bridge this gap: a wearable \u201csensory substitution\u201d system that translates foot pressure into high-tech patterns of heat and vibration they can feel elsewhere.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe system uses high-resolution pressure-sensing insoles designed by the team, which are placed inside a user\u0027s shoes to record how their weight shifts in real-time. This data is streamed via Bluetooth to a flexible, skin-conformable array of haptic receivers worn on the forearms, a part of the body that often retains sensation in SCI. The receivers give quick pressure feedback through vibration, while also alerting the user to longer-term pressure \u201chotspots\u201d through heat.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOne of the limitations of a lot of approaches in haptics is that you\u0027re having to map a missing sense onto a completely different sense,\u201d says Flavin. \u201cWe\u2019re keeping the type of information that we\u0027re missing, which is the distribution of pressure, and we\u0027re just basically putting it on a different part of their body.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERerouting the lost sensation was key to making the device intuitive to learn. Participants were able to correctly identify the \u201cfeel\u201d of the ground through their arms with high accuracy within a mere two-hour session. When tested with a small group of participants with stroke or SCI, the wearable significantly improved standing balance and led to steadier walking.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhat\u2019s encouraging about these early results is that participants appeared to use the feedback in ways that supported balance and walking,\u201d says \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.mccormick.northwestern.edu\/research-faculty\/directory\/profiles\/rogers-john.html\u0022\u003EJohn Rogers\u003C\/a\u003E, a materials science and engineering professor at Northwestern University who collaborated on this study. \u201cOur study suggests that providing pressure information through another part of the body could be a practical path for helping people compensate for lost sensation.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile vibration provides immediate feedback for walking and balance, the team views the thermal feedback as a tool for long-term health. Heat is a slower, low-frequency signal that could alert patients to pressure hotspots, potentially preventing diabetic foot ulcers or pressure injuries for those who are bedridden or use wheelchairs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe small, lightweight system is completely untethered, making it suitable for use during daily activities in and outside the clinic. It\u2019s also highly adaptable to different injury types, which is ideal for conditions as variable as stroke, SCI, and diabetic neuropathy. Placement of the haptic receivers can be adjusted based on where a patient has the most sensation, and the sensitivity of the insoles can be tailored to each patient.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs a member of several of Georgia Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/interdisciplinary-research-institutes\u0022\u003EInterdisciplinary Research Institutes\u003C\/a\u003E \u2014 the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/neuro.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EInstitute for Neuroscience, Neurotechnology, and Society\u003C\/a\u003E, the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/robotics\u0022\u003EInstitute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines\u003C\/a\u003E, and the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bioresearch.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences\u003C\/a\u003E \u2014 Flavin credits the project\u2019s success to an interdisciplinary effort and deep engagement with clinicians and patients.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis reinforces the importance of really engaging with your stakeholders very early on,\u201d says Flavin. \u201cIf you\u0027re not continually refining that concept with those stakeholders, you quickly find that they might be looking for something that your device isn\u0027t delivering.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith new funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the team is now working to make the technology even smaller and more reconfigurable, moving closer to a standard wearable for daily clinical use.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EDOI: \u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.2536577123\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003Ehttps:\/\/doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.2536577123\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers have developed a wireless wearable that translates foot pressure into heat and vibration, helping individuals with sensory impairments regain balance and mobility.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have developed a wireless wearable that translates foot pressure into heat and vibration, helping individuals with sensory impairments regain balance and mobility."}],"uid":"35575","created_gmt":"2026-06-15 20:56:13","changed_gmt":"2026-06-16 12:16:33","author":"adavidson38","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-06-15T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-06-15T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680466":{"id":"680466","type":"image","title":"Flavin-Device-Under-Microscope.png","body":"\u003Cdiv\u003EThe system converts pressure underfoot into vibration and heat felt elsewhere on the body, helping people with sensory loss regain awareness of their footing and improve balance.