Blavatnik - NYAS

A penguin dives from an iceberg into the ocean.

The Blavatnik Family Foundation and The New York Academy of Sciences recently announced 31 finalists for the 2019 Blavatnik National Awards in chemistry, physical sciences & engineering, and life sciences.

Published June 25, 2019

By Kamala Murthy

This year, multiple finalists are recognized for their breakthrough research addressing today’s most pressing sustainability issues.

Here, three finalists discuss how their leading research could result in more wood-powered energy, cleaner chemicals and the preservation of penguins in Antarctica.

Prof. Heather Lynch

Prof. Heather Lynch, Associate Professor, Stony Brook University is a finalist for using satellite imagery, field work, and advanced mathematical modeling and data to detect population declines predictive of penguin colony collapse.

As a graduate student at Harvard, Heather Lynch made a bold decision. After spending her entire academic career in pursuit of a PhD in experimental physics, she requested a transfer to the biology department – a move that had never been done before.

While physics was enriching and a great challenge, Prof. Lynch became increasingly interested in environmental issues and she wanted to become a part of the solution.

“I saw an opportunity to apply my training in quantitative methods to ecology and conservation biology,” she said. “I continue to be interested in how we can overlap the research methods of different scientific disciplines.”

Prof. Lynch’s transfer request was approved, and she completed all the requirements for a PhD in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology in two and a half years.

Her first major work focused on insect outbreaks and forest fires in places like Yellowstone National Park. That led her to a post-doctorate fellowship where working with a nonprofit she managed an unusual census data project – of penguins. The topic has been the focus of her research lab ever since.

“For the last 15 years, I have tried to incorporate the best available research methods and technology to understand seabird populations in the Antarctic,” she said. “I am particularly interested in how penguin populations are impacted by climate change, the fishing industry, and tourism.”

The study of penguins has mostly relied on field surveys, and much research is limited to studying one penguin colony at a time. But Prof. Lynch is an early adopter of incorporating satellite imagery to study how the entire Antarctic penguin population is impacted by changes in climate and the increased presence of humans on the continent.

“We have more access to satellite technology than ever before, and we are still figuring out how much new research we can explore with the technology,” she said. “In 10 years, I bet we will look back and wonder how we were ever able to study ecology without this crucial technology.”

Now, Prof. Lynch is as much a computer scientist as an ecologist. Half of her academic appointment at Stony Brook is at the Institute for Advanced Computational Science.

“I am always thinking about what information do policymakers need to preserve the Antarctic and protect the organisms living on it,” Prof. Lynch said. “By using satellite technology, artificial intelligence, and other tools – we can provide more accurate information at a faster rate than ever before.”

On being an Award finalist, Prof. Lynch said: “I am happy to see ecology being recognized. There are so many researchers in the field conducting important work, and I hope more of their work is recognized in the future.”

Prof. Liangbing Hu

Prof. Liangbing Hu, Assistant Professor, University of Maryland is a finalist for exploring the use of wood-derived nanocellulose as a solution to the sustainability challenges in energy, water and the environment.

Human evolution has been closely tied to wood for food, fuel and shelter. But in the last century, there has been a greater reliance on concrete, steel, aluminum and brick building materials, which exponentially increases fossil fuel consumption and global carbon dioxide emissions.

Liangbing Hu is trying to do his part to solve that problem through groundbreaking research.

Early in his academic career, Prof. Hu worked with Professor George Gruner at UCLA on nanoelectronics with carbon nanotubes. At that time, Prof. Hu never thought he would get into wood research. But during a three-year period at a nanotechnology company in Silicon Valley, he recognized the immense power technology can have to help solve some of the most serious problems that we face today.

“During my post-doctoral research, and for some time after, I have been involved in studying and applying nanotechnology to wood as a method to create more sustainable and bio-degradable products,” Prof. Hu said.

Since 2011, he has been investigating the use of wood-based materials for a range of emerging technologies to help drive sustainability efforts. Some of his work has focused on creating lightweight structural materials, building systems for energy storage and conversion, environmental remediation, green electronics, and energy-efficient buildings.

