Georgios Skiniotis, a Life Sciences Institute research assistant professor and assistant professor of biological chemistry at the Medical School, has been named a 2011 Pew Scholar.
The Pew Charitable Trusts announced June 14 that Skiniotis, along with 21 other outstanding scientists from across the country, were selected as the 2011 Pew Scholars in the Biomedical Sciences.
Early to mid-career scientists are chosen by the program each year. Pew Scholars individually receive a $240,000 award over four years to support and expand their research as well as foster collaboration and connection through the exchange of ideas with other stellar scientists.
Skiniotis harnesses the power of electron cryomicrosopy (Cryo-EM) to study the 3-D structure of protein complexes. Cryo-EM involves flash freezing protein complexes in order to take their snapshots at cryogenic temperatures with a specialized electron microscope. These images enable the reconstruction of detailed 3-D models, providing valuable insights into how proteins come together and perform different tasks.
Skiniotis was integral to the design and installation of the LSI’s state-of-the-art Cryo-EM lab and collaborates with scientists across campus using this technology.
“Georgios is quite simply a brilliant scientist. The LSI is fortunate to have a global leader in the field of electron cryomicroscopy on our team, and we’re proud that the Pew program is recognizing his work. I’m looking forward with great excitement to seeing what comes next from Georgios,” says Alan Saltiel, director of LSI.
This award marks the third year in a row (and fourth occasion) that an LSI scientist has been named to this distinguished group: research assistant professor Bing Ye was named in 2010, research assistant professor John Kim was named in 2009 and research assistant professor Shawn Xu in 2007. Research associate professor Zhaohui Xu also was named a Pew Scholar in 2001, just prior to joining LSI.