\u003C\/div\u003E","created":"1781557523","gmt_created":"2026-06-15 21:05:23","changed":"1781557523","gmt_changed":"2026-06-15 21:05:23","alt":"Close-up of hands positioning a flexible haptic device with embedded electronics under a microscope, highlighting the small components and patterned array used to deliver sensory feedback.","file":{"fid":"264732","name":"Flavin-Device-Under-Microscope.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/06\/15\/Flavin-Device-Under-Microscope.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/06\/15\/Flavin-Device-Under-Microscope.png","mime":"image\/png","size":10816942,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/06\/15\/Flavin-Device-Under-Microscope.png?itok=7OCs2RGM"}},"680467":{"id":"680467","type":"image","title":"Flavin-Device-Portrait.png","body":"\u003Cdiv\u003EMatthew Flavin, assistant professor in electrical engineering and lead author of the study, holds the flexible haptic device.\u003C\/div\u003E","created":"1781557731","gmt_created":"2026-06-15 21:08:51","changed":"1781557731","gmt_changed":"2026-06-15 21:08:51","alt":"A researcher stands in a laboratory holding a flexible, transparent wearable device embedded with small electronic nodes, with microscopes and lab equipment visible in the background.","file":{"fid":"264733","name":"Flavin-Device-Portrait.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/06\/15\/Flavin-Device-Portrait.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/06\/15\/Flavin-Device-Portrait.png","mime":"image\/png","size":12093054,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/06\/15\/Flavin-Device-Portrait.png?itok=7qCineau"}},"680468":{"id":"680468","type":"image","title":"Flavin-Device-Schematic.png","body":"\u003Cdiv\u003EPressure-sensing insoles in the shoes transmit real-time data to flexible haptic arrays worn on the forearms, where patterns of vibration and heat recreate a sense of foot-ground contact through sensory substitution.\u003C\/div\u003E","created":"1781571167","gmt_created":"2026-06-16 00:52:47","changed":"1781571167","gmt_changed":"2026-06-16 00:52:47","alt":"Schematic diagram of a wearable sensory substitution system showing pressure-sensing insoles placed inside shoes, flexible haptic arrays worn on both forearms, and a smartphone interface. Close-up views highlight the insole sensor layout and a dense grid of small actuators on the forearm device that deliver vibration and heat.","file":{"fid":"264734","name":"Flavin-Device-Schematic.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/06\/15\/Flavin-Device-Schematic.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/06\/15\/Flavin-Device-Schematic.png","mime":"image\/png","size":2450907,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/06\/15\/Flavin-Device-Schematic.png?itok=U8hkGUYv"}}},"media_ids":["680466","680467","680468"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/neuro.gatech.edu\/new-wearable-device-monitors-skin-health-real-time","title":"New Wearable Device Monitors Skin Health in Real Time"},{"url":"https:\/\/neuro.gatech.edu\/confronting-roadblocks-medical-technology-innovation","title":"Confronting the Roadblocks in Medical Technology Innovation"},{"url":"https:\/\/neuro.gatech.edu\/head-toe-georgia-tech-researchers-treat-entire-human-body-through-neuroscience-research","title":"Head to Toe: Georgia Tech Researchers Treat the Entire Human Body Through Neuroscience Research"}],"groups":[{"id":"66220","name":"Neuro"},{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"172970","name":"go-neuro"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"193656","name":"Neuro Next Initiative"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter and Media Contact:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:audra.davidson@research.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EAudra Davidson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EResearch Communications Program Manager\u003Cbr\u003EInstitute for Neuroscience, Neurotechnology, and Society (INNS)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPhotos:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EMaxwell Guberman\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["audra.davidson@research.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"690506":{"#nid":"690506","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Breakthrough Study Sheds Light on How BRCA\u2011Related Cancers Repair Broken DNA","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research is shared jointly with the\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/news.osu.edu\/best-snapshots-yet-of-dna-repair-protein-relevant-to-brca-mutations\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EOhio State University\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E newsroom.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EScientists have captured the most detailed structural images to date of a specific type of protein\u2019s DNA repair process. The research could reveal ways to inhibit the effects of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations that heighten the risk for breast, ovarian, and other cancers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cThis work lets us see, step by step, one mechanism by which cancer cells could manage to repair their DNA when BRCA genes mutate and fail,\u201d says study co-author\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/chemistry.gatech.edu\/people\/vicki-wysocki\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EVicki Wysocki\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E,\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003Ewho is chair of the Georgia Tech\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/chemistry.