Hu and his team have invented a range of emerging wood nanotechnologies, including a transparent wood, low cost wood batteries, exceptionally strong wood, super thermal insulating wood, and a wood-based water purifier.

“In U.S., about 40 percent of our energy is consumed by buildings, which is greater than any other industry or transportation,” he said.

“Cost-effective and efficient energy can substantially lower our carbon footprint and at the same time provide more uniform building temperatures.”

When asked what sustainability means to him, Prof. Hu said, “Sustainability for me as a human being means the same as for everyone else: the ability to exist constantly and to maintain change in a balanced environment.”

“For me as a materials scientist, sustainability means the use of natural materials in the continued development of modern society. Once used, these materials can be fully recyclable or biodegradable and cause no negative impact.”

Prof. Ive Hermans

Prof. Ive Hermans, Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison is a finalist for leading breakthrough discoveries in chemistry that help to reduce our environmental footprint.

Being the first in the family to go to college was a huge accomplishment for Ive Hermans. He wanted to make his parents proud and at the same time work towards creating a positive impact in the world. The only way he knew to do this was through his work in chemistry.

He completed his PhD from KU Leuven in Belgium and began his research work in sustainable chemistry. A few years later, he had the opportunity to come to the U.S., where he focused his work on finding solutions to minimize greenhouse gasses while creating more sustainable consumer products.

Hermans strives to design more energy efficient and less wasteful processes for chemical resources that are used in products and services.

“Much of my research involves designing sustainable chemical reactions that generate less waste, consume less energy, or produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions, while still meeting consumer demands for the everyday products that rely on these reactions,” Prof. Hermans said.

Among his most significant achievements is the discovery of a more sustainable method for the synthesis of C2-C₄ alkenes from natural gas, as compared to traditional oil-based technologies. C2-C₄ alkenes are some of the most important chemical building blocks and are integral for the synthesis of value-added chemicals found in materials that help to create products that define our standard of living.

Prof. Hermans is working towards developing cleaner processes that use biomass or natural gas, moving away from energy-consuming oil-based technologies.

“We develop materials that can selectively speed up chemical reactions that lead to desired products while avoiding the formation of undesired by-products like the greenhouse gas CO₂.”

Prof. Hermans and his team recently began working on the chemical recycling of plastic waste back into building-block molecules, closing the lifecycle.

Plastic waste has adverse effects on the environment and the entrance of micro- and nano-plastics is increasingly apparent in our food chain.

“Chemical recycling poses tremendous challenges, but students are very excited to work towards the goal of sustainability because as chemists we have a responsibility to use our understanding of the molecular world to design new pathways that can make a difference for society,” he said.

To learn more about the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists, visit blavatnikawards.org.

Foreign-Born Scientists Advancing New Discoveries

The Blavatnik Family Foundation and The New York Academy of Sciences recently announced 31 finalists for the 2019 Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists in chemistry, physical sciences & engineering, and life sciences.

Published June 20, 2019

By Kamala Murthy

60% of Blavatnik Awards honorees are immigrants to the country in which they were recognized (U.K., U.S., Israel)

This year, many finalists are foreign-born, continuing a long history of the U.S. providing academic opportunity to large numbers of scientists and engineers from abroad. These finalists are now working on advances across multiple disciplines that are destined to impact populations around the world.

Here, some of the finalists discuss their journey, what inspired them to come to the U.S., and how their contributions will impact science for decades to come.

Dr. Jure Leskovec

Dr. Jure Leskovec, Associate Professor, Stanford University is a finalist for developing machine-learning methods to predict safety and potential adverse side effects of pharmaceuticals.

“It felt very real.” That’s how Jure Leskovec describes his first visit to Silicon Valley in 1998.

As a 17-year-old boy from Slovenia, he was fascinated to see such a large swath of high-tech companies in one area, and he felt privileged to step inside labs that were conducting cutting-edge research and producing the world’s most innovative products.

“I instantly knew that I had to be a part of this,” he said.

