Published today in the journal Nature Communications, the paper “Trivalent Titanium in High-Titanium Lunar Ilmenite” confirms titanium in a reduced, trivalent state in a black, metal-rich lunar mineral called ilmenite. It’s a state only possible in low-oxygen environments, conditions researchers refer to as “reducing.”
“Models have suggested that these reducing conditions may have varied at different locations and times across the surface of the Moon,” says lead author Advik Vira, a graduate student in the School of Physics who recently earned his doctoral degree. “We hope our microscopy technique can be a valuable step in mapping and understanding the Moon’s 4.5-billion-year history.”
The team anticipates that their technique could be used on many of the lunar samples collected more than 50 years ago by the Apollo missions in addition to the Apollo Next Generation Samples — a group of lunar samples that have been stored under pristine conditions — and new samples from the planned Artemis missions, with Artemis II slated for launch this spring. The technique might also be applicable to samples collected from the far side of the Moon and returned in 2024 by the Chang’e-6 mission.
“The Moon holds clues not only to its own past, but also to the earliest eras of Earth’s evolution — history that has long since been erased from our planet,” Vira says. “This study is a step toward understanding the history of both and a reminder that there is still so much left to learn from the lunar rocks we’ve brought back to Earth.”
The School of Physics research team included corresponding authors Vira and Professor Phillip First; in addition to graduate student Roshan Trivedi; undergraduate students Gabriella Dotson, Keyes Eames, Dean Kim, and Emma Livernois; and Professor Zhigang Jiang, along with Institute for Matter and Systems Materials Characterization Facility Senior Research Scientist Mengkun Tian; School of Chemistry and Biochemistry Senior Research Scientist Brant Jones and Thom Orlando, Regents' Professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry with a joint appointment in the School of Physics.
The Georgia Tech team was joined by Addis Energy Senior Geochemist Katherine Burgess; Macalester College Assistant Professor of Geology Emily First; along with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Research Scientist Harrison Lisabeth, Senior Scientist Nobumichi Tamura, and Postdoctoral Fellow Tyler Farr, who recently earned a Ph.D. from Georgia Tech’s George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering.
The investigation began with a dark gray rock called a lunar basalt. Formed when ancient magma erupted on the Moon’s surface, minerals crystallized as it cooled — preserving key information in their structures. Billions of years later, the rock was brought to Earth by the 1972 Apollo 17 mission, where a small piece is now stored at Georgia Tech’s Center for Lunar Environment and Volatile Exploration Research (CLEVER), a NASA Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI) center led by Orlando.
As a NASA virtual institute, CLEVER supports researchers exploring lunar conditions and developing tools for the upcoming crewed Artemis missions, and provided the lunar samples for this research. The SSERVI also plays a critical role in training the next generation of planetary researchers: both Vira and Farr earned their Ph.D.s while on the CLEVER team.
“At CLEVER, we are very interested in understanding the impacts of space weathering,” Vira says. “We implemented modern sample preparation and advanced microscopy techniques to image samples at the atomic level, and were curious to apply it more broadly to the collection of Apollo rocks in the Orlando Lab. This sample caught our attention.”
“When we imaged an ilmenite crystal from the lunar basalt, what struck us first was how uniform and perfect the crystal structure was,” he recalls. “We found no defects from space weathering and instead saw an undamaged, pristine crystal — undisturbed for 3.8 billion years.”
To investigate further, the team analyzed small chips of the rock with Burgess, a member of the RISE2 SSERVI team and then a geologist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. Using state-of-the-art electron microscopy and spectroscopy techniques, Vira determined the oxidation state of the elements in the ilmenite present.
In spectroscopy measurements, each element leaves a distinct ‘signature,’ Vira explains. “When we brought our results back to Georgia Tech’s Materials Characterization Facility, Mengkun (Tian) noticed something unusual: the signature showed titanium might be present in the trivalent state.”
The presence of trivalent titanium had long been suspected in this lunar mineral. The team was intrigued.
With funding from Georgia Tech’s Center for Space Technology and Research (CSTAR), Vira returned to the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory to analyze additional samples. The results confirmed that more titanium was present than the mineral’s formula (FeTiO₃) predicts — indicating a portion of the titanium present was trivalent.
“That led me to place our measurements in terms of the broader geological context,” Vira shares. Working with First, Vira explored how ilmenite with trivalent titanium could help reconstruct the nature of ancient magmas from the Moon, especially the chemical availability of oxygen.
“Because its location on the Moon was noted during the Apollo mission, we know exactly where this rock is from, and we can determine how old the rock is,” he explains. “When coupled with our trivalent titanium measurements, we can use that information to estimate the reducing conditions for this specific region at the specific time our rock formed.”
If the upcoming Artemis missions return samples suitable for the team’s technique, these rocks could provide a new window into ancient lunar geology. The research also highlights that many lunar samples already on Earth could be reexamined to look for trivalent titanium.
“There is still so much to learn from the lunar samples we have already brought to Earth,” Vira says. “It’s a testament to the long-term value of each sample return mission. As technology continues to advance, this type of work will continue to give us critical insights into our planet and our place in the universe for years to come.”
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-69770-w
Funding: This work was directly supported by the NASA SSERVI under CLEVER. Researchers were also supported by the NASA RISE2 SSERVI and the Heising-Simons Foundation. Funding for collaborations between the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and Georgia Tech for the investigation of lunar minerals was provided by the Georgia Tech Center for Space Technology and Research. Sample preparation was performed at the Georgia Tech Institute for Matter and Systems, which is supported by the National Science Foundation. This work utilized the resources of the Advanced Light Source, a user facility supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, and was supported in part by previous breakthroughs obtained through the Laboratory Direct.
]]>Selena Langner
College of Sciences
Georgia Institute of Technology
Amino acids also play a critical role commercially where they are manufactured and added to pharmaceuticals, dietary supplements, cosmetics, animal feeds, and industrial chemicals — an energy-intensive process leading to greenhouse gas emissions, resource consumption, and pollution.
A landmark new system developed at Georgia Tech could lead to an alternative: a commercially scalable, environmentally sustainable method for amino acid production that is carbon negative, using more carbon than it emits.
The breakthrough builds on a method that the team pioneered in 2024 and solves a key issue – increasing efficiency to an unprecedented 97% and reducing the bioprocess cost by over 40%. It’s the highest reported conversion of CO2 equivalents into amino acids using any synthetic biology system to date.
Published in the journal ACS Synthetic Biology, the study, “Cell-Free-Based Thermophilic Biocatalyst for the Synthesis of Amino Acids From One-Carbon Feedstocks,” was led by Bioengineering Ph.D. student Ray Westenberg and Professor Pamela Peralta-Yahya, who holds joint appointments in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. The team also included Shaafique Chowdhury (Ph.D. ChBE 25) and Kimberly Wennerholm (ChBE 23); alongside University of Washington collaborators Ryan Cardiff, then a Ph.D. student and now a Chain Reaction Innovations Fellow at Argonne National Laboratory, and Charles W. H. Matthaei Endowed Professor in Chemical Engineering James M. Carothers; in addition to Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Synthetic Biology Team Leader Alexander S. Beliaev.
"This work shifts the narrative from simply reducing carbon emissions to actually consuming them to create value,” says Peralta-Yahya. “We are taking low-cost carbon sources and building essential ingredients in a truly carbon-negative process that is efficient, effective, and scalable.”
The work builds on the cell-free technology the team used in their earlier study. “Previously, we discovered that a system that uses the machinery of cells, without using actual living cells, could be used to create amino acids from carbon dioxide,” Peralta-Yahya explains. “But to create a commercially viable system, we needed to increase the system’s efficiency and reduce the cost.”
The team discovered that bits of leftover cells were consuming starting materials, and — like a machine with unnecessary gears or parts — this limited the system’s efficiency. To optimize their “machine,” the team would need to remove the extra background machinery.
"Leftover cell parts were using key resources without helping produce the amino acids we were looking for,” says Peralta-Yahya. “We knew that heating the system could be one way to purify it because heat can denature these components.”
The challenge was in how to protect the essential system components from the high temperatures, she adds. “We wondered if introducing enzymes produced by a heat-loving bacterium, Moorella thermoacetica, might protect our system, while still allowing us to denature and remove that inefficient background machinery.”
The results were astounding: after introducing the enzymes, heating and “cleaning” the system, and letting it cool to room temperature, synthesis of the amino acids serine and glycine leaped to 97% yield — nearly three times that of the team’s previous system.
To make the system viable for large-scale use, the team also needed to reduce costs. “One of the most costly components in this system is the cofactor tetrahydrofolate (THF),” Peralta-Yahya shares. “Reducing the amount of THF needed to start the process was one way to make the system more inexpensive and ultimately more commercially viable.”
By linking reaction steps so waste from one step fueled the next, the team devised a method to recycle THF within the system that reduces the amount of THF needed by five-fold — lowering bioprocessing costs by 42%.
“This decrease in cost and increase in yield is a critical step forward in creating a method with real potential for use in industry and manufacturing,” Peralta-Yahya says. “This system could pave the way for moving this carbon-negative technology out of the lab and onto the continuous, industrial scale."
Funding: The Advanced Research Project Agency-Energy (ARPA-E); U.S. Department of Energy; and the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research Program.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acssynbio.5c00352
]]>Selena Langner
College of Sciences
Georgia Institute of Technology
“I’m thrilled to see Professor Sherrill tackle this role for the coming 5 years. He understands the rapidly evolving opportunities to apply AI and data science approaches to the diversity of research conducted by Georgia Tech faculty and students, and has a strong agenda to help our researchers make the most of this explosive change in the research landscape.” Said V.P. of Interdisciplinary Research, Julia Kubanek. “He also has deep experience with team building and management which will position IDEaS favorably.”
As executive director, Sherrill will guide IDEaS’ current initiatives, which include the Microsoft CloudHub program that supports innovative applications in Generative Artificial Intelligence, and provide oversight and support for the joint College of Computing / IDEaS Center for Artificial Intelligence in Science and Engineering (ARTISAN), which provides Georgia Tech faculty and research engineers expert support staff, needed cyberinfrastructure, software resources, and advice to assist faculty with projects using large data sets or using AI and machine learning to drive discovery.
Sherrill will also the lead the launch of a new strategic vision, emphasizing the Georgia Tech research community’s expertise in the development of AI and ML techniques and their application to problems in science and engineering, high performance computing, and academic software. Sherrill will focus on internal and external partnerships at IDEaS, creating new collaborative efforts in areas such as economics, policy, and the arts and humanities. He will also work to strengthen current connections across Georgia Tech’s Colleges, Interdisciplinary Research Institutes (IRIs), and the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI).
“It’s a great honor to be named the next executive director of IDEaS,” said Sherrill. “Georgia Tech has world-class faculty and students, and an unparalleled spirit of collaboration. By bringing together faculty from across campus and working together with some of the amazing student groups, we can leverage the power of AI to accelerate our research and maximize our impact. IDEaS will continue to run upskilling workshops to help our campus keep pace with the rapid changes in AI.”
Sherrill is an active promoter of education in computational quantum chemistry, as well as a strong voice for the benefits of open-source software for research acceleration. He was named Outreach Volunteer of the Year by the Georgia Section of the American Chemical Society in 2017, and he is the lead principal investigator of the Psi open-source quantum chemistry program.
Sherrill earned a B.S. in chemistry from MIT in 1992 and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Georgia in 1996. From 1996-1999 Sherril was an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley.
Sherrill is Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the American Chemical Society, and the American Physical Society, and he has been Associate Editor of the Journal of Chemical Physics since 2009. Sherrill has received a Camille and Henry Dreyfus New Faculty Award, the International Journal of Quantum Chemistry Young Investigator Award, an NSF CAREER Award, and Georgia Tech's W. Howard Ector Outstanding Teacher Award. In 2023, he received the Herty Medal from the Georgia Section of the American Chemical Society, and in 2024, he was elected to the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science.
- Christa M. Ernst
]]>“This year’s class is a truly impressive cohort,” said Paul R. Sanberg, FNAI, president of NAI. “I commend them on their incredible pursuits, and I’m honored to welcome them to the Academy.”
Raman is a physicist, inventor, and technology entrepreneur whose work is helping shape the future of quantum sensing. As the Dunn Family Professor of Physics, he studies how atoms behave at extremely low temperatures and uses that knowledge to build new kinds of ultra-precise measurement devices.
Best known for the co-invention of chip‑scale atomic beam technology — a breakthrough that makes it possible to build tiny quantum sensors for navigation and timing — Raman and his team’s patented devices can operate where GPS fails. These inventions form the foundation for a new generation of manufactured quantum hardware, offering new capabilities for autonomous vehicles, aerospace systems, and national security.
To bring these technologies from the lab to real-world use, he founded 8Seven8, Inc.:
“By launching 8Seven8 as the first quantum hardware company in Georgia, we are creating high-tech jobs, building a skilled workforce pipeline, and seeding a quantum ecosystem in the Southeast that will see lasting economic benefits,” explains Raman. “We seek to establish the region as a player in the rapidly expanding quantum technology economy.”
He is the principal investigator for the Raman Lab, a Fellow of the American Physical Society, a frequent invited speaker at international conferences, and an advisor to national and space-based quantum initiatives. Raman holds six patents, including three issued U.S. patents and two licensed patents. Through his research, mentorship, and entrepreneurial leadership, he is working to advance scientific discovery and the development of practical technologies with lasting impact.
“This award is the culmination of years of effort in developing innovative approaches to bringing quantum sensing out of the lab,” says Raman. “The NAI is chock-full of wonderful inventors, and I am privileged to be among them. Through this award, I hope to bring useful inventions out of the lab and promote Georgia as a great place to be an entrepreneur.”
Azoulay is the Georgia Research Alliance Vasser-Woolley Distinguished Investigator in Optoelectronics and the principal investigator for the Azoulay Group. His research has pioneered the development of new classes of functional materials and made field-leading advancements in core areas spanning:
· Homogeneous catalysis applied to polymer synthesis
· Electronic, photonic, spin, magnetic, and quantum materials
· Device fabrication and engineering
· Chemical sensing for environmental monitoring
· Synthesis, application, and engineering of high-performance polymers across multiple technology platforms.
Azoulay has demonstrated new classes of organic semiconductors with infrared functionality by exploiting new light-matter interactions, analyzing emergent transport phenomena, and understanding device physics, functionality, and engineering considerations. His work has resulted in nine issued patents and many additional applications.