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Chemistry and Biochemistry\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cBy capturing this process in detail, this study opens the door to understanding how those cancerous cells survive and how treatments might disrupt that mechanism.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EDesignated as a Breakthrough Article, the study\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/nar\/article\/54\/8\/gkag320\/8661651?login=false\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EMechanism of single-strand annealing from native mass spectrometry and cryo-EM structures of RAD52 homolog Mgm101\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E was recently published in \u003Cem\u003ENucleic Acids Research.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EIn addition to Wysocki, who is a professor in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/chemistry.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Chemistry and Biochemistry\u003C\/a\u003E and a professor emerita at Ohio State University, the Georgia Tech research team included co-first author\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EZihao Qi,\u003C\/strong\u003E a Ph.D. candidate in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sites.gatech.edu\/wysocki-group\/\u0022\u003EWysocki Lab\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EThey were joined by Ohio State researchers co-first author\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/osbp.osu.edu\/people\/wheat.35\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECarter Wheat\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E and senior author\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/medicine.osu.edu\/find-a-researcher\/charles-bell-100003449\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECharles Bell\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, who is a professor of biological chemistry and pharmacology in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/medicine.osu.edu\/news#\/search\/brac\u0022\u003ECollege of Medicine\u003C\/a\u003E. Additional authors include Metro High School student\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EMiqdad Hussain\u003C\/strong\u003E and\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.cas.org\/\u0022\u003ECAS\u003C\/a\u003E researcher \u003Cstrong\u003EKaterina Zakharova\u003C\/strong\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2 dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhen BRCA Fails\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003ENormally, BRCA genes help prevent cancer by acting as tumor suppressors \u2014 producing proteins that help repair broken DNA. When cancer cells lack the tumor-suppression function of normal BRCA genes, research has shown that a protein called RAD52 performs DNA repair.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003ESince RAD52 allows cancer cells to survive and replicate without tumor suppression, researchers have wondered if blocking it would kill the cancerous cells. Blocking RAD52, however, requires fully understanding its repair activities, which have been difficult to capture with even the most sophisticated techniques.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EDNA strands break every day in cells, which is why proteins exist to fix the breaks and keep cellular processes running smoothly, the team says. But because repairs must happen quickly and human proteins are often more complex than their ancestral counterparts, even the most advanced imaging equipment can\u2019t capture every step in the process.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EIn order to understand RAD52 better, the research team turned to its ancestral protein, Mgm101, to observe several key steps in its DNA repair process.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2 dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EA Clearer Image\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EThe team decided to leverage multiple types of imaging. Wysocki\u2019s lab at Georgia Tech conducted native mass spectrometry and mass photometry, using light to measure masses of protein-DNA complexes. The results showed that the ancestral protein Mgm101 assembled from a single copy of itself into a large multi-unit ring composed of 19 copies of the protein.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cThis ring is essentially a template,\u201d Wysocki explains. \u201cThe first strand of DNA can come down, and then the second strand comes on and starts being annealed to the first strand.\u201d Annealing occurs when two single strands of DNA come together to form the characteristic double helix structure.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EThe findings were supported by what Bell\u2019s lab determined using cryogenic electron microscopy, observing structures floating in solution and frozen in a thin layer of ice.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cRAD52 high-resolution structures have been determined with single-stranded DNA, but not with the two DNAs that it\u2019s trying to anneal,\u201d Bell says. \u201cIts job is to bind single-stranded DNA and anneal it to its complement sequence. It\u2019s been captured structurally, but only in a few states relevant to the reaction.