Leskovec went on to earn a doctorate in machine learning (the scientific study of algorithms and statistical models that computer systems use to perform a task without using explicit instructions) from Carnegie Mellon University and received post-doctoral training at Cornell University.

Today, he holds dual citizenship in the U.S. and Slovenia, and is a full-time, assistant professor of computer science at Stanford University while also acting as the chief scientist at Pinterest.

Dr. Jure giving a talk at Jozef Stefan Institute in Slovenia

Reflecting on his journey, Leskovec said he wanted to train at a university that offered the best machine-learning research program and go back to Slovenia once it was complete. But the opportunities and support he received in the U.S. kept pulling him back until he finally decided to settle here.

He is grateful for that and wants to do the same for other deserving students. He founded the American Slovenian Education Foundation that works to unite Slovenian scholars and educators globally and grants fellowship to talented Slovenian undergraduates.

“Living in the U.S. opened my mind and helped me appreciate the diversity of our world,” he said.

Leskovec and his team are building an artificial intelligence system for predicting, not simply tracking, potential side effects from drug combinations. This could help physicians make better decisions about what drugs to prescribe, help researchers find better combinations of drugs to study complex diseases and assist the FDA in its drug approval process.

His research also will help regulators overcome what he described as a long and complex recall process.

“Outside of a clinical study, the way we learn more about a drug’s potential side effects is to have patients report their experience to their physician, the manufacturer or directly to the FDA,” Leskovec said.

“Depending on the number of reports or the severity of the side effect, the FDA may ask the manufacturer to investigate. Once the investigation is completed, the FDA may consider new labeling, or even have the drug removed from the market.”

Dr. Andrea Alù

Dr. Alù giving a lecture at the Advanced Science Research Center at CUNY (photo credit ASRC, CUNY)

Dr. Andrea Alù, Professor, City University of New York (CUNY) is a finalist for leading breakthrough research in metamaterials with exotic optical and acoustic properties, including scattering suppression, giant nonlinearities and nonreciprocity.

During his undergraduate studies in Rome, Andrea Alù won a competition to visit the U.S. for a research internship at University of Pennsylvania (UPenn). Once the internship was complete, he returned to Rome to earn his doctorate, but the pull of opportunity in the U.S. brought him back to finish his post-doctoral studies at UPenn.

“My first trip to the U.S. and the opportunity to work in complete freedom with my research mentor, Professor Engheta, during my internship at UPenn had a profound impact on my life,” Alù said.

“I got the opportunity to get myself immersed in an up and coming research area with tremendous opportunities and work with the top scientists in the field. I knew I wanted to come back and do advanced research here in the U.S. and am glad I made that decision.”

Alù’s decision has proven to be a great success. His research team is implementing new concepts for sensors that provide enhanced sensitivity and resolution for biomedical devices and have been collaborating with groups working on brain and health issues to build better ways of sensing and imaging.

Dr. Alù receiving the Alan T. Waterman Award in 2015

Alù is also actively working to improve the technology that makes computing faster, more accurate and helps create more energy efficient devices.

He believes the use of light instead of electrons in working with quantum regime can enhance computing dramatically. And that would help to meet energy needs to operate IT infrastructure in a more sustainable manner.

Alù’s work has received international attention. Among his numerous awards, one that stands out is being named a Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellow – the department’s most prestigious single-investigator award that aims to advance transformative, university-based fundamental research.

“This is a country that welcomes talent from other countries and gives them the opportunity to live their best lives and do their best work,” Alù said.

He now holds dual citizenship in the U.S. and Italy.

Dr. Mohammad R. Seyedsayamdost

Dr. Seyedsayamdost during his postdoc at Harvard Medical School

Dr. Mohammad R. Seyedsayamdost, Assistant Professor, Princeton University is a finalist for exploring ways to extract hidden drug-like molecules encoded in bacteria that can be used to address the global shortage of antibiotics.

It was the peak of the Iran-Iraq war in 1987 when Mohammad Seyedsayamdost’s family fled from Iran to Germany. He was eight years old.