Additionally, he is the principal investigator for two multi-million-dollar National Science Foundation (NSF) grants. The first grant harnesses an underused part of the electromagnetic spectrum for energy sensing, manufacturing, and more. His team creates organic polymers that can efficiently convert infrared radiation into electrical signals and develop the materials into functional devices. The initiative is the NSF’s principal vehicle to continue the momentum of the decade-long Materials Genome Initiative and takes advantage of the power of machine learning and chemical synthesis to develop new functional materials.
The second NSF-funded program develops CP-based optical and electrical sensing platforms that operate in complex aqueous environments and enable the detection and discrimination of challenging analytes known to negatively impact human, biota, and ecosystem health.
Azoulay holds a joint appointment in the School of Materials Science and Engineering and leads Georgia Tech’s Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics (COPE). COPE-affiliated faculty create flexible organic photonic and electronic materials and devices that serve the information technology, telecommunications, energy, and defense sectors.
]]>The project, inspired by an Atlanta Science Festival event hosted by School of Chemistry and Biochemistry Assistant Professor Andrew McShan, develops an innovative outreach and teaching module around nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques, and is designed for easy adoption in introductory chemistry and biochemistry courses.
Published earlier this year in the Journal of Chemical Education, the study, “Automated Chemical Profiling of Wine by Solution NMR Spectroscopy: A Demonstration for Outreach and Education” was led by a team from the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry including lead author McShan, Ph.D. students Lily Capeci, Elizabeth A. Corbin, Ruoqing Jia, Miriam K. Simma, and F. N. U. Vidya, Academic Professional Mary E. Peek, and Georgia Tech NMR Center Co-Directors Johannes E. Leisen and Hongwei Wu.
“NMR is one of the most widely used analytical tools in chemistry and the life sciences, and Georgia Tech hosts one of the most cutting-edge NMR centers in the world,” McShan says. “Our study shows that you don’t need advanced training to appreciate how powerful tools like NMR work and how those tools are used in research.”
All materials, tutorials, and data are freely available via online tutorials and a YouTube video, enabling educators to replicate or adapt the activity even in settings with limited access to NMR facilities.
From families with K-12 students to undergraduates to adults with no prior chemistry experience, nearly 130 visitors explored wine chemistry at the Georgia Tech NMR Center during the Atlanta Science Festival event. With McShan’s guidance, they identified and quantified more than 70 chemical components that influence wine taste, aroma, and quality by analyzing the chemical composition, structure, and dynamics of molecules.
Taking on the role of wine investigators (a real-world application of NMR), the group investigated examples of wine fraud, learning to identify harmful additives like methanol, antifreeze, and lead acetate – additives that played roles in both historical and modern wine scandals.
“By connecting the science to something familiar like wine, we were able to spark curiosity and excitement across age groups,” says McShan. “This a framework for how complex analytical techniques can be made inclusive, interactive, and inspiring whether in the classroom or at a science festival.”
The study underscores the potential of NMR and other powerful technologies as outreach opportunities – from engaging the public to better teaching undergraduate students.
“After the event, adults said they learned how chemical composition affects wine characteristics and how NMR is used in research and industry,” McShan says. “Younger participants learned key concepts about wine composition and found benefits from the sensory elements, like watching the spectrometer in action.”
They aim to use these takeaways to continue developing outreach tools. “My end goal is to develop NMR into a practical teaching tool by grounding the technique in real-world examples,” adds McShan. “Using this approach is a clear avenue to introducing the general public to the world-class instruments used by researchers at Georgia Tech and exposing undergraduate students to the powerful analytical techniques they are likely to encounter throughout their careers.”
Funding: National Science Foundation
]]>When centimeter-long aquatic worms, such as T. tubifex or Lumbriculus variegatus, are placed in a Petri dish filled with sub-millimeter sized sand particles, something surprising happens. Over time, the worms begin to spontaneously clean up their surroundings. They sweep particles into compact clusters, gradually reshaping and organizing their environment.
In a study recently published in Physical Review X, a team of researchers show that this remarkable sweeping behavior does not require a brain, or any kind of complex interaction between the worms and the particles. Instead, it emerges from the natural undulating motion and flexibility that the worms possess.
The study was co-led by Saad Bhamla, associate professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Antoine Deblais of the University of Amsterdam.
Deblais said: “It is fascinating to see how living worms can organize their surroundings just by moving.” Bhamla added: “Their activity and flexibility alone are enough to collect particles and reshape their environment.”
By building simple robotic and computer models that mimic the living worms, the researchers discovered that only these two ingredients – activity and flexibility – are sufficient to reproduce the sweeping and collecting effects. The result is a self-organized, dynamic form of environmental restructuring driven purely by motion and shape.
Order emerges
The results do not just teach us a surprising lesson about worms. Understanding how these organisms spontaneously collect particles has much broader implications. On the technological side, what the researchers have learned could inspire the design of soft robots that clean or sort materials without needing sensors or pre-programmed intelligence.
Such robots, like the worms, would simply move and let order emerge from motion. “Brainless” machines of this sort could perhaps one day help remove microplastics or sediments from aquatic environments, or perform complex tasks in unpredictable terrains.
From a biological perspective, the results also offer insights into how elongated living organisms – not just worms, but also filamentous bacteria, or cytoskeletal filaments – can structure and modify their own habitats through simple physical interactions. Understanding this structuring and modifying behaviour has been a central question for, e.g., earthworms in their role in soil aeration.
From a biological perspective, the results also offer insights into how elongated living organisms – not just worms, but also filamentous bacteria, or cytoskeletal filaments – can structure and modify their own habitats through simple physical interactions. Understanding this structuring and modifying behaviour has been a central question for, e.g., earthworms in their role in soil aeration.
Team effort
This project grew out of curiosity about how living systems shape their environment without centralized control. Initial experiments with worms, conducted by Harry Tuazon (Bioengineering PhD 2024) at Georgia Tech, showed the unexpected particle collection patterns. This led the team to attempt to reproduce the behavior using robotic and simulated counterparts – something that worked surprisingly well. In the project, experimentalists and theorists worked side by side, allowing the team to uncover the physical principles behind this seemingly purposeful behavior.
Co-first author Rosa Sinaasappel conducted the robot experiments at the University of Amsterdam. “By mimicking the worms’ motion with simple brainless robots connected by flexible rubber links, we could pinpoint the two ingredients that are essential for the sweeping mechanism,” she said.
Co-first author Prathyusha Kokkoorakunnel Ramankutty, a research scientist in the Bhamla Lab at Georgia Tech, performed the computer simulations of the behavior. “Our computational model, built on simple ingredients like propulsion and flexibility, shows that this principle works across different scales and can be adapted for new designs, as demonstrated by a soft robotic sweeper that autonomously ‘cleans’ and reorganizes particles without programmed intelligence,” she explained.
The researchers will continue to investigate this type of behaviour in the future. While a mathematical model of active sweeping is now presented in a simple form, many challenging questions raised by this complex system remain open for theoreticians.
Multiple groups of students helped greatly with the robot experiments, doing projects in the lab. Their efforts ranged from performing the experiments to replacing the in total about 200 batteries, after perhaps one of the most difficult tasks: wrestling them free from the child-proof packaging.
CITATION:
Particle Sweeping and Collection by Active and Living Filaments, Sinaasappel, R., Prathyusha, K. R., Tuazon, Harry, Mirzahossein, E., Illien, P., Bhamla, Saad, and A. Deblais. Physical Review X (2026)
“The School of Chemistry and Biochemistry is thrilled to see that Neha Garg is included in the current WCC Rising Star cohort,” says School of Chemistry and Biochemistry Chair and Professor Vicki Wysocki. “She is richly deserving of this award, given her excellent work on the interactions between eukaryotes (e.g., humans) and the microbiome.”
Garg obtained her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and conducted postdoctoral research at UC San Diego (UCSD)'s Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. She has been at Georgia Tech since 2017.
“This award is a tremendous source of personal pride as it acknowledges my lab’s hard work in the field of microbial chemistry,” says Garg. “It’s especially meaningful that it's a WCC award because it serves as a powerful platform for me to inspire young women.”
She adds that visibility remains essential for advancing women in STEM.
“Imposter syndrome is real, so awards like this are important for women in science,” explains Garg. “I’m grateful this recognition exists, and I’m proud and happy to be honored.”
As part of the Rising Star Award, Garg will be honored at a WCC luncheon and deliver a scientific talk highlighting her career path and current research at the ACS Spring 2026 Meeting in March.
Garg’s lab studies the chemistry that underlies crosstalk between the human microbiome and its host. The microbiome includes vast communities of bacteria living on and inside the body — from the skin and mouth to the gut, reproductive system, and lungs. Her group examines how these microbes and human tissues exchange information through small molecules.
“Our work aims to understand the chemistry of collaboration between the microbiome and its host,” says Garg. “We focus on the lungs and airways, studying how epithelial cells and microbial communities interact through nutrients and microbial compounds. These molecules form a chemical dialogue, and my lab builds models to decode and investigate it.”
By mapping this communication network, Garg hopes to shape future therapeutic strategies.
“Understanding collaboration between the microbiome and the host will help develop microbiome-targeted therapies,” she explains. “These therapeutics could prevent respiratory infections, promote the growth of beneficial bacteria, limit harmful bacteria, or influence host tissues in ways that improve health.”
Her work also extends to marine systems. Garg’s team studies similar chemical interactions between microbes and corals, offering insight into ecosystem resilience and ocean health.
Garg was co-nominated by Pieter Dorrestein, professor at UCSD’s Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Bradley Moore, distinguished professor of marine chemical biology and director of the Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine at UCSD’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Moore also serves as a distinguished professor at the UCSD Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
“She’s a multidisciplinary wizard leading a revolution in functional metabolomics,” says Moore. “Neha gives me great hope for a better tomorrow in science.”
“Neha is a remarkable scientist taking on deeply compelling questions in metabolic communication,” adds Dorrestein. “Her leadership, integrity, and commitment to mentorship make her a true role model for emerging scientists.”
Garg has earned numerous honors throughout her career, including the Royal Society of Chemistry's 2024 Natural Product Reports Emerging Investigator Lectureship Award, the 2023 ACS Academic Young Investigator Award from the Division of Organic Chemistry, Georgia Tech’s 2022 Junior Faculty Teaching Excellence Award, and a 2021 NSF CAREER Award. While working on her Ph.D. at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, she received the Anne A. Johnson Work Award for Excellence in Biochemistry, which recognizes one female student per year for excellence in Ph.D. thesis research.
Garg credits her experience at Georgia Tech — and the Institute’s strong support of women in STEM — for shaping her path as a scientist and mentor. She praises the collaborative environment, helpful colleagues, and the number of women in leadership roles. Garg also appreciates the work of Georgia Tech organizations such as Women+ in Chemistry and the Center for the Study of Women, Science, and Technology.
“Georgia Tech provides a supportive, collegial, and respectful environment where women in STEM can thrive and truly make a difference,” says Garg.
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Students and faculty from the School of Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) are leading the Georgia Tech contingent at the SIAM Conference on Computational Science and Engineering (CSE25). The Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) organizes CSE25, occurring March 3-7 in Fort Worth, Texas.
At CSE25, the School of CSE researchers are presenting papers that apply computing approaches to varying fields, including:
[Related: GT CSE at SIAM CSE25 Interactive Graphic]
“In CSE, researchers from different disciplines work together to develop new computational methods that we could not have developed alone,” said School of CSE Professor Edmond Chow.
“These methods enable new science and engineering to be performed using computation.”
CSE is a discipline dedicated to advancing computational techniques to study and analyze scientific and engineering systems. CSE complements theory and experimentation as modes of scientific discovery.
Held every other year, CSE25 is the primary conference for the SIAM Activity Group on Computational Science and Engineering (SIAG CSE). School of CSE faculty serve in key roles in leading the group and preparing for the conference.
In December, SIAG CSE members elected Chow to a two-year term as the group’s vice chair. This election comes after Chow completed a term as the SIAG CSE program director.
School of CSE Associate Professor Elizabeth Cherry has co-chaired the CSE25 organizing committee since the last conference in 2023. Later that year, SIAM members reelected Cherry to a second, three-year term as a council member at large.
At Georgia Tech, Chow serves as the associate chair of the School of CSE. Cherry, who recently became the associate dean for graduate education of the College of Computing, continues as the director of CSE programs.
“With our strong emphasis on developing and applying computational tools and techniques to solve real-world problems, researchers in the School of CSE are well positioned to serve as leaders in computational science and engineering both within Georgia Tech and in the broader professional community,” Cherry said.
Georgia Tech’s School of CSE was first organized as a division in 2005, becoming one of the world’s first academic departments devoted to the discipline. The division reorganized as a school in 2010 after establishing the flagship CSE Ph.D. and M.S. programs, hiring nine faculty members, and attaining substantial research funding.
Ten School of CSE faculty members are presenting research at CSE25, representing one-third of the School’s faculty body. Of the 23 accepted papers written by Georgia Tech researchers, 15 originate from School of CSE authors.
