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ATLANTA — Eric Gaucher, a professor in Georgia State University’s Department of Biology, has been elected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
AAAS was established in 1874 and being elected as a fellow of the organization continues to be one of the most distinguished honors a scientist can receive. Members of the AAAS Council meet annually to elect scientists to the rank of fellow for their distinguished achievements in research and contributions to their field of study.
Gaucher was nominated “for distinguished contributions to the fields of molecular evolution and protein engineering, particularly for utilizing ancestral sequence reconstruction for biotechnology, directed evolution and biotherapeutics,” AAAS CEO Sudip Parikh said in the award letter.
“I am humbled to be recognized by such a prominent group of scientists,” Gaucher said. “Only about 100 biologists are given this honor every year throughout the world, not just locally, so to be in that group of researchers is quite an honor.”
Gaucher joined Georgia State in 2017 and has focused on using ancient functions of proteins to help with modern-day health issues, such as hemophilia and gout.
“We have a number of examples in which humans are deficient for a particular protein, and we need to inject a patient with an engineered version of the protein to help the patient. For example, if you’re a hemophiliac, you need to be injected with a clotting factor for your blood,” Gaucher said. “It turns out that a hemophiliac has a mutation in one of their clotting factors, so you cannot simply give an unmutated human version of that protein to a patient, because the human version actually is not very stable. So, we resurrected the ancient form of the coagulation factor from mammals and it turns out to be remarkably stable as a therapeutic.”
Gaucher joins another biology faculty member who is an AAAS fellow, Geert de Vries, Regents’ Professor of Neuroscience and Biology and chair of the Biology Department.
“I’m very happy with Dr. Gaucher being elected to the AAAS, not just because he is a member of my department, but because of the excellent stuff he does with bioinformatics. Digging up ancestral proteins and making them work is a great way to show how bioinformatics can be used for the common good,” de Vries said.
“This is a well-deserved honor for a talented member of our research community,” said Donald Hamelberg, interim vice president for research and economic development at Georgia State. “The knowledge he continues to produce and share will no doubt have an impact at our university and beyond.”
Gaucher joins a select group of distinguished researchers and a rich legacy of historical luminaries recognized by the AAAS for their “scientifically or socially distinguished efforts on behalf of the advancement of science.”
—By Katherine Duplessis
—Photo by Raven Schley