“The trigger for my parent’s life-changing decision came when a hospital right next to my elementary school was bombed,” he said.

Since then, Seyedsayamdost has lived in three countries – Germany, Australia and the U.S.

Growing up in a family where education was prioritized, Seyedsayamdost always wanted to come to the U.S. for his higher education. He attended Brandeis University in Massachusetts for his undergraduate studies and ultimately received his doctorate in Chemistry under the guidance of Professor JoAnne Stubbe at MIT, followed by postdoctoral work at Harvard Medical School with Professor Jon Clardy and Professor Roberto Kolter.

“Every step of the way, I missed my family and wanted to return home. But I also knew the best way to honor the sacrifices my parents made for my future was to do exceptional work that would create a positive impact in the world,” he said.

Dr. Seyedsayamdost during middle school in Australia

Seyedsayamdost is working on a groundbreaking method for accessing a previously hidden realm of drug-like molecules encoded in bacteria called secondary metabolites.

Genome sequencing has shown that most biosynthetic genes that produce these metabolites are not expressed under normal laboratory conditions. But Seyedsayamdost’s method, called High Throughput Elicitor Screening (HiTES), unlocks these novel compounds, some of which have shown much enhanced bioactivity.

He and his research team at Princeton University are using this method to isolate novel antibiotic molecules, which could help develop antibiotics to meet market shortages.

“A high risk, high reward kind of study” is how he describes his work.

Like his fellow scientists, Seyedsayamdost is thankful for the opportunities he received studying and working in the U.S. and plans to apply for citizenship when he is eligible in four years.

“One thing I have always appreciated about science in the U.S. is that it provides an even playing field,” he said.

“Once you are in, you are judged by your talent and capabilities and not by where you are from or the color of your skin. The can-do attitude and the innovative mindset of people in this country, is what makes it so desirable for the world’s best scientists to come here and do their best work.”

To learn more about the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists, visit blavatnikawards.org.

Here are the Women Shaping the Future of Science

The Blavatnik Family Foundation and The New York Academy of Sciences recently announced finalists for the 2019 Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists in Chemistry, Physical Sciences & Engineering, and Life Sciences. Of the 31 finalists, 9 or nearly a third are women, up 80% from the National Awards inception in 2014.

Published June 19, 2019

By Kamala Murthy

For some of these women, their passion for science blossomed early, nurtured by caring relatives and teachers, while professors and colleagues later provided inspiration and guidance for them to fulfill their academic ambitions. Now, they are among the nation’s rising stars in their respective fields.

Here, some of these women share their early discovery of science, the importance of mentorship, and what it means to be a Blavatnik National Awards finalist.

Prof. Christy Haynes

Prof. Haynes presenting at the 2017 Blavatnik Science Symposium at the New York Academy of Sciences

Prof. Christy Haynes, Professor, University of Minnesota is innovating ways to assess the toxicology of nanoparticles for safer drugs and consumer products.

Christy Haynes remembers – with terror – her first chemistry class. One day, her teacher surprised the students with a combustion test, shooting flames from a laboratory table.

It was the first time she had seen that kind of fiery experiment, and she nearly ran out the classroom for safety. Instead, it laid the groundwork for a lifelong career.

“No one in my family had a scientific background, so I didn’t know what to expect from chemistry,” she said. “But in high school, I quickly learned to love the challenges the subject offered, and the impact a scientist could make.”

While pursuing her doctorate, Prof. Haynes had a series of inspiring mentors and she credits Dr. Hilary Godwin (now dean of the University of Washington’s School of Public Health) as an influence. But it wasn’t until after her education that she realized the value of seeing other women balance the responsibilities of a family and a challenging career.

“Throughout my education, I did not consciously think about whether my mentors and colleagues were men or women since both can do great science,” Prof. Haynes said. “But I started a family during my tenure period, and that is when I wished I had seen more women do it before.”

As a result, Prof. Haynes coordinated a group for women in nanoscience as a platform for support and collaboration.