The list of School of CSE researchers, paper titles, and abstracts includes:
Bayesian Optimal Design Accelerates Discovery of Material Properties from Bubble Dynamics
Postdoctoral Fellow Tianyi Chu, Joseph Beckett, Bachir Abeid, and Jonathan Estrada (University of Michigan), Assistant Professor Spencer Bryngelson
[Abstract]
Latent-EnSF: A Latent Ensemble Score Filter for High-Dimensional Data Assimilation with Sparse Observation Data
Ph.D. student Phillip Si, Assistant Professor Peng Chen
[Abstract]
A Goal-Oriented Quadratic Latent Dynamic Network Surrogate Model for Parameterized Systems
Yuhang Li, Stefan Henneking, Omar Ghattas (University of Texas at Austin), Assistant Professor Peng Chen
[Abstract]
Posterior Covariance Structures in Gaussian Processes
Yuanzhe Xi (Emory University), Difeng Cai (Southern Methodist University), Professor Edmond Chow
[Abstract]
Robust Digital Twin for Geological Carbon Storage
Professor Felix Herrmann, Ph.D. student Abhinav Gahlot, alumnus Rafael Orozco (Ph.D. CSE-CSE 2024), alumnus Ziyi (Francis) Yin (Ph.D. CSE-CSE 2024), and Ph.D. candidate Grant Bruer
[Abstract]
Industry-Scale Uncertainty-Aware Full Waveform Inference with Generative Models
Rafael Orozco, Ph.D. student Tuna Erdinc, alumnus Mathias Louboutin (Ph.D. CS-CSE 2020), and Professor Felix Herrmann
[Abstract]
Optimizing Coupled Systems: Insights from Co-Design Imaging and Optical Chemistry
Assistant Professor Raphaël Pestourie, Wenchao Ma and Steven Johnson (MIT), Lu Lu (Yale University), Zin Lin (Virginia Tech)
[Abstract]
Multifidelity Linear Regression for Scientific Machine Learning from Scarce Data
Assistant Professor Elizabeth Qian, Ph.D. student Dayoung Kang, Vignesh Sella, Anirban Chaudhuri and Anirban Chaudhuri (University of Texas at Austin)
[Abstract]
LyapInf: Data-Driven Estimation of Stability Guarantees for Nonlinear Dynamical Systems
Ph.D. candidate Tomoki Koike and Assistant Professor Elizabeth Qian
[Abstract]
The Information Geometric Regularization of the Euler Equation
Alumnus Ruijia Cao (B.S. CS 2024), Assistant Professor Florian Schäfer
[Abstract]
Maximum Likelihood Discretization of the Transport Equation
Ph.D. student Brook Eyob, Assistant Professor Florian Schäfer
[Abstract]
Intelligent Attractors for Singularly Perturbed Dynamical Systems
Daniel A. Serino (Los Alamos National Laboratory), Allen Alvarez Loya (University of Colorado Boulder), Joshua W. Burby, Ioannis G. Kevrekidis (Johns Hopkins University), Assistant Professor Qi Tang (Session Co-Organizer)
[Abstract]
Accurate Discretizations and Efficient AMG Solvers for Extremely Anisotropic Diffusion Via Hyperbolic Operators
Golo Wimmer, Ben Southworth, Xianzhu Tang (LANL), Assistant Professor Qi Tang
[Abstract]
Randomized Linear Algebra for Problems in Graph Analytics
Professor Rich Vuduc
[Abstract]
Improving Spgemm Performance Through Reordering and Cluster-Wise Computation
Assistant Professor Helen Xu
[Abstract]
Students and faculty from the School of Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) are leading the Georgia Tech contingent at the SIAM Conference on Computational Science and Engineering (CSE25). The Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) organizes CSE25, occurring March 3-7 in Fort Worth, Texas.
]]>“Research in lanthanides has already yielded significant dividends for society in terms of technological development,” La Pierre added.
The researchers hope to discover new tools for mining critical REEs, including improving lanthanide separation and recycling processes. When mining these elements, lanthanide elements are frequently mixed together. The separation process is painstaking and inefficient, generating a significant amount of waste. But with increasing global demand for REEs, the U.S. faces a supply issue. Figuring out how to improve lanthanides separation, potentially through oxidation chemistry, will ultimately enhance the supply of these critical elements.
— Anne Wainscott-Sargent
Funding: This research was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy.
The Blavatnik Awards are presented by the Blavatnik Family Foundation and are administered by the New York Academy of Sciences. They honor the most promising early-career researchers in the U.S., across life sciences, chemistry, and physical sciences, and engineering. The awards are among the most prestigious and competitive in science.
This dual recognition underscores Georgia Tech’s growing national leadership in high-impact, interdisciplinary research.
Ryan Lively, Thomas C. DeLoach Jr. Endowed Professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, is recognized in the Chemical Sciences category for pioneering scalable technologies that will reduce industrial carbon emissions and energy use. He develops new materials that can capture carbon and separate chemicals, using much less energy than conventional methods. His innovations could make industry cleaner and play a key role in addressing climate change.
Matthew McDowell, Carter N. Paden Jr. Distinguished Chair in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering holds a joint appointment in the School of Materials Science and Engineering. Recognized in the Physical Sciences and Engineering category for groundbreaking battery research, he and his team develop new materials to make batteries last longer and store more energy. He has discovered ways to visualize how battery materials change during use — insights that help improve the performance and safety of future energy technologies.
This year’s 18 finalists were selected from 310 nominees. On Oct. 7, 2025, three laureates will be announced at a gala at New York City’s American Museum of Natural History. Each laureate will receive $250,000, the largest unrestricted scientific prize for early-career researchers in the U.S.
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Two Georgia Tech researchers, Ryan Lively and Matthew McDowell, have been named finalists for the 2025 Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists, one of the nation’s most prestigious honors for early career researchers. Lively is recognized for developing scalable chemical engineering technologies that reduce carbon emissions and energy use, while McDowell is honored for pioneering advanced battery materials that improve safety, lifespan, and energy storage. Their dual recognition highlights Georgia Tech’s growing national leadership in high-impact, interdisciplinary research with broad implications for climate and energy.
To ease this environmental burden, industry has worked to adopt renewable biopolymers in place of traditional plastics. However, developers of sustainable packaging have faced hurdles in blocking out moisture and oxygen, a barrier critical for protecting food, pharmaceuticals, and sensitive electronics.
Now, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a biologically based film made from natural ingredients found in plants, mushrooms, and food waste that can block moisture and oxygen as effectively as conventional plastics. Their findings were recently published in ACS Applied Polymer Materials.
“We’re using materials that are already abundant in and degrade in nature to produce packaging that won’t pollute the environment for hundreds or even thousands of years,” said Carson Meredith, a professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ChBE@GT) and executive director of the Renewable Bioproducts Institute. “Our films, composed of biodegradable components, rival or exceed the performance of conventional plastics in keeping food fresh and safe.”
Meredith’s research team has worked for more than a decade to develop environmentally friendly oxygen and water barriers for packaging. While earlier research using biopolymers showed promise, high humidity continued to weaken the barrier properties.
However, Meredith and his collaborators found a fix using a blend of these natural ingredients: cellulose (which gives plants their structure), chitosan (derived from crustacean-based food waste or mushrooms), and citric acid (from citrus fruits).
“By crosslinking these materials and adding a heat treatment, we created a thin film that reduced both moisture and oxygen transmission, even in hot, humid conditions simulating the tropics,” said lead author Yang Lu, a former postdoctoral researcher in ChBE@GT.
The barrier technology developed by the researchers consists of three primary components: a carbohydrate polymer for structure, a plasticizer to maintain flexibility, and a water-repelling additive to resist moisture. When cast into thin films, these ingredients self-organize at the molecular level to form a dense, ordered structure that resists swelling or softening under high humidity.
Even at 80 percent relative humidity, the films showed extremely low oxygen permeability and water vapor transmission, matching or outperforming common plastics such as poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and poly(ethylene vinyl alcohol) (EVOH).
“Our approach creates barriers that are not only renewable, but also mechanically robust, offering a promising alternative to conventional plastics in packaging applications,” said Natalie Stingelin, professor and chair of Georgia Tech’s School of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) and a professor in ChBE@GT.
The research team has filed for patent protection for the technology (patent pending). The research was supported by Mars Inc., Georgia Tech’s Renewable Bioproducts Institute, and the U.S. Department of Defense through the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship Program. Eric Klingenberg, a co-author of the study, is an employee of Mars, a manufacturer of packaged foods.
Citation: Yang Lu, Javaz T. Rolle, Tanner Hickman, Yue Ji, Eric Klingenberg, Natalie Stingelin, and Carson Meredith, “Transforming renewable carbohydrate-based polymers into oxygen and moisture-barriers at elevated humidity,” ACS Applied Polymer Materials, 2025.
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As Schmidt Polymaths, the researchers pursue new approaches compared to previous work. The new cohort of polymaths will answer questions like how to expand access to healthcare with low-cost technologies, what happens to our chromosomes when we age and how to create more accurate computer simulations of climate.
Bhamla, associate professor in ChBE@GT, is the first Schmidt Polymath from Georgia Tech. He will develop low-cost technologies to tackle planetary-scale challenges, including AI-enabled point-of-care diagnostics in low-resource environments, and he will also engineer autonomous morphing machines that adapt, evolve and learn like living systems.
The eight selected scientists represent the fifth cohort of the highly selective Schmidt Polymaths program. Awardees must have been tenured—or achieved similar status—within the previous three years. Previous cohorts have used the award to design new sensor devices, perform experiments at atomic resolutions, analyze trees of life with faster and more efficient algorithms, discover new mathematical formulas assisted by AI, and more.
Drawn from universities worldwide and selected through a competitive application process, Schmidt Polymaths are required to demonstrate past ability and future potential to pursue early-stage, novel research that would otherwise be challenging to fund—even without the current dramatic declines in U.S. funding for science.
“Our world is one deeply interconnected system---but to study it more deeply, we’ve divided it into increasingly narrow categories,” said Wendy Schmidt, who co-founded Schmidt Sciences with her husband Eric. “Schmidt Polymaths see the bigger picture, pursue answers beyond boundaries and expand the edges of what’s possible. Their work can help steer us all toward a healthier future, for people and the planet.”
About Schmidt Sciences
Schmidt Sciences is a nonprofit organization founded in 2024 by Eric and Wendy Schmidt that works to accelerate scientific knowledge and breakthroughs with the most promising, advanced tools to support a thriving planet. The organization prioritizes research in areas poised for impact including AI and advanced computing, astrophysics, biosciences, climate, and space—as well as supporting researchers in a variety of disciplines through its science systems program.
RELATED: Forbes featured Bhamla in the article: Saad Bhamla Is A Polymath
]]>Imagine if building new medicines or sustainable materials were as straightforward as snapping together LEGO® bricks. That’s the goal of a new project led by the Georgia Institute of Technology that could help transform the future of biomanufacturing.
The project, headed by Professor Mark Styczynski in Georgia Tech’s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ChBE@GT), recently received a $9.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (NSF TIP) to accelerate the adoption of cell-free systems in biomanufacturing.
Promising Technology
Biotechnology has largely relied on living cells for production of products such as medicines, fragrances, or renewable fuels. But working with living cells can be complex and expensive.
Cell-free systems, by contrast, strip biology down to its essential parts, the enzymes and molecules that carry out life’s chemical reactions. This can simplify and speed up biomanufacturing, making it easier to scale.
The challenge, Styczynski explained, is that most cell-free projects still require custom-built setups. “Right now, engineering biology is like reinventing the wheel for every application,” he said. “You have to figure out how all the parts fit together each time. We want to change that by making ready-to-use modules that work right out of the box.”
Styczynski’s project, called Meta-PURE (PUrified Recombinant Elements), will create eight standardized modules, each designed for a key function in cell-free systems, such as generating energy, producing proteins, or assembling complex molecules.
“Like interchangeable puzzle pieces, these modules can be mixed and matched to support different applications,” Styczynski said.
Demonstrating Uses
His team will demonstrate the system’s versatility by producing santalene (a plant-derived fragrance used widely in consumer products), GamS protein (a tool that can improve cell-free processes), and a bacteriophage (a virus that can be safely used in research and the development of new therapeutic treatments).
These examples highlight the technology’s potential across industries ranging from pharmaceuticals and agriculture to chemicals and sustainable materials.
“We want to make these tools so that someone in industry can create their molecule or product more quickly and efficiently, and get it out the door,” Styczynski said.
“Right now, cell-free systems are mostly limited to high-value products because the cost is too high. The goal is to drive costs down and productivity up, so we can move closer to commodity chemicals like biofuels or monomers for polymers, not just niche applications. One of our partners recently developed a butanol process that shows where this can go,” he said.
NSF Initiative
Styczynski’s team is one of four recently awarded an inaugural investment of $32.4 million to help grow the U.S. bioeconomy. The initiative is called the NSF Advancing Cell-Free Systems Toward Increased Range of Use-Inspired Applications (NSF CFIRE).
“NSF is resolute in our commitment to advancing breakthroughs in biotechnology, advanced manufacturing, and other key technologies of significance to the U.S. economy,” said Erwin Gianchandani, assistant director for NSF TIP. “The novel approaches from these four CFIRE teams will speed up and expand the adoption of cell-free systems across a variety of industries and ensure America’s competitive position in the global bioeconomy.”
Collaborative Effort
While ChBE@GT is the lead, Meta-PURE is a broad collaboration with partners across academia, industry, and government. Co-principal investigators include Paul Opgenorth, co-founder and vice president of development at the biotech firm eXoZymes; Nicholas R. Sandoval, associate professor of Tulane University’s Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; and Anton Jackson-Smith, founder of the biotech startup b.next.
Meta-PURE will also train graduate students and postdocs in partnership with industry, government, and other universities, helping prepare trainees to be the future of a highly interdisciplinary U.S. bioeconomy. The team will also engage the scientific community on the implementation of metrics and standards in cell-free biotechnology to better facilitate broad adoption and interoperability of not just the results of the Meta-PURE project, but of cell-free efforts more broadly.
Purpose Built for AI Discovery
Nexus is Georgia Tech’s next-generation supercomputer, replacing the HIVE. Most operational high-performance computing systems utilized for research were designed before the explosion in Machine Learning and AI. This revolution has already shown successes for scientific research and data analysis in many domains, but the compute power, complex connectivity, and data storage needs for these systems have limited their access to the academic research community. The Nexus supercomputer design process retained a robust HPC system as a base while integrating artificial intelligence, machine learning and large-scale data science analysis from the ground up.
Expert Support for Faculty and Researchers
The Institute for Data Engineering and Science (IDEaS) and the College of Computing house the Center for Artificial Intelligence in Science and Engineering (ARTISAN) group. This team has collective experience in working with national computational, cloud, commercial and institutional resources for computational activities, and decades of experience in scientific tools that aid in assisting both teaching and research faculty. Nexus is the next logical step, bringing together everything they’ve learned to build a national resource optimized for the future of AI-driven science.
Principal Research Scientist for the ARTISAN team, Suresh Marru, highlighted the need for this new resource, “AI is a core part of the Nexus vision. Today, researchers often spend more time setting up experiments, managing data, or figuring out how to run jobs on remote clusters than doing science. With Nexus, we’re flipping that script. By embedding AI into the platform, we help automate routine tasks, suggest optimal ways to run simulations, and even assist in generating input or analyzing results. This means researchers can move faster from question to insight. Instead of wrestling with infrastructure, they can focus on discovery.”
An Accessible AI Resource for GT & US Scientific Research
90% of Nexus capacity will be made available to the national research community through the NSF Advanced Computing Systems & Services (ACSS) program. Researchers from across the country, at universities, labs, and institutions of all sizes, will have access to this next-generation AI-ready supercomputer. For Georgia Tech research faculty and staff, the new system has multiple benefits:
Interim Executive Director of IDEaS and Regents' Professor David Sherrill notes, "Nexus brings Georgia Tech's leadership in research computing to a whole new level. It will be the first NSF Category I Supercomputer hosted on Georgia Tech's campus. The Nexus hardware and software will boost research in the foundations of AI, and applications of AI in science and engineering."
