To request a media interview, please reach out to School of Biological Sciences experts using our faculty directory, or contact Jess Hunt-Ralston, College of Sciences communications director. A list of faculty experts and research areas across the College of Sciences at Georgia Tech is also available to journalists upon request.
Human behavior has changed along with the virus and public health measures to contain it. For modelers, it’s a curveball. “The prevailing theme that continues to make things hard now is the interplay between disease state, how people react, and how people react over time,” says Joshua Weitz, Professor and Tom and Marie Patton Chair in the School of Biological Sciences, Co-Director of the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Quantitative Biosciences, and Blaise Pascal International Chair of Excellence. In 2020, Weitz and his team created the Covid-19 Event Risk Assessment Planning Tool, a map of all counties in the U.S. to determine the risk of attending events, given event size and location.
in solidarity | 2021-09-13T00:00:00-04:00
John F. McDonald, a professor in the School of Biological Sciences, is also chief scientific officer at Atlanta's Ovarian Cancer Institiute, which is developing an accurate test for the early diagnosis of ovarian cancer. McDonald says preliminary results of the first half of 800 women in the current trial, shows a success rate of nearly 95 percent. But McDonald adds that a screening test must be essentially 100 percent accurate before getting approval from the Federal Drug Administration (FDA).
maritime | 2021-09-13T00:00:00-04:00
Steve Diggle, an associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences, has been named to the American Society for Microbiology's Distinguished Lecturer (ASMDL) Roster for 2021-2022. Diggle, who came to Georgia Tech in 2017, is now part of a scientifically diverse group of lecturers who are available to speak at local ASM Branch meetings throughout the U.S. Lecturers are chosen through a competitive nomination process, and only the most distinguished lecturers and researchers are chosen to participate in the program. Diggle is the principal investigator for the Diggle Lab, which is based in Georgia Tech's Center for Microbial Dynamics and Infection.
racial justice | 2021-09-04T00:00:00-04:00
According to a new Georgia Tech study, honeybees have developed a way to convert pollen particles into viscoelastic pellets, allowing them to be efficiently, quickly, and reliably transported to the hive. The study also suggests that insects remove pollen from their bodies at a rate 2-10 times slower than normal grooming rates. College of Sciences researchers who worked on the study include David Hu, professor in the School of Biological Sciences; Peter Yunker, assistant professor, and Gabi Steinbach, postdoctoral researcher, both in the School of Physics. (The study was also reported at Phys.org.)
Nicholas J. Conrad Laboratory | 2021-08-25T00:00:00-04:00
The Georgia Tech-developed Covid-19 Event Risk Assessment Planning Tool may have led Hawaii's governor and Honolulu's mayor to urge travelers to stay away during the rise of the Delta variant of Covid-19. The original Associated Press story reports that "Hiro Toiya, the city's emergency management director, cited a mathematical modeling tool from the Georgia Institute of Technology to illustrate risks the community faced from large gatherings." Joshua Weitz, Professor and Tom and Marie Patton Chair in the School of Biological Sciences, and Co-Director of the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Quantitative Biosciences, led development of the tool. (This story also appeared in the Los Angeles Times.)
Hawaii's Governor Asks Tourists To Stay Away Because Of Covid | 2021-08-23T00:00:00-04:00
Those who are slow or reluctant runners or walkers might soon be able to slip on a lightweight, lower-body exoskeleton and up the speed and ease of our exercise, according to several new studies examining the effects of these high-tech robotic devices. “There is no doubt in my mind that within 10 years, exoskeletons and soft, wearable exosuits to improve mobility will be commercially available,” said Gregory Sawicki, associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences who directs the Human Physiology of Wearable Robotics Lab.
Extension of Self | 2021-08-18T00:00:00-04:00
More media outlets are reporting on the fossil hunt this summer at Natural Trap Cave in Wyoming, where Jenny McGuire, assistant professor in the Schools of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and Biological Sciences, is one of several researchers who visit the unique cave to study sediment and fossils. McGuire uses the time in Wyoming to learn more about climate change's impact on the animal and human population of North America 30,000 years ago.
Information and Cyber Sciences Directorate | 2021-08-07T00:00:00-04:00
Andrew Chetcuti, a 2016 School of Biological Sciences graduate who was on the Georgia Tech swim team, represented his native Malta in the recent Tokyo Olympics. Chetcuti was one of seven former or current Georgia Tech athletes competing in the Olympics, all in either swimming or men's basketball.
Olympics through the eyes of Georgia Tech grad Andrew Chetcuti | 2021-08-03T00:00:00-04:00
Masks and vaccines have reemerged as topics for debate in recent weeks as cases rise again — there were 2,568 confirmed cases in Georgia as of Friday, up from 355 on July 1, according to state health department data. "In the absence of mandates, we are receiving late-breaking aspirational messaging, which the virus won’t care about," says Joshua Weitz, professor and Tom and Marie Patton Chair in the School of Biological Sciences, and Co-Director of the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Quantitative Biosciences.
Whistle Bistro | 2021-08-03T00:00:00-04:00
Over the last two years, the Institute for Data Engineering and Science (IDEaS) operations, research, and service portfolios have grown significantly. To accommodate this, IDEaS has taken steps to expand its current leadership team, granting new titles to two College of Sciences researchers. New Thrust Lead positions were created to focus on and opportunistically expand capabilities in important areas. Jeffrey Skolnick, Regents' Professor, Mary and Maisie Gibson Chair, and GRA Eminent Scholar in Computational Systems Biology in the School of Biological Sciences, is now Thrust Lead for Precision Medicine and Drug Discovery. David Sherrill, professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, is the new Director for the Center for High Performance Computing (CHiPC). Sherrill previously served as IDEaS Asst. Director for Research and Education.
Finance and Planning | 2021-07-26T00:00:00-04:00