On the Blavatnik Awards, Prof. Haynes is most excited about the cross-fertilization of ideas with other finalists.

“It’s an exciting honor and a great way to learn how other scientists think even if they are in a different field,” she said. “I am happy to be included with many thoughtful people who can influence my thought paradigm.”

Prof. Emily Balskus

Prof. Balskus with her high school chemistry teacher

Prof. Emily Balskus, Professor, Harvard University is leading breakthrough research on the human gut microbiome and deciphering its role in health and disease.

Emily Balskus jumped at the chance to be a lab assistant in high school. It got her closer to the kinds of experiments that went beyond normal coursework – and helped her to earn money to pay tuition.

“I remember being thrilled by how things worked and understanding this on a molecular level presented a whole new perspective on how everything around me worked,” she said. “Being a lab assistant was one of my first jobs, and it planted a seed in my mind that you could do this as a career.”

What also cemented that ambition were the many strong role models at her all-female school who promoted the value of hard work and academic achievement.

At the top of that list: her chemistry teacher, who recognized Prof. Balskus’ talent and made extra time to help her.

“Her guidance made me realize that I could take my interest in chemistry far beyond my high school classroom. She gave me the opportunity to become a lab assistant, and that is a major part of why I am here today.”

Outside of her research, Prof. Balskus is focused on helping the field of science become more diverse. Prof. Balskus said there has been significant progress in attracting women and minorities to science, but there needs to be more help for students to stick with it.

She said Harvard has some graduate classes where the majority of students entering are women but, “We should talk about how to also retain that talent because we do not always see all those students finish the program.”

Prof. Balskus is thrilled to be a finalist, but she cannot take all the credit.

“This recognition is a result of our lab’s continuous hard work and commitment to create a collaborative culture,” she said. “We are most successful when we respect all perspectives and foster each other’s development.”

Prof. Ana Maria Rey

Prof. Rey as a high school student in Colombia

Prof. Ana Maria Rey, Adjoint Professor, University of Colorado Boulder is exploring some of the most challenging and fundamental problems in quantum mechanics.

As a primary school student in Colombia, Ana Maria Rey learned that the entire universe can be explained by a mathematical equation. And with that understanding, she was hooked on physics.

By high school, she was focused on pursuing a career in physics even though engineering provided more promising opportunities in her home country.

“I did not know any physicists when I was young, but I did know that hard work would lead to new opportunities for me,” Prof. Rey said. “I am an example of what one can achieve in science no matter the path.”

In addition, two female mentors played a major role in helping her to become the physicist she is today.

“My undergraduate quantum theory professor was the first female physicist I had ever met,” she said. “She was inspiring and incredibly challenging. My professor would make us throw away our notes at the end of each class, forcing us to absorb the material rather than record it. She gave me confidence to pursue the field even though I did not see a lot of people like me doing it.”

Her other great inspiration was the late Dr. Deborah Jin, an award-winning physicist at the University of Colorado who passed two years ago.

“Her enormous accomplishments at such an early age continues to inspire me,” Prof. Rey said. “I still use her advice to this day.”

Being named as a finalist for an award in not new for Prof. Rey, who is a former MacArthur Fellow, but this is more than an individual honor for her.

“I am excited to share this honor with my family back in Colombia,” she said. “They are always supportive of my work, and that is a major part of my success.”

Prof. Viviana Gradinaru

Prof. Gradinaru as a graduate student at Stanford University

Prof. Viviana Gradinaru, Professor, Caltech is inventing methods to track and modulate intact neural circuitry.

In Romania, Viviana Gradinaru and her fellow students were regularly nudged toward science over humanities.

“In Eastern Europe, science was the focus of everyone’s education,” Prof. Gradinaru said. “At a very young age, I would participate in Science Olympiads with other students, so I quickly found science to be fun and it felt like a sense of community.”

Throughout childhood, Prof. Gradinaru had many great mentors, but not all of them were teachers. Her grandparents first inspired her inclination towards science.