Nanoparticles – the tiniest building blocks of our world – are constantly in motion, bouncing, shifting, and drifting in unpredictable paths shaped by invisible forces and random environmental fluctuations.
Better understanding their movements is key to developing better medicines, materials, and sensors. But observing and interpreting their motion at the atomic scale has presented scientists with major challenges.
However, researchers in Georgia Tech’s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ChBE) have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) model that learns the underlying physics governing those movements.
The team’s research, published in Nature Communications, enables scientists to not only analyze, but also generate realistic nanoparticle motion trajectories that are indistinguishable from real experiments, based on thousands of experimental recordings.
A Clearer Window into the Nanoworld
Conventional microscopes, even extremely powerful ones, struggle to observe moving nanoparticles in fluids. And traditional physics-based models, such as Brownian motion, often fail to fully capture the complexity of unpredictable nanoparticle movements, which can be influenced by factors such as viscoelastic fluids, energy barriers, or surface interactions.
To overcome these obstacles, the researchers developed a deep generative model (called LEONARDO) that can analyze and simulate the motion of nanoparticles captured by liquid-phase transmission electron microscopy (LPTEM), allowing scientists to better understand nanoscale interactions invisible to the naked eye. Unlike traditional imaging, LPTEM can observe particles as they move naturally within a microfluidic chamber, capturing motion down to the nanometer and millisecond.
“LEONARDO allows us to move beyond observation to simulation,” said Vida Jamali, assistant professor and Daniel B. Mowrey Faculty Fellow in ChBE@GT. “We can now generate high-fidelity models of nanoscale motion that reflect the actual physical forces at play. LEONARDO helps us not only see what is happening at the nanoscale but also understand why.”
To train and test LEONARDO, the researchers used a model system of gold nanorods diffusing in water. They collected more than 38,000 short trajectories under various experimental conditions, including different particle sizes, frame rates, and electron beam settings. This diversity allowed the model to generalize across a broad range of behaviors and conditions.
The Power of LEONARDO’s Generative AI
What distinguishes LEONARDO is its ability to learn from experimental data while being guided by physical principles, said study lead author Zain Shabeeb, a PhD student in ChBE@GT. LEONARDO uses a specialized “loss function” based on known laws of physics to ensure that its predictions remain grounded in reality, even when the observed behavior is highly complex or random.
“Many machine learning models are like black boxes in that they make predictions, but we don’t always know why,” Shabeeb said. “With LEONARDO, we integrated physical laws directly into the learning process so that the model’s outputs remain interpretable and physically meaningful.”
LEONARDO uses a transformer-based architecture, which is the same kind of model behind many modern language AI applications. Like how a language model learns grammar and syntax, LEONARDO learns the "grammar" of nanoparticle movement, identifying hidden reasons for the ways nanoparticles interact with their environment.
Future Impact
By simulating vast libraries of possible nanoparticle motions, LEONARDO could help train AI systems that automatically control and adjust electron microscopes for optimal imaging, paving the way for “smart” microscopes that adapt in real time, the researchers said.
“Understanding nanoscale motion is of growing importance to many fields, including drug delivery, nanomedicine, polymer science, and quantum technologies,” Jamali said. “By making it easier to interpret particle behavior, LEONARDO could help scientists design better materials, improve targeted therapies, and uncover new fundamental insights into how matter behaves at small scales."
CITATION: Zain Shabeeb , Naisargi Goyal, Pagnaa Attah Nantogmah, and Vida Jamali, “Learning the diffusion of nanoparticles in liquid phase TEM via physics-informed generative AI,” Nature Communications, 2025.
Researchers at Georgia Tech’s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ChBE) have developed a promising approach for removing carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere to help mitigate global warming.
While promising technologies for direct air capture (DAC) have emerged over the past decade, high capital and energy costs have hindered DAC implementation.
However, in a new study published in Energy & Environmental Science, the research team demonstrated techniques for capturing CO₂ more efficiently and affordably using extremely cold air and widely available porous sorbent materials, expanding future deployment opportunities for DAC.
Harnessing Already Available Energy
The research team – including members from Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee and Jeonbuk National University and Chonnam National University in South Korea – employed a method combining DAC with the regasification of liquefied natural gas (LNG), a common industrial process that produces extremely cold temperatures.
LNG, which is a natural gas cooled into a liquid for shipping, must be warmed back into a gas before use. That warming process often uses seawater as the source of the heat and essentially wastes the low temperature energy embodied in the liquified natural gas.
Instead, by using the cold energy from LNG to chill the air, Georgia Tech researchers created a superior environment for capturing CO₂ using materials known as “physisorbents,” which are porous solids that soak up gases.
Most DAC systems in use today employ amine-based materials that chemically bind CO2 from the air, but they offer relatively limited pore space for capture, degrade over time, and require substantial energy to operate effectively. Physisorbents, however, offer longer lifespans and faster CO₂ uptake but often struggle in warm, humid conditions.
The research study showed that when air is cooled to near-cryogenic temperatures for DAC, almost all of the water vapor condenses out of the air. This enables physisorbents to achieve higher CO₂ capture performance without the need for expensive water-removal steps.
“This is an exciting step forward,” said Professor Ryan Lively of ChBE@GT. “We’re showing that you can capture carbon at low costs using existing infrastructure and safe, low-cost materials.”
Cost and Energy Savings
The economic modeling conducted by Lively’s team suggests that integrating this LNG-based approach into DAC could reduce the cost of capturing one metric ton of CO₂ to as low as $70, approximately a threefold decrease from current DAC methods, which often exceed $200 per ton.
Through simulations and experiments, the team identified Zeolite 13X and CALF-20 as leading physisorbents for this DAC process. Zeolite 13X is an inexpensive and durable desiccant material used in water treatment, while CALF-20 is a metal-organic framework (MOF) known for its stability and CO2 capture performance from flue gas, but not from air.
These materials showed strong CO₂ adsorption at -78°C (a representative temperature for the LNG-DAC system) with capacities approximately three times higher than those found in amine materials that operate at ambient conditions. They also released the captured and purified CO₂ with low energy input, making them attractive for practical use.
“Beyond their high CO2 capacities, both physisorbents exhibit critical characteristics such as low desorption enthalpy, cost efficiency, scalability, and long-term stability, all of which are essential for real-world applications,” said lead author Seo-Yul Kim, a postdoctoral researcher in the Lively Lab.
Leveraging Existing Infrastructure
The study also addresses a key concern for DAC: location. Traditional systems are often best suited for dry, cool environments. But by leveraging existing LNG infrastructure, near-cryogenic DAC could be deployed in temperate and even humid coastal regions, greatly expanding the geographic scope of carbon removal.
“LNG regasification systems are currently an untapped source of cold energy, with terminals operating at a large scale in coastal areas around the world,” Lively said. “By harnessing even just a portion of their cold energy, we could potentially capture over 100 million metric tons of CO₂ per year by 2050.”
As governments and industries face increasing pressure to meet net-zero emissions goals, solutions like LNG-coupled near-cryogenic DAC offer a promising path forward. The next steps for the team include continued refinement of materials and system designs to ensure performance and durability at larger scales.
“This is an exciting example of how rethinking energy flows in our existing infrastructure can lead to low-cost reductions in carbon footprint,” Lively said.
The study also demonstrated that an expanded range of materials could be employed for DAC. While only a small subset of materials can be used at ambient temperatures, the number that are viable grows substantially at near-cryogenic temperatures.
“Many physisorbents that were previously dismissed for DAC suddenly become viable when you drop the temperature,” said Professor Matthew Realff, co-author of the study and professor at ChBE@GT. “This unlocks a whole new design space for carbon capture materials.”
Citation: Seo-Yul Kim, Akriti Sarswat, Sunghyun Cho, MinGyu Song, Jinsu Kim, Matthew J. Realff, David S. Sholl, and Ryan P. Lively, “Near-Cryogenic Direct Air Capture using Adsorbents,” Energy & Environmental Science, 2025.
Along with insulin, it also could be used for semaglutide — the popular GLP-1 medication sold as Ozempic and Wegovy — and a host of other top-selling protein-based medications like antibodies and growth hormone that are part of a $400 billion market.
These drugs usually have to be injected because they can’t overcome the protective barriers of the gastrointestinal tract. Georgia Tech’s new capsule uses a small pressurized “explosion” to shoot medicine past those barriers in the small intestine and into the bloodstream. Unlike other designs, it has no complicated moving parts and requires no battery or stored energy.
“This study introduces a new way of drug delivery that is as easy as swallowing a pill and replaces the need for painful injections,” said Mark Prausnitz, who created the pill in his lab with former Ph.D. student Joshua Palacios and other student researchers.
In animal lab tests, they showed their capsule lowered blood sugar levels just like traditional insulin injections. The researchers reported their pill design and study results DATE in the Journal of Controlled Release.
Read about the technology on the College of Engineering website.
]]>“Malaria kills over 500,000 annually with the mortality rate substantially higher in Africa,” says Frooman. “Our research explores how specific peptides bind to proteins that trigger immune responses.”
Frooman originally hoped the research would help her learn how to think like a scientist and gain basic lab knowledge.
She gained those skills and more, quickly becoming recognized as an exceptional researcher.
“Marielle is one of the most passionate and talented undergraduate researchers I have ever worked with,” says Andrew McShan, McShan Lab principal investigator and associate professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry. “She is also a caring mentor and motivated future leader who wants to change the world. Her malaria research has the potential to provide real therapeutic outcomes, including better designs for vaccines and immunotherapy.”
Frooman’s journey into undergraduate research began with persistence. After a year and a half of searching for lab opportunities, she attended a School of Chemistry and Biochemistry research showcase. She approached several graduate students and professors with no success, until she met McShan.
“Our first meeting was so relaxed and friendly that I didn’t even realize Professor McShan was the principal investigator,” admits Frooman. “That’s how it all started.”
Once she officially joined the lab, Frooman contributed to every stage of the research, including designing experiments, performing computational and wet lab work, analyzing data, and writing and presenting the paper.
The team faced several challenges.
“The research was delayed by failure after failure,” says Frooman. “But each setback taught us something valuable.”
The team’s biggest challenge involved trying to grow crystals of the peptide/HLA (protein) complexes to determine how they fit together. They spent two years attempting various methods, but nothing worked.
Guided by McShan, Frooman and the team then came up with the idea of using computational modeling to enable a deeper understanding of how the peptides and proteins interact at both biophysical and structural levels.
“Utilizing the computational modeling enabled us to see the best bindings and turned into a game-changing insight for our research, potentially leading to the design of more effective malaria treatments and vaccines,” explains Frooman.
She is quick to credit Georgia Tech and McShan for providing her with such a valuable learning experience.
“At many universities, undergraduates rarely do meaningful research, but at Tech, it’s a priority,” explains Frooman. “I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity to grow in such a supportive environment, and to learn from mentors like Professor McShan who lead by example and make time for every student.”
Her advice to other undergraduates entering research?
“Embrace your failures. They make the successes even more rewarding,” shares Frooman.
On campus, Frooman is president of the Student Affiliates of the American Chemical Society and Cleanup Crew at GT, a member of Alpha Phi International Fraternity, and a campus tour guide who serves on their executive board.
She especially loves being a tour guide as it allows her to share her love of Georgia Tech and its people:
“Everyone is unapologetically themselves and fully invested in their major or interests. As someone who loves chemistry, I enjoy being surrounded by people who are just as dedicated to their passions.”
Frooman is a recipient of the Chance Family Scholarship, presented to two School of Chemistry and Biochemistry upperclassmen, recognizing their academic excellence, research contributions, and potential for career success in the field.
Recently, she shifted her research focus to organic synthetic chemistry and now works in the Gutekunst Lab. Her career goals include earning a Ph.D. in Chemistry with an emphasis on natural product synthesis, the lab-based creation of complex chemical compounds found in nature.
“I’ve seen what university labs can do,” says Frooman. “I hope to one day lead my own lab, advancing impactful research and mentoring the next generation of scientists.”
]]>“Academic CVs rarely, if ever, carry the human stories underlying professional accomplishments,” Kamerlin says. “I have chosen to be open about my battles with infertility and my experiences as a rare disease patient to help others feel less alone. Because of that decision, receiving this award, which recognizes those experiences and their role in shaping my career beyond my visible professional accomplishments, really means a lot to me.”
She hopes that her story and the visibility of this award will encourage and inspire other scientists who are navigating their career paths and facing their own challenges.
Kamerlin, who joined the Institute in 2022, has also served as a Lise Meitner Guest Professor of Molecular Design at Lund University in Sweden since 2025. She obtained a Ph.D. in Theoretical Organic Chemistry from the University of Birmingham and completed her postdoctoral research at the University of Vienna and University of Southern California.
Her research lab focuses on understanding the role of conformational dynamics — changes in the three-dimensional shape of a protein — in protein evolution, and how these dynamics can be exploited to engineer novel proteins with tailored biocatalytic properties.
Kamerlin has been extensively involved in high-level science policy, particularly relating to open science and researcher careers. She served as chair of the Young Academy of Europe and as a member of the executive council of the Protein Society. Kamerlin has also been deeply engaged in efforts to support women in science, broaden European participation in research, and promote the careers of young scientists.
]]>McShan, an assistant professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, has been awarded a $1.4 million CAREER grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support this research.
“Protein-lipid assemblies carry out all sorts of biological functions, and harnessing their interactions could lead to powerful tools and treatments — but historically, they’ve been difficult to study,” McShan says. “Building resources for researchers and making this information accessible are critical steps in developing this field. This CAREER grant will enable me to expand the current knowledge base, while also allowing me to develop a class that will train the next generation of researchers, which is hugely important to me.”
The 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’s most prestigious funding for early-career faculty.
Crucial for nearly all biological processes, lipid-protein interactions play a key role in everything from immune responses to energy storage — but what drives their interactions has historically been difficult to map and understand.
McShan will use the CAREER grant to expand that knowledge base, experimenting in the lab to characterize protein-lipid interactions, and developing computational tools that can predict those interactions. The work will include an in-depth study of how lipids interact with different families of proteins that are important for immune system function.
“Right now, understanding protein-lipid assemblies is expensive in both time and lab materials,” McShan says. “My goal is to create computer models that can predict how these biomolecular interactions occur, what they look like, and how they contribute to cellular functions.”