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cHere, we have more of the states along the full pathway from substrate, to intermediate and product. And the duplex intermediate is a conformation that\u2019s never been seen before.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EPreviously, researchers were unsure if this DNA repair process used one protein ring or two rings working together, the team says. Their findings show that just one ring is used\u0026nbsp;\u2014 and that\u0026nbsp;this is likely consistent across different species.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2 dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPaths to Treatment\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003ENext, the team plans to try capturing the same phases of the DNA repair process with RAD52 from humans. A clearer understanding of how this family of proteins binds to DNA strands and coaxes them back together after a break provides insights for drug targets that could halt the process in cancer cells empowered by mutated BRCA genes, they say.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s still a proposed mechanism: Just because we see these snapshots of the process doesn\u2019t mean we know all the details, but we do have the best snapshots for any protein that does this single-strand annealing,\u201d says Bell. \u201cThis focuses our strategies for drug development.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EDOI:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1093\/nar\/gkag320\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003Ehttps:\/\/doi.org\/10.1093\/nar\/gkag320\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EFunding: This work was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. The cryo-EM data were collected at Ohio State\u2019s Center for Electron Microscopy and Analysis and processed using the Ohio Supercomputer Center.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe research captures detailed snapshots of a process that helps cancer cells survive \u2014 and may point to new treatments.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The research captures detailed snapshots of a process that helps cancer cells survive \u2014 and may point to new treatments."}],"uid":"35599","created_gmt":"2026-05-27 13:56:51","changed_gmt":"2026-06-05 16:50:08","author":"sperrin6","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-05-27T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-05-27T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680421":{"id":"680421","type":"image","title":"Vicki Wysocki","body":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EVicki Wysocki\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1780677825","gmt_created":"2026-06-05 16:43:45","changed":"1780677825","gmt_changed":"2026-06-05 16:43:45","alt":"Vicki Wysocki","file":{"fid":"264678","name":"Vicki-Wysocki.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/06\/05\/Vicki-Wysocki.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/06\/05\/Vicki-Wysocki.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":299719,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/06\/05\/Vicki-Wysocki.jpg?itok=coGCKGlG"}}},"media_ids":["680421"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/news.osu.edu\/best-snapshots-yet-of-dna-repair-protein-relevant-to-brca-mutations\/","title":"Best snapshots yet of DNA repair protein relevant to BRCA mutations"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"85951","name":"School of Chemistry and Biochemistry"}],"categories":[{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"140","name":"Cancer Research"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"192250","name":"cos-microbial"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"193653","name":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:sperrin6@gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESelena Langner\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch Writer \/ Editor\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech College of Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"690318":{"#nid":"690318","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Accelerating Discovery With AI ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EScientific discovery is often portrayed as the result of long hours alone in a lab, but true science is inherently collaborative. The most robust experimental processes are developed through partnerships across multiple areas of research. The need for specialized, multidisciplinary teams slows experiment design, execution, data analysis, and process updates, delaying technological validation and deployment. But if the increasingly automated tools scientists already use in the lab could contribute to this team process of experimental design, the timeline for these goals could be greatly accelerated.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis concept of \u201clab tool as lab assistant\u201d is the premise of a recent paper in \u003Cem\u003Enpj | Computational Materials\u003C\/em\u003E titled \u201cThinking Microscopes: Agentic AI and the Future of Electron Microscopy,\u201d by Vida Jamali, assistant professor the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Amirali Aghazadeh, assistant professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering; and Josh Kacher, associate professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the paper, the team introduces the concept of \u201cthinking electron microscopes,\u201d in which agentic AI systems are directly integrated with the instrument. This allows microscopes to move beyond their conventional role as characterization tools and toward functioning as co-scientists for human users.