“I grew up in a small, remote village where everyone was a ‘maker.’ My grandparents and the rest of the village often had to come together to create solutions to public problems, and they quickly included me in that process. I learned the value of problem-solving and self-sufficiency from them.”

Prof. Gradinaru said she always benefited from the full representation of men and women in Romania’s workforce.

“In Romania, the emphasis on science required full participation from men and women,” she said. “I grew up with many examples of brilliant women teaching and practicing science in my home country.”

Prof. Gradinaru is grateful to be recognized as a finalist for the Blavatnik National Awards, which includes scientists from every field.

“Many fellowships and grant programs are focused on one specialty, but I am happy to be a part of this group of scientists conducting all forms of scientific research,” she said. “I’m excited to meet new colleagues and learn from their work.”

To learn more about the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists, visit blavatnikawards.org.

The 2019 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists National Laureates

A shot from the Academy's 2019 Blavatnik Award ceremony.

Our showcase of the inspiring honorees breaking new ground in life sciences, chemistry and physical sciences.

Published May 1, 2019

By Carina Storrs, PhD

Life Sciences Laureate

Heather J. Lynch, PhD, Stony Brook University

A pursuit of penguins leads to new territories in technology

It may be hard for penguin enthusiasts to believe, yet Heather Lynch PhD says the “most fun part of the entire year” is not the four months a year she and her team spend in Antarctica, but rather the time spent pouring over the reams of data when she returns. Lynch was originally drawn to penguins as a post-doc at the University of Maryland because of the challenge of studying them.

Lynch, now an Associate Professor at Stony Brook University, is tackling the fundamental questions of how many penguins are there and where exactly are they? Those may seem like simple questions, but they are stymied by data shortcomings, such as not having precise location data from on-the-ground surveys of the flightless, tuxedo-donning birds.

To subvert the treacherous Antarctic environment, Lynch turned to the wealth of NASA satellite imagery of the Antarctic that dates back decades. She and a colleague developed algorithms that scan the thousands of coastal images for signs of penguins revealed by their pink-hued guano (bird feces). Then, when they get tipped off to the presence of a large colony of penguins, they bring glacial-ready drones to the areas to take high-resolution pictures for exact headcounts.

The Adélie penguins

One of the biggest finds was a supercolony of about 1.5 million Adélie penguins on the Danger Islands right off the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, which stretches toward South America. No one knew this colony existed — Lynch didn’t believe the algorithm at first, until she could confirm it with other satellite imagery.

She and her lab have also discovered much smaller colonies of chinstrap and gentoo penguins on the nearby Aitcho Islands. Without Lynch’s mathematical techniques and use of satellite technologies to detect guano, these colonies of penguins may have never been discovered.

Thanks to this multi-pronged approach, Lynch can now pride herself on the ability to locate nearly all of the penguin colonies in the Antarctic and is excited about the possibility of discovering even more colonies. Lynch’s game-changing ability to apply mathematical modeling to ecological data collected from satellites, aerial drones and field work is what earned her the title of 2019 Blavatnik National Awards Laureate in Life Sciences.

Lynch has always had one foot in the technological side. She was close to getting her PhD in physics when she “came up for air,” decided she wanted to apply her problem-solving zest toward environmental issues, and switched to a PhD program in biology.

Developing Skills in Statistics and Programming

However, she thinks the expertise that she acquired in mathematical modeling while working on her physics PhD has been the secret to her success. She advises students interested in pursuing any STEM field to develop some statistical and programming abilities.

“[They] are that all-access pass,” Lynch says. “There is not a lab on the planet that does not need people with those skills.”

Although Lynch’s discoveries have been welcome news for ecologists and penguin lovers alike, they can appear to belie the peril facing these birds due to climate change.

“All of these other populations, even other Adélie penguins, are crashing,” Lynch says.

A big part of her research focuses on developing models to understand why the Danger Island colony is flourishing, while the Adélie penguins on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula are declining.

Implications for Conservation and the Impact of the Award

It almost goes without saying that Lynch’s research has implications for conservation.