The new model would allow researchers to quickly and inexpensively ‘experiment’ with molecules on a computer, vastly expanding the amount of research that could be conducted.
The project builds on McShan’s recent publication in the Nature-family journal Communications Chemistry, which showcased BioDolphin — a first-of-its-kind, comprehensive, and annotated database of protein-lipid interactions that are all integrated into a user-friendly web server and freely accessible to all.
It’s also adjacent to research funded by a Curci Grant from the Shurl and Kay Curci Foundation, which McShan was previously awarded for research on cutting-edge cancer treatments that involved identifying new cancer lipid signatures in tumor cells, and characterizing known cancer lipid antigens.
Additionally, the CAREER grant will support McShan’s initiatives to train the next generation of researchers through a new class centered around hands-on laboratory research and peer mentorship. Students will have the opportunity to pick a protein-lipid assembly, study it using computational and experimental biophysical methods, develop testable hypotheses, and — if successful — publish their results in peer reviewed journals.
The class will also pair undergraduate and graduate students into research teams. “I’m excited to see how a peer mentoring approach will add depth to the class,” McShan shares, explaining that graduate students will gain valuable mentoring experience in a collaborative research environment. “This is very different from typical mentoring experiences many graduate students have, which tend to be more along the lines of a TA experience rather than collaborating on hands-on research.”
“This type of class, to my knowledge, hasn’t been offered before, and there’s a lot of research that I’m doing to lay the groundwork for it,” McShan adds. “Hopefully, it can not only introduce students to lipid-based research — something typically lacking in many biochemistry curricula — but also to the type of collaborative mentorship we want to foster in research.”
]]>Contact: Jess Hunt-Ralston
]]>Eighty-four graduate students from across the Institute participated in the poster competition, presenting their research to faculty and staff judges.
Congratulations to the poster competition winners from the College of Sciences:
A second-year Ph.D. student in computational chemistry, Berry works in the Sherrill Group.
“My research focuses on advancing computational quantum mechanical (QM) methods to feasibly model biological systems,” says Berry. “A specialized QM method developed in our group, F-SAPT, has the potential to reveal why certain drug molecules are favored over others, advancing the field of rational drug design. If we can accurately model protein-ligand interactions using quantum mechanics, it could ultimately pave the way for integrating these methods into computer-aided drug discovery workflows.”
Johnson is working on a Ph.D. in ocean science, studying how corals respond to environmental stressors as part of the Kubanek Group.
“Corals can't move,” says Johnson. “Instead of hiding when it is hot or bright out, they must respond physiologically. I use a technique called metabolomics to study the cellular physiology of corals and look for metabolic changes over time. Understanding what makes a coral more resistant to stress is useful for protecting and restoring coral reefs."
Kothari conducts research for the Kubanek Group and is pursuing a Ph.D. in biology. She attempts to discover natural dispersant-like biomolecules helpful for oil spill remediation.
“While some microbes can degrade and clean up oil from the contaminated sites, the process is often slow,” says Kothari. “However, dispersant-like biomolecules can speed up oil degradation by breaking oil into smaller droplets and increasing its availability to oil-degrading microbes. I aim to determine the chemical structure and function of such biomolecules and test their effectiveness in treating real-world environmental spills by applying them in small-scale experiments that mimic oil spill conditions. These biomolecules may offer an eco-friendly alternative to toxic chemical dispersants and improve existing bioremediation strategies to mitigate environmental damage caused by oil pollution."
As part of her Ph.D. studies, Monge works in the Garg Lab and focuses on understanding marine bacteria community dynamics.
“I am specifically trying to decipher how disease-causing bacteria (pathogenic) and bacteria that doesn’t harm its host (commensal) communicate with one another via chemical signals and the metabolic changes resulting from those interactions,” says Monge. “My ultimate goal is to identify beneficial traits from commensal bacteria that we can leverage to alleviate coral diseases.”
Scott-Sharoni is earning a Ph.D. in engineering psychology and works in the Sonification Lab.
“My research focuses on human interaction with AI technologies,” says Scott-Sharoni. “Specifically, I examine how different features of AI agents, such as anthropomorphism and social intelligence, impact how people psychologically perceive and behave in collaboration with these agents. This work helps improve the effectiveness of AI systems by aligning them to human social and cognitive expectations, leading to better joint performance and proper trust.”
A third-year Ph.D. student studying ocean science and engineering, Straight conducts research in the Kubanek Group.
“Sometimes I consider myself a microbial spy as I listen in to the chemical conversation between microbes and analyze how each microbe is affected by the interaction,” says Straight. “My current work is focused on the interaction between two types of marine microbes, bacteria and microscopic algae. By understanding how bacteria can be good or bad for algal growth, I hope to shed light on the mechanisms by which bacteria can help algae form algal blooms, including harmful algal blooms. This understanding could help scientists predict the beginning and ending of harmful algal blooms and keep beachgoers and shellfish farms safe from harmful algae.”
]]>Students and faculty from the School of Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) are leading the Georgia Tech contingent at the SIAM Conference on Computational Science and Engineering (CSE25). The Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) organizes CSE25, occurring March 3-7 in Fort Worth, Texas.
At CSE25, the School of CSE researchers are presenting papers that apply computing approaches to varying fields, including:
[Related: GT CSE at SIAM CSE25 Interactive Graphic]
“In CSE, researchers from different disciplines work together to develop new computational methods that we could not have developed alone,” said School of CSE Professor Edmond Chow.
“These methods enable new science and engineering to be performed using computation.”
CSE is a discipline dedicated to advancing computational techniques to study and analyze scientific and engineering systems. CSE complements theory and experimentation as modes of scientific discovery.
Held every other year, CSE25 is the primary conference for the SIAM Activity Group on Computational Science and Engineering (SIAG CSE). School of CSE faculty serve in key roles in leading the group and preparing for the conference.
In December, SIAG CSE members elected Chow to a two-year term as the group’s vice chair. This election comes after Chow completed a term as the SIAG CSE program director.
School of CSE Associate Professor Elizabeth Cherry has co-chaired the CSE25 organizing committee since the last conference in 2023. Later that year, SIAM members reelected Cherry to a second, three-year term as a council member at large.
At Georgia Tech, Chow serves as the associate chair of the School of CSE. Cherry, who recently became the associate dean for graduate education of the College of Computing, continues as the director of CSE programs.
“With our strong emphasis on developing and applying computational tools and techniques to solve real-world problems, researchers in the School of CSE are well positioned to serve as leaders in computational science and engineering both within Georgia Tech and in the broader professional community,” Cherry said.
Georgia Tech’s School of CSE was first organized as a division in 2005, becoming one of the world’s first academic departments devoted to the discipline. The division reorganized as a school in 2010 after establishing the flagship CSE Ph.D. and M.S. programs, hiring nine faculty members, and attaining substantial research funding.
Ten School of CSE faculty members are presenting research at CSE25, representing one-third of the School’s faculty body. Of the 23 accepted papers written by Georgia Tech researchers, 15 originate from School of CSE authors.
The list of School of CSE researchers, paper titles, and abstracts includes:
Bayesian Optimal Design Accelerates Discovery of Material Properties from Bubble Dynamics
Postdoctoral Fellow Tianyi Chu, Joseph Beckett, Bachir Abeid, and Jonathan Estrada (University of Michigan), Assistant Professor Spencer Bryngelson
[Abstract]
Latent-EnSF: A Latent Ensemble Score Filter for High-Dimensional Data Assimilation with Sparse Observation Data
Ph.D. student Phillip Si, Assistant Professor Peng Chen
[Abstract]
A Goal-Oriented Quadratic Latent Dynamic Network Surrogate Model for Parameterized Systems
Yuhang Li, Stefan Henneking, Omar Ghattas (University of Texas at Austin), Assistant Professor Peng Chen
[Abstract]
Posterior Covariance Structures in Gaussian Processes
Yuanzhe Xi (Emory University), Difeng Cai (Southern Methodist University), Professor Edmond Chow
[Abstract]
Robust Digital Twin for Geological Carbon Storage
Professor Felix Herrmann, Ph.D. student Abhinav Gahlot, alumnus Rafael Orozco (Ph.D. CSE-CSE 2024), alumnus Ziyi (Francis) Yin (Ph.D. CSE-CSE 2024), and Ph.D. candidate Grant Bruer
[Abstract]
Industry-Scale Uncertainty-Aware Full Waveform Inference with Generative Models
Rafael Orozco, Ph.D. student Tuna Erdinc, alumnus Mathias Louboutin (Ph.D. CS-CSE 2020), and Professor Felix Herrmann
[Abstract]
Optimizing Coupled Systems: Insights from Co-Design Imaging and Optical Chemistry
Assistant Professor Raphaël Pestourie, Wenchao Ma and Steven Johnson (MIT), Lu Lu (Yale University), Zin Lin (Virginia Tech)
[Abstract]
Multifidelity Linear Regression for Scientific Machine Learning from Scarce Data
Assistant Professor Elizabeth Qian, Ph.D. student Dayoung Kang, Vignesh Sella, Anirban Chaudhuri and Anirban Chaudhuri (University of Texas at Austin)
[Abstract]
LyapInf: Data-Driven Estimation of Stability Guarantees for Nonlinear Dynamical Systems
Ph.D. candidate Tomoki Koike and Assistant Professor Elizabeth Qian
[Abstract]
The Information Geometric Regularization of the Euler Equation
Alumnus Ruijia Cao (B.S. CS 2024), Assistant Professor Florian Schäfer
[Abstract]
Maximum Likelihood Discretization of the Transport Equation
Ph.D. student Brook Eyob, Assistant Professor Florian Schäfer
[Abstract]
Intelligent Attractors for Singularly Perturbed Dynamical Systems
Daniel A. Serino (Los Alamos National Laboratory), Allen Alvarez Loya (University of Colorado Boulder), Joshua W. Burby, Ioannis G. Kevrekidis (Johns Hopkins University), Assistant Professor Qi Tang (Session Co-Organizer)
[Abstract]
Accurate Discretizations and Efficient AMG Solvers for Extremely Anisotropic Diffusion Via Hyperbolic Operators
Golo Wimmer, Ben Southworth, Xianzhu Tang (LANL), Assistant Professor Qi Tang
[Abstract]
Randomized Linear Algebra for Problems in Graph Analytics
Professor Rich Vuduc
[Abstract]
Improving Spgemm Performance Through Reordering and Cluster-Wise Computation
Assistant Professor Helen Xu
[Abstract]
Students and faculty from the School of Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) are leading the Georgia Tech contingent at the SIAM Conference on Computational Science and Engineering (CSE25). The Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) organizes CSE25, occurring March 3-7 in Fort Worth, Texas.
]]>Led by Loren Williams (Georgia Institute of Technology) and Moran Frenkel-Pinter (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem) and published in Nature Chemistry, the team’s paper investigates how chemical mixtures evolve over time, offering new insights into the origins of biological complexity.
“Our research applies concepts from evolutionary biology to chemistry,” explains Williams, a professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry. “We know that everything in biology can be reduced to chemistry, but the idea of this paper is that in the right conditions, chemistry can evolve, too. We call this chemical evolution.”
While much research has focused on individual chemical reactions that could lead to biological molecules, this study establishes an experimental model to explore how entire chemical systems evolve when exposed to environmental changes.
“Chemical evolution is chemistry that keeps changing and doing new things,” Williams explains. “It’s unending chemical change, but with exploration of new chemical spaces. We wondered if we could set up a system that does that without introducing new molecules ourselves — instead we had the system oscillate between wet and dry conditions.”
In nature, these systems might look like a landscape where water condenses, and then dries out, over and over again — conditions that arise naturally from the day-night cycles of our planet.
The study identified three key findings — chemical systems can continuously evolve without reaching equilibrium, avoid uncontrolled complexity through selective chemical pathways, and exhibit synchronized population dynamics among different molecular species. This suggests that environmental factors played a key role in shaping the molecular complexity needed for life to emerge.
“This research offers a new perspective on how molecular evolution might have unfolded on early Earth,” says Frenkel-Pinter, assistant professor in the Institute of Chemistry at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. “By demonstrating that chemical systems can self-organize and evolve in structured ways, we provide experimental evidence that may help bridge the gap between prebiotic chemistry and the emergence of biological molecules.”
Beyond its relevance to origins-of-life research, the study’s findings may have broader applications in synthetic biology and nanotechnology. Controlled chemical evolution could be harnessed to design new molecular systems with specific properties, potentially leading to innovations in materials science, drug development, and biotechnology.
This research is shared jointly with The Hebrew University of Jerusalem newsroom.
]]>As the Los Angeles fires quickly spread starting Jan. 7, with wind gusts approaching 100 mph, scientists observed a 110-fold rise in airborne lead levels. This spike had receded by Jan. 11.
The fires enabled the first real-time data on airborne lead, thanks to a pioneering air quality measurement network known as Atmospheric Science and Chemistry (ASCENT), a nationwide initiative funded by the National Science Foundation, operating in 12 sites across the U.S.
ASCENT measured tiny particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter (PM2.5) — small enough to enter the lungs and bloodstream. Unlike typical wildfires that burn natural materials such as grass and trees, the Eaton Canyon and Palisades fires burned through infrastructures like homes, including painted surfaces, pipes, vehicles, plastics, and electronic equipment. This raised concerns about the toxicity of these particles in the air, especially since many of the buildings were constructed before 1978, when lead paint was still commonly used.
Lead is a toxic air contaminant that poses significant health risks, particularly for children, who are more vulnerable to its neurodevelopmental effects. While chronic lead exposure is well-documented, the effects of short-term spikes, like those recorded during these fires, are less understood.
“Our work through ASCENT,” said Sally Ng, Georgia Tech’s Love Family Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and the network’s principal investigator, “has provided us with new insights into the air we breathe, with unprecedented levels of detail and time resolution. Beyond the mass concentration of PM2.5 that is typically measured, we are now able to detect a wide range of chemical components in the aerosols in real time, to better understand and evaluate to what extent one is exposed to harmful pollutants.”
Investigators used several instruments to obtain hourly measurements at the ASCENT monitoring site in Pico Rivera, approximately 14 miles south of the Eaton Canyon fire, to assess atmospheric lead during the wildfires.
“Our findings showcased the importance of having real-time measurements of the chemical species that comprise particulate matter,” said California Institute of Technology Ph.D. candidate in atmospheric chemistry and ASPIRE researcher Haroula Baliaka. “During the LA fires, we provided the public with timely information about what they were breathing and how air quality evolved in the days that followed.”