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDrawing on advances in specialized large language models, or LLMs, that demonstrate their ability to collaborate, reason over data, and integrate prior knowledge, the team envisions specialized LLM-based agents assigned to specific roles and areas of knowledge expertise. By explicitly incorporating domain knowledge into specialized agents and distributing information across multiple agents with focused expertise, the approach enables parallel evaluation of competing hypotheses, clearer separation of roles \u2014\u0026nbsp;such as planning, simulation, and critique \u2014 and more transparent and robust reasoning.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWithin the experimental pipeline, these agents can analyze materials\u2019 properties, physical data, chemical processes, and other relevant parameters. They could also collaborate with an agent that specializes in experimental design, refining iterative closed-loop experimentation, and real-time scientific discovery.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAlthough the research focuses on AI collaboration, the team notes that human researchers must retain accountability for the accuracy and integrity of both the experimental process and the results reported. This oversight begins with advocating for greater open access to research materials in all formats, building community-driven data repositories, and adopting standardization in how experimental parameters and metadata are reported. Equally important, researchers should be willing to report data from failed experiments as well as successful outcomes. Finally, organizations should work together to standardize secure APIs that enable shared, remote access to infrastructure across distances.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWe see this as a step toward scientific instruments that do more than acquire data; systems that can reason over experiments, adapt measurements, and participate in the scientific discovery process alongside researchers. - Vida Jamali,\u0026nbsp;assistant professor the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team is already developing these systems by connecting cloud-based, agentic infrastructures to microscopes at the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/matter-systems.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EInstitute for Matter and Systems at Georgia Tech\u003C\/a\u003E. With the addition of agentic AI, the goal is to accelerate discovery and engineering of new nanoscale materials for energy and quantum applications, as well as advance capabilities in cryo-electron microscopy and structural biology. These tools can optimize data collection, link real-time microscope observations with structural models of proteins, and dynamically adjust and prioritize experiments. The team sees this work as the first step toward the next generation of \u201cthinking\u201d electron microscopes, as well as an advancement in scientific discovery across domains.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;- Christa M. Ernst\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThis research is supported by the Institute for Data Engineering and Science and the Institute for Matter and Systems\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EOriginal Publication\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EJamali, V., Aghazadeh, A. \u0026amp; Kacher, J.\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41524-026-02077-y\u0022\u003EThinking microscopes: agentic AI and the future of electron microscopy.\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Cem\u003Enpj Computational Materials\u003C\/em\u003E 12, 149 (2026). https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41524-026-02077-y\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Automating Electron Microscopy Experimental Design With Agentic AI"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EScientific discovery is often portrayed as the result of long hours alone in a lab, but true science is inherently collaborative. The most robust experimental processes are developed through partnerships across multiple areas of research.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"New paper teams AI agents with microscopy tools to increase productivity in research processes."}],"uid":"27863","created_gmt":"2026-05-18 13:04:05","changed_gmt":"2026-05-18 19:16:22","author":"Christa Ernst","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-05-18T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-05-18T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680296":{"id":"680296","type":"image","title":"Accelerating-Mats-Discovery-with-AI-Main-Pic-Amelia-N.jpg","body":"\u003Cp\u003EA photo of Vida Jamali, assistant professor the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Amirali Aghazadeh, assistant professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering; and Josh Kacher, associate professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering standing in front of a TEM at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1779109455","gmt_created":"2026-05-18 13:04:15","changed":"1779109455","gmt_changed":"2026-05-18 13:04:15","alt":"Vida Jamali, assistant professor the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Amirali Aghazadeh, assistant professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering; and Josh Kacher, associate professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering.  Photo courtesy of Amelia Neumeister; Georgia Institute of Technology","file":{"fid":"264543","name":"Accelerating-Mats-Discovery-with-AI-Main-Pic-Amelia-N.