“When we found the Danger Island populations, the first email I sent was to the people who were designing the Marine Protected Area in the region,” Lynch recalls. The Danger Islands had not been considered an important area to protect, but in what Lynch calls a “dream scenario,” policy makers expanded the area to include the islands after she told them about the Adélie supercolony.

Lynch is excited that the Blavatnik Award will bring attention to the recent technological advances in the field of ecology. The synergistic effects of Lynch’s methods will have a wide-ranging and critical impact in the fields of ecology and conservation biology in the face of impending, human-induced mass extinctions. Lynch and her lab have already expanded her methods to evaluate Antarctic seal and whale populations, and scientists can use her methods in the hope of saving other species all over the world.

Chemistry Laureate

Emily Balskus, PhD, Harvard University

Cracking the mysteries of the human microbiome

The first time that Emily Balskus, PhD worked with a microbiome, the term for communities of bacteria that live in our bodies and all around us, she was knee-deep in the salt marshes off the southern coast of Cape Cod, collecting bacteria.

Things got pretty messy, but the experience helped convince Balskus — who was then conducting postdoctoral research in chemical biology at Harvard Medical School — that she wanted to bring her chemistry expertise to bear on the biggest questions about the human microbiome.

Up until those marshy waters, Balskus was doing, as she puts it, “pretty conventional” chemistry. But early on during her postdoctoral training she attended a seminar about the Human Microbiome Project, which would set out to catalogue the microbes living on and within us. It opened her eyes to the shocking fact that scientists knew almost nothing about what these bacteria were actually doing, and how they affected our health.

“I couldn’t believe that we could be living so closely with so many microbes, that we had shared evolutionary history with them, and there was so much we didn’t know about them,” Balskus recalls.

Understanding the Microbiome in our Gut

Much of what we now know about the goings-on of the microbiome in our gut — for example, how certain bacterial residents can increase the risk of heart disease or thwart the activity of the medications we take — is thanks to the research group that Balskus has been leading at Harvard University since 2011.

For her work getting to the bottom of microbial mysteries, Balskus was named the 2019 Blavatnik National Awards Laureate in Chemistry, which Balskus says is “wonderful” and “very humbling.”

One of the most exciting discoveries of the Balskus lab is connecting how bacteria in the gut microbiome may increase the risk of colorectal cancer. It had been known for more than a decade that certain strains of Escherichia coli (E. coli) make a toxic molecule, called colibactin, and that these bacterial strains are more likely to be found in the gut of people with colorectal cancer.

Understanding the Chemical Components

Balskus and her team focused on determining the chemical makeup of the mysterious colibactin molecule, which had been challenging for other chemists to isolate and characterize. The difficulty of studying this molecule using more conventional approaches made her consider whether her unique perspective might provide another path.

Balskus’ team explored how colibactin was produced in the gut without knowing its complete structure. They eventually discovered that the colibactin molecule contains a structure called a cyclopropane ring, which is known to cause DNA damage that can lead to cancer-causing mutations. Importantly, her team showed that exposing human cells in the lab to the toxic E. coli strain led to a specific type of cyclopropane-dependent DNA damage, whereas cells exposed to harmless strains of E. coli showed no signs of similar DNA damage.

In future studies, she hopes to determine whether this type of DNA damage can be seen in cells obtained from biopsies of colorectal cancer patients, to confirm whether this toxic E. coli is indeed responsible for increasing cancer risk.

Balskus credits her postdoctoral advisor, Christopher Walsh, MD, PhD for suggesting she take the fateful trip to the salt marshes, which was part of a summer microbiology course held at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass. This course equipped her with the tools of microbiology and expertise that she continues to use to probe the human microbiome.

Combining Chemistry and Microbiome Research

Today, Balskus is a Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University, and a leader in bringing the worlds of chemistry and microbiome research together. This spring she helped organize the first scientific conference on the chemistry of the human and other microbiomes.

“Both [fields] are very excited about this intersection,” Balskus says. She is also venturing into other scientific fields, such as genetics, and exploring how chemistry’s tools can advance other areas of biological research.