This research has been published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
"David Sherrill's leadership role in IDEaS as associate director, together with his interdisciplinary background in chemistry and computer science, makes him the right person to support this transition as interim executive director," said Julia Kubanek, professor and vice president for interdisciplinary research at Georgia Tech.
Sherrill succeeds Srinivas Aluru who will be taking a new position as Senior Associate Dean in the College of Computing. Aluru, a Regents' Professor in the School of Computational Science and Engineering, co-founded IDEaS and served as its co-executive director (2016-2019) and then as executive director (2019-date), spanning eight and a half years. Under his leadership IDEaS grew to more than 200 affiliate faculty spanning all colleges, encompassing multiple state, federal, and industry funded centers. Notable among these is the South Big Data Hub, catalyzing the Southern data science community to collectively accelerate scientific discovery and innovation, spur economic development in the region, broaden participation and diversity in data science, and the CloudHub, a Microsoft funded center that provides research funding and cloud resources for innovative applications in Generative Artificial Intelligence. More recently, Aluru established the Center for Artificial Intelligence in Science and Engineering (ARTISAN), and expanded the Institute’s research staff to provide needed cyberinfrastructure, software resources, and expertise to support faculty projects with large data sets and AI-driven discovery. "I've had the pleasure of serving as Associate Director of IDEaS since it was founded by Srinivas Aluru and Dana Randall, and I'm excited to step into this interim role.” said Sherrill. “IDEaS has an important mission to serve the many faculty doing interdisciplinary research involving data science and high performance computing."
Sherrill’s research group focuses on the development of ab initio electronic structure theory and its application to problems of broad chemical interest, including the influence of non-covalent interactions in drug binding, biomolecular structure, organic crystals, and organocatalytic transition states. The group seeks to apply the most accurate quantum models possible for a given problem and specializes in generating high-quality datasets for testing new methods or machine-learning purposes.
Sherrill earned a B.S. in chemistry from MIT in 1992 and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Georgia in 1996. From 1996-1999 Sherril was an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow, working under M. Head-Gordon, at the University of California, Berkeley.
Sherrill is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the American Chemical Society, and the American Physical Society, and he has been Associate Editor of the Journal of Chemical Physics since 2009. Sherrill has received a Camille and Henry Dreyfus New Faculty Award, the International Journal of Quantum Chemistry Young Investigator Award, an NSF CAREER Award, and Georgia Tech's W. Howard Ector Outstanding Teacher Award. In 2023, he received the Herty Medal from the Georgia Section of the American Chemical Society, and in 2024, he was elected to the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science.
--Christa M. Ernst
]]>
Research Communications Program Manager,
Topic Expertise: Robotics | Data Sciences| Semiconductor Design & Fab
A study led by Georgia Tech is showcasing a new resource to help researchers understand the structure and function of these interactions — called assemblies — at both molecular and functional levels. The work is published in the Nature-family journal Communications Chemistry.
Called BioDolphin — short for Biological Database of Lipid-Protein Highly Inclusive Interactions — the resource is the first comprehensive, annotated database of protein-lipid interactions. Integrated into a user-friendly web server, BioDolphin is freely accessible to all. Users can easily view and download interaction data and systematically analyze lipid-protein assemblies.
“Understanding lipid-protein interactions is crucial in advancing our understanding of human health and disease treatment,” says the study’s corresponding author, Andrew McShan. “BioDolphin is the first resource to collect this type of information for all kinds of proteins, not just those found in membranes. And because it is publicly available, this information is now at the tips of researchers’ fingertips.”
“BioDolphin as a comprehensive database of lipid–protein binding interactions” is led by McShan, an assistant professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Georgia Tech, alongside first author Li-Yen (Zoey) Yang, Bioinformatics Ph.D. student; School of Computational Science and Engineering Assistant Professor Yunan Luo; and Kaike Ping, a Ph.D. student at Virginia Tech.
A curated database with richly annotated information, BioDolphin contains over 127,000 lipid-protein binding interactions. And while most databases of lipid-protein assemblies have focused solely on a specific type of protein — membrane proteins — BioDolphin expands beyond that.
“BioDolphin enables us to globally define the structural features of lipid-protein assemblies across the eight different classes of lipid compounds to understand their cellular function and roles in disease,” says McShan, adding that the database also provides information on paired lipid-protein annotation, experimental binding affinities, intermolecular interactions, and atomic structures across a wide range of lipid-protein interactions — all available to anyone with an internet connection.
“In the past, this research has been limited because lipids are notoriously difficult to study in the lab,” McShan says. "BioDolphin changes the paradigm. It is the first time that anyone has collected, annotated, and analyzed the known structural universe of lipid-protein interactions across all organisms.”
It’s a rapidly developing field. McShan was recently awarded a prestigious Curci grant for cutting-edge cancer research into lipid-based universal immunotherapies and vaccines.
Beyond research applications, the team hopes that BioDolphin will be a resource for biochemistry students.
“The database can serve as a tool for teachers and students studying these protein-lipid interactions, which is often an underdeveloped topic in biology and biochemistry courses,” McShan says. “I hope that BioDolphin is a valuable resource for the researchers of today — and that it can also be a building block for the researchers of tomorrow.”
Funding: Shurl and Kay Curci Foundation, NSF Advanced Cyberinfrastructure Coordination Ecosystem: Services & Support (ACCESS) program, NIH National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), Partnership for an Advanced Computing Environment (PACE) at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and Taiwan Ministry of Education Government Scholarship to Study Abroad program.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42004-024-01384-z
]]>Contact: Jess Hunt-Ralston
]]>“We are proud and excited to honor this year’s recipients of the O’Hara Fellowships,” says College of Sciences Senior Associate Dean David Collard. “They represent the best of our amazing Ph.D. students with impressive research, teaching, service, and leadership accomplishments.”
Boever is a fifth-year EAS student, conducting research for Martial Taillefert’s Group. His research spans the land-to-ocean continuum and includes studies on how groundwater fluctuations control the fate and transport of uranium in stream sediments, how wetland changes affect methane emissions, and how river pulses influence carbon transformations in low-oxygen ocean sediments. Boever has been extremely active in field research, participating in six research cruises and leading the field component of a Department of Energy-funded project at the Savannah River National Laboratory that included more than six research trips in two years. As a result of his extensive field work, Boever is working on three first-author publications and co-authoring three additional articles.
“I play in the mud, using sensors to monitor chemical changes that affect the environment,” says Boever. “Field studies are tough, but what we learn is invaluable not only for improving our current understanding of these processes but also informing us of their potential influence on future ecosystem function and global climate impacts.”
Connolly will earn her Ph.D. in bioinformatics. As a member of the Gibson Lab, she studies single-cell genomics, data visualization, gene regulation, autoimmunity, cancer, and personalized medicine. In addition to her research activities, Connolly has presented posters or presentations at five national and international meetings, was active in the Women-in-Science promotion, and has mentored high school and undergraduate students.
“My research focuses on understanding how our immune system differs between sexes, changes with age, and responds to treatments such as radiation and immunotherapy,” says Connolly. “By studying these differences, I aim to uncover details that can lead to more personalized and effective therapies for cancer and age-related diseases. This work can potentially make healthcare more effective, improving patient outcomes across diverse populations.”
Knavel, whose research focuses on symplectic topology and is advised by John Etnyre, is an avid mentor and teacher. She served on the Graduate Council and runs the Directed Reading Program for the School of Mathematics, pairing undergraduate students with graduate students to pursue advanced topics in mathematics. She also developed a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) based on her Ph.D. research. As a teaching assistant, she has been recognized with an Outstanding Student Evaluation Award and numerous Thank-a-Teacher certificates.
“My time at Georgia Tech grows more enriching each year,” says Knavel. “The community is welcoming, with abundant mentorship. I've received support at every level for my decisions to attend conferences, teach abroad, and help organize activities in the School of Mathematics. Because of the supportive community, I’ve gained the skills and knowledge necessary to teach and motivate undergraduate students in both classroom and research settings.”
Xu will receive her Ph.D. in chemistry and has published two first-author papers, with three more in preparation. She has contributed to four additional publications as a second or third author. Additionally, she mentored several undergraduate and first-year graduate students within the Wu Research Group and served as a mentor for the Summer 2023 National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program.
"My research focuses on identifying glycoprotein alterations in human cancer,” says Xu. “I’m particularly fascinated by how I can use chemical probes and mass spectrometry to 'visualize' changes in glycoproteins within clinical cancer models. This area of study interests me because glycoproteins play a crucial role in cancer progression and metastasis, and understanding these alterations could lead to new therapeutic strategies."
Xue specializes in cognition and brain science. Although she has been a part of the Ph.D. program for only two years, she has published three scientific papers and has several others submitted and under review. She has also served as a highly ranked teaching assistant.
"My research centers on perceptual decision-making and metacognition, focused on using computational modeling and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to advance our understanding of how confidence is computed,” says Xue. “This exploration into the mechanisms of human confidence computation deeply fascinates me; I am incredibly grateful to my supervisor, Dobromir Rahnev, whose unwavering support and guidance have been invaluable throughout this journey."
]]>laura.smith@cos.gatech.edu
]]>Haley scholars receive a one-time merit award of up to $4,000 thanks to the generosity of the late Marion Peacock Haley. Haley’s estate established the merit-based graduate fellowships in honor of her late husband, Herbert P. Haley (ME 1933).
Gleaton specializes in engineering psychology. Since 2020, she has served as president, secretary, webmaster, and treasurer of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society student chapter and held multiple leadership positions in the Psychology Graduate Student Council. She was recognized by Georgia Tech’s Center for Student Engagement as part of the 2023 Celebrating Student Leadership Project.
“My research focuses on how to reduce the disuse of assistive technologies and improve user outcomes through enhanced instruction and training,” says Gleaton. “These technologies, from mobility aids to smart devices like wearables and conversational agents, help people perform tasks more easily. I hope my work fosters the successful adoption of assistive technology — and supports individuals aging in place, improving health, and gaining greater independence.”
A third-year Ph.D. student studying mathematics, Havrilla focuses on both theoretical and applied topics in generative machine learning. He has published several papers in academic journals and is an active attendee/presenter in the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics student chapter seminar series. Outside of Georgia Tech, Alex co-founded CarperAI, an open-source research group studying reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF) for large language models.
"My theoretical work tries to understand how well models generalize depending on model size and the amount and makeup of training data. My applied research improves the mathematical reasoning abilities of generative models through synthetic data generation," says Havrilla. "I love the interplay between both theory and application. Knowing the theory helps give me a more principled understanding of what is done in practice, and knowing the practice helps me decide what are the most relevant questions to study theoretically.”
As part of the Rosenzweig Lab, Lindsey investigates the evolution of multicellularity and cell differentiation. He also assists Team Phoenix Supercomputing via Georgia Tech’s Vertically Integrated Projects program, which engages undergraduate and graduate students in long-term, large-scale, multidisciplinary project teams led by faculty. Lindsey trains the Team Phoenix Supercomputing to compete in high-performance computing (HPC) competitions while equipping them with fundamental skills necessary for HPC research.
“My research has largely focused on a small group of freshwater green algae known informally as the ‘volvocine algae’,” says Lindsey. “The varying levels of developmental and sexual complexity make these organisms a useful model system for investigating major evolutionary questions. I infer the phylogenetic relationships of this group and perform ancestral-state reconstructions of key traits thought necessary for the evolution of differentiated, multicellularity.”
McKaig has two first-author publications and has presented her research nationally and internationally. She participated in the International Space Station (ISS) analog experiment at Jules’ Undersea Lodge in Key Largo and NASA outreach for the Atlanta Science Festival. On campus, she was the 2023 President of ExplOrigins, a group of young scientists interested in the origins and evolution of life, the exploration of our solar system, and the search for habitable planets beyond Earth.
“My research focuses on detecting signs of life and characterizing microbes in very salty environments,” says McKaig. “I am interested in life at the fringe of habitability, where the environmental conditions are harsh, but adequate for living things to exist. By learning about life in the extremes on Earth, we can make predictions about what life may look like if it exists on other planets or moons, and how we might be able to detect such life forms. In my lab work, I explore the applications that nanopore instrumentation may have in the search for extraterrestrial life.”
Stellmach is a Ph.D. student in chemistry. She is heavily involved in the Student Polymer Network, serving as secretary, vice president, and president. As an adamant supporter of reducing the gender gap in STEM fields, Kellie frequently invites female researchers to Georgia Tech to share their science research and assists with outreach events through the Girls Excelling in Math and Science (GEMS) program.
"My research focuses on the chemical recycling of polymers back to their monomers, a process that enables plastic waste to be recycled in a circular fashion,” says Stellmach. “I'm particularly interested in this area of research because it combines the challenge of developing new chemical methods with the potential for significant environmental impact. By improving the efficiency of recycling processes, my work aims to reduce plastic waste and support a more sustainable future."
]]>laura.smith@cos.gatech.edu
]]>And while our bodies naturally make amino acids, manufacturing them for commercial use can be costly — and that process often emits greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide (CO2).
In a landmark study, a team of researchers has created a first-of-its kind methodology for synthesizing amino acids that uses more carbon than it emits. The research also makes strides toward making the system cost-effective and scalable for commercial use.
“To our knowledge, it’s the first time anyone has synthesized amino acids in a carbon-negative way using this type of biocatalyst,” says lead corresponding author Pamela Peralta-Yahya, who emphasizes that the system provides a win-win for industry and environment. “Carbon dioxide is readily available, so it is a low-cost feedstock — and the system has the added bonus of removing a powerful greenhouse gas from the atmosphere, making the synthesis of amino acids environmentally friendly, too.”
The study, “Carbon Negative Synthesis of Amino Acids Using a Cell-Free-Based Biocatalyst,” published today in ACS Synthetic Biology, is publicly available. The research was led by Georgia Tech in collaboration with the University of Washington, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and the University of Minnesota.
The Georgia Tech research contingent includes Peralta-Yahya, a professor with joint appointments in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ChBE); first author Shaafique Chowdhury, a Ph.D. student in ChBE; Ray Westenberg, a Ph.D student in Bioengineering; and Georgia Tech alum Kimberly Wennerholm (B.S. ChBE ’23).
There are two key challenges to synthesizing amino acids on a large scale: the cost of materials, and the speed at which the system can generate amino acids.
While many living systems like cyanobacteria can synthesize amino acids from CO2, the rate at which they do it is too slow to be harnessed for industrial applications, and these systems can only synthesize a limited number of chemicals.
