Category: Creative Research Medal

Creative Research Medal 2020

Bob Schmitz, associate professor in the Department of Genetics, is studying new ways to create beneficial crop traits. Genetic variation is already exploited for crop improvement, but another kind of variation—epigenetic—has yet to be efficiently implemented. Epigenetic variation in plants occurs naturally and spontaneously, arising not from a change in the DNA sequence but from changes in DNA methylation. Such variation can result in novel and stably inherited phenotypes, as well as unique patterns of gene expression. His lab creates maps of where DNA methylation occurs in certain plants. Schmitz unexpectedly discovered extensive variation in how plant genomes use DNA methylation for a variety of cellular processes, even though they possess the same enzymes that are involved in adding methylation to DNA. Through comparative and experimental approaches, Schmitz and his colleagues are exploring development of technologies to alter DNA methylation for the purposes of inducing variation in gene expression to enhance trait variation.

Creative Research Medal 2020

Natarajan Kannan, associate professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the Institute of Bioinformatics, employs a multi-disciplinary approach to understand fundamental functions of biomedically important protein families. His pioneering research addresses the evolutionary systems biology of protein kinases, which are enzymes that turn signals on and off in cells—a critical part of cell communication. Protein kinases are involved in a range of diseases from malaria to cancer. Kannan develops computational and experimental approaches to understand how natural sequence variation contributes to functional variation in protein kinases and how non-natural variation contributes to disease. With his interdisciplinary approach combining biochemistry and bioinformatics, he is advancing understanding of the mechanisms of protein kinase regulation and specificity, which are poised to advance ongoing drug development studies in this class of anti-cancer and infectious disease targets.

Creative Research Medal 2020

Puneet Dwivedi, associate professor of forest sustainability, studies the impact of heirs’ property on sustainable forest management among African American forest landowners in the southern United States. Title to an heir’s property belongs to the deceased person, resulting in a shared but undivided ownership structure. This increases the vulnerability of African American landowners to potential land loss, thus affecting their ancestral ties with the land. A clear land title could facilitate African American forest landowners’ participation in federal and state cost-share programs, helping them grow family income through improved forest management, thereby aiming for land ownership and successful intergenerational land transfer. Dwivedi and his collaborators have built partnerships with state and federal agencies, nonprofit organizations and other universities, including Fort Valley State University. His research has helped African American forest landowners in practicing sustainable forest management in Georgia and beyond.

Creative Research Medal 2020

Joshua Bynum, associate professor of trombone in the Hugh Hodgson School of Music, recently released a pioneering album, “Catalyst,” that features musical compositions inspired by icons from classical music, literature and paintings. “Catalyst” was hailed as “a must-have recording with Bynum’s playing described as having “inspiring energy combined with a warm and lyrical approach” in International Trombone Association Journal, the leading publication in his field, and also earned Bynum praise from the composers. The album also led to an invitation for him to perform as a featured artist at the 2017 International Trombone Festival, the world’s premier gathering of trombonists. Bynum is the first-call substitute trombonist for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, performing several concerts each season. He is also a sponsored “artist and clinician” of the Edwards Instrument Company, and is the managing editor and chief contributor for the Pedagogy Corner column of the ITA Journal.