Balskus hopes to use the Blavatnik Award funds to promote women and other underrepresented groups in science. She recognizes how much her female science teachers at the all-women’s high school and the small liberal arts college she attended encouraged her and were role models for her. Many young women are not so fortunate.

“It is not one thing that makes it hard, it is a bunch of things that make it difficult for women to feel like they belong in science,” Balskus says.

Physical Sciences & Engineering Laureate

Ana Maria Rey, PhD, University of Colorado Boulder

Building the world’s most precise atomic clock

Ana Maria Rey, PhD fell for physics in high school, the moment she realized she could use mathematical equations to predict how a ball will move. It was an easy love affair, as Rey flew through physics problems for fun.

But at the university she attended in her native Colombia, a professor challenged the students with such long physics exams that students had no time to perform detailed calculations. This professor, who Rey considers her first role model, taught them to rely on intuition instead, which could only be acquired through intensive study of the subject.

It is a lesson that Rey has carried with her throughout her career. Over the course of her PhD studies at the University of Maryland, through two periods of postdoctoral training, and now as a Professor of Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder, Rey has delved deep into the world of quantum mechanics.

Diving into Quantum Mechanics

Quantum mechanics describes the behavior of the smallest particles of matter: the atoms and sub-atomic particles that make up balls and every other material on Earth. Just like her early days with physics, Rey is explaining the behavior of the quantum world using mathematical models. But now she is the one developing the models, in groundbreaking work that earned her the honor of being named the Blavatnik National Awards Laureate in Physical Sciences & Engineering this year.

“Understanding [atomic and sub-atomic] behavior is really, really important because it can lead to technological development,” Rey says.

Although her research is theoretical, its applications are tangible and far-ranging, from creating GPS (global positioning system) that can provide more accurate location data and quantum computers that would be thousands of times faster than today’s machines, to ultimately enabling the direct measurement of gravitational waves, which are ripples in the so-called fabric of the universe.

Building a More Precise Atomic Clock

At the heart of all these possibilities, and the crux of Rey’s models, is the ability to build a more precise atomic clock, which can measure much smaller units of time than modern clocks — as short as one billionth of a billionth of a second. As Rey explains, the pendulum of an atomic clock is laser light, and the thing that measures each swing of the pendulum is atoms.

The problem that scientists have to understand, and ideally control, is how the atomic timekeepers move when they are zipping around and colliding with each other. Because of Rey’s equations, they are getting closer to that goal. She credits the physicists she collaborates closely with at JILA, where she is a Fellow, for conducting the breakthrough experiments with ultra-cold atoms trapped by lasers, making them slower and easier to track, for informing her calculations.

Rey says the funding and recognition that come with the Blavatnik Award will allow her to push farther into what she calls “the most exciting part of the work.” Although her team has already given the world its most precise atomic clock, that is nothing compared to what they could achieve if they could entangle, or link together, atoms in such a way that they behave as one unit.

Entanglement, which has been shown by allowing atoms to interact and then separating them, would eliminate the noise that throws off atomic clocks.

“This is the holy grail,” Rey says, adding that, “we should be able to see what the universe is made of,” such as mysterious dark matter.

Driven By Passion

Rey believes the key to her success in theoretical physics is loving what she does and working hard at it.

“Things are not going to come to you. You might be very smart, but I don’t think it’s enough,” Rey says.

Her other great role model, renowned JILA fellow, Deborah Jin, PhD, who passed away in 2016, showed Rey that it is possible to have a successful scientific career and a happy family life, and generally to be there for people. Rey, who was also selected as a MacArthur Fellow in 2013 and the MOSI Early Career National Hispanic Scientist of the Year in 2014, says “I hope in some way, I can share the same type of help with young women scientists.”

The 2019 Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists Ceremony

2019 Blavatnik Award winners in Israel and the UK

A group of Blavatnik Award winners pose together for a photo.

Meet the rising stars who are receiving recognition for their ground-breaking research.

Published May 1, 2019

By Robert Birchard