Currently, most commercial amino acids are made using bioengineered microbes. “These specially designed organisms convert sugar or plant biomass into fuel and chemicals,” explains first author Chowdhury, “but valuable food resources are consumed if sugar is used as the feedstock — and pre-processing plant biomass is costly.” These processes also release CO2 as a byproduct.
Chowdhury says the team was curious “if we could develop a commercially viable system that could use carbon dioxide as a feedstock. We wanted to build a system that could quickly and efficiently convert CO2 into critical amino acids, like glycine and serine.”
The team was particularly interested in what could be accomplished by a ‘cell-free’ system that leveraged some process of a cellular system — but didn’t actually involve living cells, Peralta-Yahya says, adding that systems using living cells need to use part of their CO2 to fuel their own metabolic processes, including cell growth, and have not yet produced sufficient quantities of amino acids.
“Part of what makes a cell-free system so efficient,” Westenberg explains, “is that it can use cellular enzymes without needing the cells themselves. By generating the enzymes and combining them in the lab, the system can directly convert carbon dioxide into the desired chemicals. Because there are no cells involved, it doesn’t need to use the carbon to support cell growth — which vastly increases the amount of amino acids the system can produce.”
While scientists have used cell-free systems before, one of the necessary chemicals, the cell lysate biocatalyst, is extremely costly. For a cell-free system to be economically viable at scale, the team needed to limit the amount of cell lysate the system needed.
After creating the ten enzymes necessary for the reaction, the team attempted to dilute the biocatalyst using a technique called ‘volumetric expansion.’ “We found that the biocatalyst we used was active even after being diluted 200-fold,” Peralta-Yahya explains. “This allows us to use significantly less of this high-cost material — while simultaneously increasing feedstock loading and amino acid output.”
It’s a novel application of a cell-free system, and one with the potential to transform both how amino acids are produced, and the industry’s impact on our changing climate.
“This research provides a pathway for making this method cost-effective and scalable,” Peralta-Yahya says. “This system might one day be used to make chemicals ranging from aromatics and terpenes, to alcohols and polymers, and all in a way that not only reduces our carbon footprint, but improves it.”
Funding: Advanced Research Project Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research Program.
DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.4c00359
]]>The new Scholars include School of Biological Sciences/School of Modern Languages student Sonali Kaluri, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry student Seth Kinoshita, and School of Biological Sciences student Medina McCowin.
As part of the program, the selected students will receive a full-ride scholarship, special mentoring, and travel opportunities.
About the Scholars
Sonali Kaluri is a third-year student double majoring in biology and applied languages and intercultural studies (with a concentration in Spanish). Deeply passionate about women's health, she has researched clinical considerations of treating liver disease in pregnant women and the impact of a virtual lactation program on maternal and infant health outcomes at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. In her spare time, she volunteers at the Winship Cancer Institute and the March of Dimes and is a member of the Yellow Jacket Fencing Club.
“I hope to attend medical school and pursue a career in academic medicine after graduation from Georgia Tech,” says Kaluri. “My research experience has made me acutely aware of the gaps in medical knowledge regarding the different ways disease processes affect women, and I hope to become an advocate for change through research and clinical practice!”
Seth Kinoshita is a third-year biochemistry major with a minor in health and medical sciences. As an undergraduate research assistant with the Department of Biomedical Engineering, he focuses on a novel drug delivery structure that can be surgically inserted to decrease recovery time and minimize invasiveness for tendon injuries. His work has been published in several academic journals. He serves as an undergraduate research ambassador and a pre-health mentor — and spends his free time with Sympathetic Vibrations, Georgia Tech's male a cappella group. Kinoshita also works as the medical coordinator for Aurora Day Camp, a camp for children with cancer and their siblings.
"After graduation, I want to pursue an M.D./Ph.D. in regenerative orthopedic medicine to bridge my tendon repair research with direct implementation into patients,” says Kinoshita. “I aim to develop innovative treatments that can restore mobility in the extremities and improve the quality of life for patients with musculoskeletal disorders."
Medina McCowin is a third-year biology major researching cancer treatment methods in the Sulchek BioMEMS and Biomechanics Lab. She also worked for Lachance Laboratories as an undergraduate researcher, investigating cancer genetics. Active on campus, she is the biology representative for the Georgia Tech Undergraduate House of Representatives and president of the Georgia Tech Public Health Student Association. McCowin has also held several leadership roles with the Georgia Tech American Medical Student Association.
“In the future, I hope to pursue an M.D./Ph.D. and become a pediatric oncologist and cancer treatment researcher, focusing on improving pediatric cancer treatments,” says McCowin. “Working in the healthcare field and experiencing personal loss has taught me that empathy and compassion are the most important factors in becoming a doctor. As a doctor, I want to contribute to the advancements of pediatric medicine, but also be dedicated to improving the emotional and mental well-being of my patients and their families.”
]]>
laura.smith@cos.gatech.edu
]]>The new algorithm is faster than existing methods while remaining highly accurate. The solver surpasses the limits of current models by demonstrating scalability across chemical system sizes ranging from large to small.
Computer scientists and engineers benefit from the algorithm’s ability to balance processor loads. This work allows researchers to tackle larger, more complex problems without the prohibitive costs associated with previous methods.
Its ability to solve block linear systems drives the algorithm’s ingenuity. According to the researchers, their approach is the first known use of a block linear system solver to calculate electronic correlation energy.
The Georgia Tech team won’t need to travel far to share their findings with the broader high-performance computing community. They will present their work in Atlanta at the 2024 International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis (SC24).
[MICROSITE: Georgia Tech at SC24]
“The combination of solving large problems with high accuracy can enable density functional theory simulation to tackle new problems in science and engineering,” said Edmond Chow, professor and associate chair of Georgia Tech’s School of Computational Science and Engineering (CSE).
Density functional theory (DFT) is a modeling method for studying electronic structure in many-body systems, such as atoms and molecules.
An important concept DFT models is electronic correlation, the interaction between electrons in a quantum system. Electron correlation energy is the measure of how much the movement of one electron is influenced by presence of all other electrons.
Random phase approximation (RPA) is used to calculate electron correlation energy. While RPA is very accurate, it becomes computationally more expensive as the size of the system being calculated increases.
Georgia Tech’s algorithm enhances electronic correlation energy computations within the RPA framework. The approach circumvents inefficiencies and achieves faster solution times, even for small-scale chemical systems.
The group integrated the algorithm into existing work on SPARC, a real-space electronic structure software package for accurate, efficient, and scalable solutions of DFT equations. School of Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Phanish Suryanarayana is SPARC’s lead researcher.
The group tested the algorithm on small chemical systems of silicon crystals numbering as few as eight atoms. The method achieved faster calculation times and scaled to larger system sizes than direct approaches.
“This algorithm will enable SPARC to perform electronic structure calculations for realistic systems with a level of accuracy that is the gold standard in chemical and materials science research,” said Suryanarayana.
RPA is expensive because it relies on quartic scaling. When the size of a chemical system is doubled, the computational cost increases by a factor of 16.
Instead, Georgia Tech’s algorithm scales cubically by solving block linear systems. This capability makes it feasible to solve larger problems at less expense.
Solving block linear systems presents a challenging trade-off in solving different block sizes. While larger blocks help reduce the number of steps of the solver, using them demands higher computational cost per step on computer processors.
Tech’s solution is a dynamic block size selection solver. The solver allows each processor to independently select block sizes to calculate. This solution further assists in scaling, and improves processor load balancing and parallel efficiency.
“The new algorithm has many forms of parallelism, making it suitable for immense numbers of processors,” Chow said. “The algorithm works in a real-space, finite-difference DFT code. Such a code can scale efficiently on the largest supercomputers.”
Georgia Tech alumni Shikhar Shah (Ph.D. CSE 2024), Hua Huang (Ph.D. CSE 2024), and Ph.D. student Boqin Zhang led the algorithm’s development. The project was the culmination of work for Shah and Huang, who completed their degrees this summer. John E. Pask, a physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, joined the Tech researchers on the work.
Shah, Huang, Zhang, Suryanarayana, and Chow are among more than 50 students, faculty, research scientists, and alumni affiliated with Georgia Tech who are scheduled to give more than 30 presentations at SC24. The experts will present their research through papers, posters, panels, and workshops.
SC24 takes place Nov. 17-22 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.
“The project’s success came from combining expertise from people with diverse backgrounds ranging from numerical methods to chemistry and materials science to high-performance computing,” Chow said.
“We could not have achieved this as individual teams working alone.”
]]>The new algorithm is faster than existing methods while remaining highly accurate. The solver surpasses the limits of current models by demonstrating scalability across chemical system sizes ranging from large to small.
Computer scientists and engineers benefit from the algorithm’s ability to balance processor loads. This work allows researchers to tackle larger, more complex problems without the prohibitive costs associated with previous methods.
Its ability to solve block linear systems drives the algorithm’s ingenuity. According to the researchers, their approach is the first known use of a block linear system solver to calculate electronic correlation energy.
The Georgia Tech team won’t need to travel far to share their findings with the broader high-performance computing community. They will present their work in Atlanta at the 2024 International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis (SC24).
]]>Presented as a part of a symposium arranged and given by former students and colleagues to honor the recipient, the award recognizes an outstanding analytical chemist that has advanced the field through exemplary research, teaching, or other endeavors.
“This award is very significant to me as it is given to the most accomplished scientists in the field of analytical chemistry, including some of my long-time heroes, such as Bob Kennedy of the University of Michigan, Catherine Fenselau of the University of Maryland and Scott McLuckey of Purdue University,” says Fernández.
“Anachem award winners include Rosalyn Yallow, who received the Nobel Prize for the development of the radioimmunoassay technique,” he adds. “It is enormously significant to be recognized by such close peers who appreciate the value of measurement science in general, and analytical chemistry in particular.”
Fernández is a noted leader in the field of metabolomics and molecular imaging, where his research encompasses the development of new ionization, imaging, machine learning and ion mobility spectrometry tools for probing composition and structure in complex molecular mixtures. He is the author of over 225 peer-reviewed publications and has received the NSF CAREER award, the CETL/BP Teaching award, the Ron A. Hites best paper award from the American Society for Mass Spectrometry, and the Beynon award from Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, among others.
]]>The Academy announced his election Oct. 21 alongside 99 others. Membership in NAM is considered one of the highest recognitions in health and medicine, reserved for those who’ve made major contributions to healthcare, medical sciences, and public health. The roster is small: only 2,400 or so individuals have been honored.
“It’s an honor to be elected to the National Academy of Medicine and have the work of our team at Georgia Tech recognized in this way,” said Prausnitz, Regents’ Professor and J. Erskine Love Jr. Chair in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.
The Academy cited Prausnitz for innovating microneedle and other advanced drug delivery technologies. He also was honored for translating those methods and devices into clinical trials and products and founding companies to bring the advances to patients. NAM praised Prausnitz for “inspiring students to be creative and impactful engineers.”
Read the full story on the College of Engineering website.
]]>Lignin is one of the most plentiful organic polymers on Earth, making up about 20 to 30 percent of the dry mass of wood and other plants.
Despite this abundance, lignin’s complex structure has challenged researchers in breaking it down into useful components that can be used in the sustainable production of chemicals, plastics, and fuels. Therefore, lignin is often discarded as waste during the production of paper and other plant-based products.
However, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed an approach that could transform lignin into valuable chemicals more efficiently than ever before.
The researchers published their findings in the journal ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering on using a method known as mechanocatalysis, which uses physical forces, such as vibration or rotation, in a ball mill to drive chemical reactions without the need for solvents, heat, or high pressure.
Carsten Sievers, a professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ChBE), explained that the first step in a lignin biorefinery is depolymerization, which breaks lignin down into small molecules.
Led by a team of University of Alaska Fairbanks and Georgia Tech researchers that includes School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Professor Rodney Weber, the researchers' latest findings are published in Science Advances.
In the study, the team leveraged state-of-the-art thermodynamic tools used in global air quality models, with an aim to better understand how reducing the amount of primary sulfate in the atmosphere might affect sub-zero air quality conditions.
The project stems from the 2022 Alaskan Layered Pollution and Chemical Analysis project, or ALPACA, an international project funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and European sources. It is part of an international air quality effort called Pollution in the Arctic: Climate Environment and Societies.
Read the full story in the University of Alaska Fairbanks newsroom.
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Rod Boyce
University of Alaska Fairbanks
The recently-developed course, Chemistry 2801 Special Topics: Cooking, Chemistry, and the Senses, explores the link between chemistry, biology — and food.
Created by Cameron Tyson, principal academic professional and assistant dean for Academic Programs for the College of Sciences, the class combines chemistry lectures with four cooking sessions led by a chef from Lyon’s L’Atelier Gourmand cooking school.
“I wanted students to enjoy connecting science — particularly chemistry and biology at the molecular level — with the sensory perception of what they eat, smell, and taste,” says Tyson.
Each classroom lecture focused on a particular food category and explored the science behind it. Discussions centered on building blocks like carbohydrates, proteins, fats/oils, and water with applications to specific foods like fruits, cheeses, and meats.
Lyon’s reputation as a city well-known for food played a factor in Tyson’s decision to offer the class. Tyson selected local foods to supplement the lectures; he brought marzipan, a French candy, for his sugar and carbohydrates lesson and grapes for a wine-centered lecture.
“Lyon is famous around the world for its gastronomy,” says Tyson. “As a foodie who loves to try new things, I enjoyed the opportunity to bring French culture and cuisine into a chemistry class.”
The students appreciated the nontraditional — and flavorful classes.
“Professor Tyson made the class enjoyable, interactive, and practical,” says fifth-year Chemical Engineering major Oluwadarasimi (Dara) Jakande. “My favorite part was the treats he brought to every class based on each topic he taught. Once, he made us do a blind taste test which was so much fun.”
Third-year Biochemistry major Kaya McClincy agrees: "Sampling all the different cheeses was especially interesting. I learned that French cheese has a much stronger taste than the cheese in the States, and I found I do not enjoy soft cheeses as much as I thought!"
Leveraging his background in chemistry, L’Atelier Gourmand chef Basile Trichakis guided students through menus, mirroring concepts Tyson taught in his lectures and ending with time for students to consume their culinary creations. Class favorites included pork filet mignon, pêche rôtie à la camomille sauvage (a dessert made with French peaches), shrimp bisque, and a mojito parfait.
“He helped make the course super enjoyable because he understood our brains as chemistry students,” says third-year Chemistry major Samantha (Sammy) Rizzo. “While making delicious meals, we also learned about the makeup of food and why certain ingredients add flavor to a dish.”