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/05\/18\/Accelerating-Mats-Discovery-with-AI-Main-Pic-Amelia-N.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/05\/18\/Accelerating-Mats-Discovery-with-AI-Main-Pic-Amelia-N.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":4622660,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/05\/18\/Accelerating-Mats-Discovery-with-AI-Main-Pic-Amelia-N.jpg?itok=gH8M9NAb"}}},"media_ids":["680296"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"660369","name":"Matter and Systems"}],"categories":[{"id":"194606","name":"Artificial Intelligence"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187023","name":"go-data"},{"id":"194241","name":"Institute for Matter and Systems"},{"id":"192863","name":"go-ai"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"193655","name":"Artificial Intelligence at Georgia Tech"},{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"},{"id":"193652","name":"Matter and Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EChrista M. Ernst - \u003C\/strong\u003EResearch Communications Program Manager | Klaus Advance Computing Building 1120E | 266 Ferst Drive | Atlanta GA | 30332 | christa.ernst@research.gatech.edu\u003C\/div\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"690119":{"#nid":"690119","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Biology Faculty Named Searle Scholar","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/people\/saumya-jain\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESaumya Jain\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, assistant professor in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E, has been named a 2026 Searle Scholar and awarded a $450,000 research grant. His research focuses on how connections in the brain form during development and what goes wrong in conditions such as autism and schizophrenia.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EJain is one of 15 scientists selected this year for \u201ctheir promise to change their fields by solving nature\u2019s puzzles in a broad range of fields and develop next-generation technologies that can reveal biological function,\u201d according to a\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/searlescholars.org\/2026\/04\/29\/searle-scholars-program-names-15-scientists-as-searle-scholars-for-2026\/\u0022\u003ESearle Scholars Program press release\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cWe are honored to be part of the Searle Scholars Program,\u201d Jain says. \u201cFor a young lab with ambitious goals, this kind of recognition means everything. It gives us the confidence and resources to pursue high-risk, high-reward questions that could one day make a real difference for people affected by neurodevelopmental disorders.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EJain received his Ph.D. in molecular and cellular biology from the University of Arizona and completed his postdoctoral work at the University of California, Los Angeles. He joined Georgia Tech in 2024.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESaumya Jain, assistant professor in the\u0026nbsp;School of Biological Sciences, has received a grant from the Searle Scholars Program.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Saumya Jain, assistant professor in the\u00a0School of Biological Sciences, has received a grant from the Searle Scholars Program."}],"uid":"36583","created_gmt":"2026-05-04 17:16:00","changed_gmt":"2026-05-12 19:11:21","author":"lvidal7","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-05-05T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-05-05T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680155":{"id":"680155","type":"image","title":"Saumya Jain","body":null,"created":"1777915309","gmt_created":"2026-05-04 17:21:49","changed":"1777915309","gmt_changed":"2026-05-04 17:21:49","alt":"Saumya Jain stands in front of plants","file":{"fid":"264397","name":"Saumya-Jain.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/05\/04\/Saumya-Jain.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/05\/04\/Saumya-Jain.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":577179,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/05\/04\/Saumya-Jain.jpg?itok=3UIiedV8"}}},"media_ids":["680155"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.thejainlab.com\/","title":"The Jain Lab"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"66220","name":"Neuro"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"}],"categories":[{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"192249","name":"cos-community"},{"id":"192253","name":"cos-neuro"},{"id":"166882","name":"School of Biological Sciences"},{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"172970","name":"go-neuro"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"690170":{"#nid":"690170","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Emily Weigel Receives National Award for Excellence in Ecology Education","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EIn recognition of her\u0026nbsp;extraordinary teaching, outreach, and mentoring activities,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/people\/emily-weigel\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EEmily Weigel\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E has been awarded the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/esa.org\/about\/awards\/eugene-p-odum-award-for-excellence-in-ecology-education\/\u0022\u003EEugene P. Odum Award for Excellence in Ecology Education\u003C\/a\u003E by the Ecological Society of America (ESA).