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GA Tech scientist receives NSF grant to spy on bacterial conversations
Atlanta (July 15, 2009) — Brian Hammer, assistant professor in the School of Biology at Georgia Tech received a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to study a cell-to-cell communication system that allows bacteria to “talk” to each other. Bacteria use this process, called quorum sensing, to synchronize their behavior and act like multicellular organisms. The Hammer lab is studying the role of quorum sensing in the environmental lifestyle of the aquatic microbe, Vibrio cholerae, which causes the fatal disease cholera. The grant also includes resources for a K-12 outreach program with undergraduate participation that was developed by Dr. Hammer to introduce concepts about bacteria and marine ecology to local elementary school students and teachers.
The Georgia Institute of Technology is one of the nation's premiere research universities. Ranked among U.S. News & World Report's top 10 public universities, Georgia Tech educates more than 16,000 students every year through its Colleges of Architecture, Computing, Engineering, Liberal Arts, Management and Sciences. Tech maintains a diverse campus and is among the nation's top producers of women and African-American engineers. The Institute offers research opportunities to both undergraduate and graduate students and is home to more than 100 interdisciplinary units plus the Georgia Tech Research Institute. During the 2003-2004 academic year, Georgia Tech reached $341.9 million in new research award funding.