The students worked in pairs, collaborating on special projects and food preparation. For the final project, students created a recipe and presented information about the chemistry behind a particular ingredient and how it relates to sensory perception.
“I learned that cooking is not just an activity, it’s an art — and that every aspect of cooking involves a chemical concept,” says Jakande. “For example, we learned about the Maillard reaction which occurs when heat transforms amino acids and proteins in food, creating a new flavor, color, and sometimes texture.”
Rizzo also cited the dual nature of the class as helpful.
“It’s one thing to hear why a molecule makes something taste a certain way or how it’s sometimes better to tear an herb rather than cut it, but you really understand it when you actually create and consume a meal using the information you learned in class,” explains Rizzo.
Plans are already underway to offer the class next summer in Lyon.
“It was a great first run,” says Tyson. “I love seeing that spark in students when they are learning something they know they will use every day and certainly cooking and food fits that category.”
]]>laura.smith@cos.gatech.edu
]]>“Placing second speaks volumes for Georgia Tech and the capabilities and abilities of these students,” says Pamela Pollet, faculty with the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Pollet served as the team’s faculty advisor along with Jenny Houlroyd, manager of Occupational Health Services at Georgia Tech.
Each year, the VIP poster competition challenges undergraduate students from throughout Georgia to use their different majors, mindsets, and abilities to solve a real, universal problem. The goal is to give students experience in a field of study and in working together to solve a seemingly complex problem. Georgia Tech’s team, which was pre-selected by faculty and jury members, was one of approximately 70 teams eligible to participate at the statewide competition held in March.
Pollet says the student’s poster, which combined chemistry, chemical safety, and social justice, was born from their interest in examining chemical exposure dangers for those who are not equipped to recognize such hazards.
“There is some social injustice in this context because the people who are most exposed to chemical dangers are often the people who don’t have the education to recognize the hazards and often are the most socioeconomically vulnerable,” Pollet explains.
Godavarti, a second-year student in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, says the team was proud of the bigger goal of the project — and its alignment with Georgia Tech’s mission. “We wanted to bring awareness about the impact of chemical exposure and what can be done to prevent dangerous levels of exposure. It was interesting to think about this from a business perspective in the idea of how we can apply these models to help people.”
The VIP chemical equity initiative received a Center for Teaching and Learning Undergraduate Sustainability Education Innovation Grant to continue the research this upcoming academic year, and will welcome both new and returning students.
]]>Wysocki currently serves as Ohio Eminent Scholar, director of the Campus Chemical Instrument Center, and professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Ohio State University. Her research involves solving biomedical problems and developing new techniques and devices to study proteins in the human body. This work has human health applications spanning the development of new medicines to disease prevention.
“I am thrilled to join the College of Sciences at Georgia Tech — a research university that I have long respected,” says Wysocki. “This is a truly exciting moment in education and research. Innovations are changing how we understand the world and how we prepare future scientists. I look forward to working with students, staff, faculty, and Georgia Tech leaders to advance the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and continue its pursuit of excellence.”
“Vicki was the clear choice for this role given her vision for the School and her commitment to excellence in research and teaching,” says Susan Lozier, dean of the College of Sciences, Betsy Middleton and John Clark Sutherland Chair, and professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. “She is an outstanding leader and renowned scholar, and I look forward to working with her in the years ahead to advance the ambitious goals of the School and College.”
“I would like to thank the members of the search committee for their time and hard work,” adds Lozier. “I also want to express my gratitude for M.G. Finn’s efforts as chair over the last decade. He has done an extraordinary job elevating the teaching and research missions of the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry.”
Wysocki’s research focuses on developing devices and techniques to unlock the secrets of proteins, the building blocks of the human body. Her research group uses electron capture, surface-induced dissociation, and ion mobility mass spectrometry to measure and characterize large protein and nucleoprotein complexes (arrangements of proteins in a group that carry out a function). Such research has important implications for drug discovery, disease prevention, and more — as reflected in the Wysocki Group’s collaborations with multiple instrument vendors and pharmaceutical companies. Additionally, as director of the NIH-funded Biomedical Technology Optimization and Dissemination Center in Mass Spectrometry Guided Structural Biology, her collaborative team interacts with scientists across the country to develop and apply new approaches to solve biomedical problems.
Wysocki received a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Western Kentucky University and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Purdue University. Following postdoctoral work at Purdue and the Naval Research Laboratory as a National Research Council Fellow, she started as an assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University in 1990 before being promoted to associate professor in 1994. Subsequently, she joined the University of Arizona (1996-2012), where she served as professor, co-chair, and chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Wysocki joined Ohio State University in 2012 as an Ohio Eminent Scholar, director of the Campus Chemical Instrument Center, and professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.
Her honors include the 2009 Distinguished Contribution to Mass Spectrometry Award from the American Society for Mass Spectrometry, jointly with Professor Simon Gaskell of the University of Manchester; the 2017 American Chemical Society (ACS) Field and Franklin Award for Outstanding Contributions to Mass Spectrometry; the 2022 ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry Award in Chemical Instrumentation; and the 2022 Thomson Medal from the International Mass Spectrometry Foundation. She is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry. Previously, she served as president of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry and associate editor for the ACS journal Analytical Chemistry.
The Georgia Institute of Technology, or Georgia Tech, is one of the top public research universities in the U.S., developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition. The Institute offers business, computing, design, engineering, liberal arts, and sciences degrees. Its more than 47,000 undergraduate and graduate students represent 54 U.S. states and territories and more than 143 countries. They study at the main campus in Atlanta, at campuses in France and China, or through distance and online learning. As a leading technological university, Georgia Tech is an engine of economic development for Georgia, the Southeast, and the nation, conducting more than $1 billion in research annually for government, industry, and society.
]]>The program trains emerging leaders in computational science, providing opportunities and funding to students pursuing doctoral degrees in fields that use high-performance computing to solve complex science and engineering problems.
“I am honored to receive this fellowship,” says Berry. “In addition to the support for my Georgia Tech studies, I’m especially excited to participate in the three-month practicum where I’ll collaborate with leading DOE scientists.”
According to the DOE, the practicum takes place at one of 21 DOE laboratories or sites across the country, offering the fellows insights into how their scientific interests can translate to research areas important to the nation.
At Georgia Tech, Berry is a graduate research assistant for the Sherrill Group, spearheading research on using quantum mechanics and high-performance computing to understand how drug molecules bind to proteins.
“Computational chemists are always trying to balance speed and accuracy. My current research focuses on accuracy–modeling proteins with thousands of atoms to understand why some drugs work better than others,” explains Berry. “One of the practicum benefits will be access to the DOE’s supercomputers. I’m looking forward to learning how these incredible computers can help us further implement data-driven approaches to screen potential drug candidates (small molecules) even more rapidly.”
The fellowship is renewable for up to four years. As of September 1, 2024, the DOE CSGF will have onboarded more than 675 students across 34 cohorts representing 84 Ph.D. institutions. There are a record 40 incoming fellows for 2024-2025, with Berry the sole recipient from Georgia Tech.
"Izzy is an amazing student. She came to Georgia Tech with a B.S. in Chemistry and minors in computer science, applied math, and physics—as well as research experience in computational biophysics,” says David Sherrill, Regents’ Professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the School of Computational Science and Engineering who oversees Berry’s work. “She is exactly the kind of interdisciplinary student the DOE wants to recognize with their Computational Science Graduate Fellowship. I'm thrilled she's received this prestigious recognition."
]]>The Tech group dubbed its method PRODIGY (PROjected DIffusion for controlled Graph Generation). PRODIGY enables diffusion models to generate 3D images of complex structures, such as molecules from chemical formulas.
Scientists in pharmacology, materials science, social network analysis, and other fields can use PRODIGY to simulate large-scale networks. By generating 3D molecules from multiple graph datasets, the group proved that PRODIGY could handle complex structures.
In keeping with its name, PRODIGY is the first plug-and-play machine learning (ML) approach to controllable graph generation in diffusion models. This method overcomes a known limitation inhibiting diffusion models from broad use in science and engineering.
“We hope PRODIGY enables drug designers and scientists to generate structures that meet their precise needs,” said Kartik Sharma, lead researcher on the project. “It should also inspire future innovations to precisely control modern generative models across domains.”
PRODIGY works on diffusion models, a generative AI model for computer vision tasks. While suitable for image creation and denoising, diffusion methods are limited because they cannot accurately generate graph representations of custom parameters a user provides.
PRODIGY empowers any pre-trained diffusion model for graph generation to produce graphs that meet specific, user-given constraints. This capability means, as an example, that a drug designer could use any diffusion model to design a molecule with a specific number of atoms and bonds.
The group tested PRODIGY on two molecular and five generic datasets to generate custom 2D and 3D structures. This approach ensured the method could create such complex structures, accounting for the atoms, bonds, structures, and other properties at play in molecules.
Molecular generation experiments with PRODIGY directly impact chemistry, biology, pharmacology, materials science, and other fields. The researchers say PRODIGY has potential in other fields using large networks and datasets, such as social sciences and telecommunications.
These features led to PRODIGY’s acceptance for presentation at the upcoming International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML 2024). ICML 2024 is the leading international academic conference on ML. The conference is taking place July 21-27 in Vienna.
Assistant Professor Srijan Kumar is Sharma’s advisor and paper co-author. They worked with Tech alumnus Rakshit Trivedi (Ph.D. CS 2020), a Massachusetts Institute of Technology postdoctoral associate.
Twenty-four Georgia Tech faculty from the Colleges of Computing and Engineering will present 40 papers at ICML 2024. Kumar is one of six faculty representing the School of Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) at the conference.
Sharma is a fourth-year Ph.D. student studying computer science. He researches ML models for structured data that are reliable and easily controlled by users. While preparing for ICML, Sharma has been interning this summer at Microsoft Research in the Research for Industry lab.
“ICML is the pioneering conference for machine learning,” said Kumar. “A strong presence at ICML from Georgia Tech illustrates the ground-breaking research conducted by our students and faculty, including those in my research group.”
Visit https://sites.gatech.edu/research/icml-2024 for news and coverage of Georgia Tech research presented at ICML 2024.
]]>The Tech group dubbed its method PRODIGY (PROjected DIffusion for controlled Graph Generation). PRODIGY enables diffusion models to generate 3D images of complex structures, such as molecules from chemical formulas.
Scientists in pharmacology, materials science, social network analysis, and other fields can use PRODIGY to simulate large-scale networks. By generating 3D molecules from multiple graph datasets, the group proved that PRODIGY could handle complex structures.
In keeping with its name, PRODIGY is the first plug-and-play machine learning (ML) approach to controllable graph generation in diffusion models. This method overcomes a known limitation inhibiting diffusion models from broad use in science and engineering.
]]>“It is an honor to join this prestigious scientific organization,” says Sherrill, who also serves as associate director of the Institute for Data Engineering Science. “The members are the very top experts in quantum chemistry from around the world.”
Sherrill’s research is at the intersection of chemistry, algorithms, and data science. His research group leverages advances in machine learning to develop tools for modeling data from quantum mechanical computations. These tools can be applied to chemical problems like drug discovery and crystal engineering. The research group makes its methods and algorithms publicly available through the open-source quantum chemistry program Psi4.
Sherrill received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Georgia and joined Georgia Tech in 1999 after having served as a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley. He has received numerous distinctions throughout his career and is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Chemical Society, and the American Physical Society. Sherrill has been associate editor of the Journal of Chemical Physics since 2009.
Learn more about Sherrill’s research here.
Established in Menton, France in 1967, IAQMS is an international scientific society that covers the application of quantum theory, including chemistry and chemical physics. It is composed of scientists from around the world who have contributed to the advancement of quantum molecular science. The organization boasts 14 Nobel Prize laureates among its current and past members.
]]>The findings are the latest product of the Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity Consortium (MoTrPAC), a ten-year effort launched in 2016 by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to uncover how exercise improves and maintains our health at the molecular level.
Georgia Institute of Technology bioanalytical chemist Facundo Fernández and Emory University biochemist Eric Ortlund lead one of the Consortium’s Chemical Analysis Sites, joining researchers across the country to collect and translate data from animals and more than 2,000 volunteers into comprehensive maps of the cellular changes throughout the body in response to exercise.
The $226 million MoTrPAC NIH Common Fund investment also hopes to help people with chronic illnesses identify specific physical activities to improve individual health, and to potentially unearth therapeutic targets — medicines that might mimic the positive effects of exercise.
MoTrPAC’s latest group of papers details data from studies in rats, uncovering how endurance exercise affects biological molecules and “all tissues of the body,” as well as tissues and gene expression, along with striking tissue differences between male and female organisms.
Read more:
Facundo M. Fernandez, is Regents’ Professor and Vasser Woolley Foundation Chair in Bioanalytical Chemistry at Georgia Tech. He also serves as associate editor of the Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (JASMS).
Eric Ortlund is a professor in the Department of Biochemistry at Emory University and a member of the Discovery and Developmental Therapeutics Research Program at Winship Cancer Institute.
Study co-authors from Georgia Tech also include David A. Gaul (School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, along with Samuel G. Moore (Petit Institute of Bioengineering and Biosciences). Emory University co-authors also include Tiantian Zhang and Zhenxin Hou (Department of Biochemistry).
Funding: The MoTrPAC Study is supported by multiple NIH grants and institutes, as well as the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, and NORC at the University of Chicago.
NIH grants include: U24OD026629 (Bioinformatics Center), U24DK112349, U24DK112342, U24DK112340, U24DK112341, U24DK112326, U24DK112331, U24DK112348 (Chemical Analysis Sites), U01AR071133, U01AR071130, U01AR071124, U01AR071128, U01AR071150, U01AR071160, U01AR071158 (Clinical Centers), U24AR071113 (Consortium Coordinating Center), U01AG055133, U01AG055137 and U01AG055135 (PASS/Animal Sites); as well as NHGRI Institutional Training Grant in Genome Science 5T32HG000044; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institute of Health F32 postdoctoral fellowship award F32HL154711; National Institute on Aging P30AG044271 and P30AG003319.
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Jess Hunt-Ralston
Director of Communications
College of Sciences
Georgia Tech
Anthony (Tony) Van Witsen
Health Sciences Writer
Woodruff Health Sciences Center
Emory University
Andréa Harris, Ph.D., M.S.P.H., S.C.P.M.
Health Science Policy Analyst
Office of Strategic Coordination – The Common Fund
Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives
Office of the Director, NIH