\u0026nbsp;Each year, the award celebrates a singleone individual\u2019s sustained, outstanding work in ecology education.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cI\u2019m honored to receive the 2026 Odum Award,\u201d says Weigel, who is a senior academic professional in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cGeorgia Tech is widely recognized for its research excellence, but teaching is mission-critical to the ways we serve the public good. This award reflects the incredible work happening in our classes and communities that drives science, and science education, forward.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EWeigel is among 10 individuals selected nationwide for annual ESA awards. \u201cThis year\u2019s award recipients have each contributed something important to ecology, often in very different ways,\u201d says ESA President\u003Cstrong\u003E Peter Groffman\u003C\/strong\u003E. \u201cThese are ecologists whose efforts have shaped the field, supported colleagues and created opportunities for others. I\u2019m glad to see that kind of work acknowledged.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3 dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EAbout Emily Weigel\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EWeigel\u2019s work focuses on improving biology education by examining how student backgrounds, values, and instructional practices shape learning outcomes. Her impact spans K\u201312 students, undergraduates, graduates, and members of the Atlanta community.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EKnown for her teaching innovations, she has pioneered new courses in biology, ecology, and statistics, and is also a leader in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/vip.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EVertically Integrated Projects program\u003C\/a\u003E at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EFrom studying the dynamics of flu, to using drone aerial footage to monitor Georgia Tech\u2019s changing landscape, to a long-term project monitoring the trees of the Campus Arboretum, Weigel shares that \u201cstudents thrive when they develop skills through real-world experiences.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EWeigel has also creatively infused the traditional \u201cnature\u201d topics and fieldwork found in ecology curricula with modern technology and programming skills used in research. \u201cEffectively introducing professional skills, like programming in the language R, is innovative nationally,\u201d she says. By making R, an open-source programming language, more accessible, \u201cwe\u2019re preparing undergraduates for success in graduate school and their careers, and empowering them to learn other programming languages in the future.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EIn addition to teaching, Weigel plays a central role in mentoring and supporting students across the Institute.\u0026nbsp;She serves as the undergraduate academic advisor for around one-sixth of Georgia Tech\u2019s Biology majors, mentors graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants, and is\u0026nbsp;an instructor for the \u201cTech to Teaching\u201d capstone course in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cetl.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECenter for Teaching and Learning\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe award celebrates Weigel\u0027s sustained, outstanding work in ecology education.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The award celebrates Weigel\u0027s sustained, outstanding work in ecology education."}],"uid":"35599","created_gmt":"2026-05-06 14:54:00","changed_gmt":"2026-05-06 16:03:47","author":"sperrin6","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-05-06T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-05-06T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"675732":{"id":"675732","type":"image","title":"Emily Weigel, School of Biological Sciences","body":null,"created":"1732636877","gmt_created":"2024-11-26 16:01:17","changed":"1732636877","gmt_changed":"2024-11-26 16:01:17","alt":"Emily Weigel, School of Biological Sciences","file":{"fid":"259393","name":"Emily Weigel.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/11\/26\/Emily%20Weigel.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/11\/26\/Emily%20Weigel.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1688447,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/11\/26\/Emily%20Weigel.jpg?itok=3q5Ssysf"}}},"media_ids":["675732"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/esa.org\/blog\/2026\/05\/06\/ecological-society-of-america-announces-2026-award-recipients\/","title":"Ecological Society of America announces 2026 award recipients"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"}],"categories":[{"id":"42901","name":"Community"},{"id":"42911","name":"Education"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"194611","name":"State Impact"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"192249","name":"cos-community"},{"id":"187423","name":"go-bio"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"193653","name":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"},{"id":"39511","name":"Public Service, Leadership, and Policy"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWritten by:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:sperrin6@gatech.edu\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESelena Langner\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr\u003ECollege of Sciences\u003Cbr\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}