Julia Kubanek

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Julia Kubanek is a Professor in the Schools of Biological Sciences and of Chemistry & Biochemistry in the College of Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology. [1] She is also the Vice President for Interdisciplinary Research for Georgia Tech. [2] [3] She is also Co-Director of the Aquatic Chemical Ecology Center (Georgia Tech) [4] and member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Chemical Society, the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography, the International Society of Chemical Ecology, the International Society for the Study of Harmful Algae and the American Association of Underwater Science [5]

Contents

Education and career

Kubanek studied at Queen's University and got her Chemistry degree in 1991. She completed her doctoral studies in 1998 at the University of British Columbia. In 1998, she moved as post-doctoral researcher to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California and after, in 2001, to the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

In 2001 she became Assistant Professor and in 2006 Associate Professor in the School of Biology and School of Chemistry & Biochemistry at the Georgia Institute of Technology. In 2009 she became Associate Chair of the School of Biology and Co-Director of the Center for Aquatic Chemical Ecology. From 2010 to 2013 she was Waernska Guest Professor in the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Since 2011 she is Professor in the School of Biology and School of Chemistry & Biochemistry at Georgia Tech. [6] Between 2014 and 2021, she was Associate Dean for Research of the College of Sciences of Georgia Tech. [7] Since 2021, she is the Vice President for Interdisciplinary Research for Georgia Tech. [8]

Research

Kubanek's research interests are focused on the chemical signalling used by marine organisms to communicate with each other and with the environment. This research is multi-disciplinary as it crosses organic chemistry, chemical ecology, and chemical biology. Kubanek's research has revealed how seaweed produce a chemical compound, lobophorolide, that enables the seaweed to resist predation by marine fungi. [9] Further research has revealed the presence of organic compounds on the surfaces of seaweed that inhibit growth of marine fungi. [10] Other notable research projects characterize organic compounds that act as allelopathic chemicals in corals [11] and Caribbean sponges. [12] Kubanek also leads research projects into the chemical signals from the red tide producing Karenia brevis. [13] [14] Through screening of compounds produced by sea squirts, Kubanek's lab found compounds that can act as antifungal agents, [15] which may lead to the development of novel drugs to prevent the growth of fungus. [16] Kubanek's research on the compounds found in the urine of blue crabs [17] was described in a New York Times article that presented the research in a manner readily accessible to the general public. [18]

Kubanek has three patents filed in the United States: ABC transporter ligand GATX1, [19] Compounds and compositions useful in the treatment of malaria, [20] and Methods for inhibiting CLC-2 channel with GATX2. [21]

Awards

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References

  1. ↑ "School of Biological Sciences | Georgia Institute of Technology | Atlanta, GA | Georgia Institute of Technology | Atlanta, GA". biosciences.gatech.edu. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
  2. ↑ "Office of the Executive Vice President for Research | Georgia Institute of Technology | Atlanta, GA | Georgia Institute of Technology | Atlanta, GA". research.gatech.edu. Retrieved 2024-02-05.
  3. ↑ "Kubanek Named Vice President for Interdisciplinary Research | Research Horizons | Georgia Tech's Research News". rh.gatech.edu. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
  4. ↑ "People". www.ace.biosci.gatech.edu. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
  5. ↑ "Julia Kubanek Curriculum Vitae" (PDF).
  6. ↑ "Profile | Georgia Tech Chemistry & Biochemistry". www.chemistry.gatech.edu. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
  7. ↑ "School of Biological Sciences | Georgia Institute of Technology | Atlanta, GA | Georgia Institute of Technology | Atlanta, GA". biosciences.gatech.edu. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
  8. ↑ "Office of the Executive Vice President for Research | Georgia Institute of Technology | Atlanta, GA | Georgia Institute of Technology | Atlanta, GA". research.gatech.edu. Retrieved 2024-02-05.
  9. ↑ Kubanek, Julia; Jensen, Paul R.; Keifer, Paul A.; Sullards, M. Cameron; Collins, Dwight O.; Fenical, William (2003-06-10). "Seaweed resistance to microbial attack: A targeted chemical defense against marine fungi". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 100 (12): 6916–6921. Bibcode:2003PNAS..100.6916K. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1131855100 . ISSN   0027-8424. PMC   165804 . PMID   12756301.
  10. ↑ Lane, Amy L.; Nyadong, Leonard; Galhena, Asiri S.; Shearer, Tonya L.; Stout, E. Paige; Parry, R. Mitchell; Kwasnik, Mark; Wang, May D.; Hay, Mark E.; Fernandez, Facundo M.; Kubanek, Julia (2009-05-05). "Desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry reveals surface-mediated antifungal chemical defense of a tropical seaweed". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 106 (18): 7314–7319. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0812020106 . ISSN   0027-8424. PMC   2678663 . PMID   19366672.
  11. ↑ Rasher, Douglas B.; Stout, E. Paige; Engel, Sebastian; Kubanek, Julia; Hay, Mark E. (2011-10-25). "Macroalgal terpenes function as allelopathic agents against reef corals". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 108 (43): 17726–17731. Bibcode:2011PNAS..10817726R. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1108628108 . ISSN   0027-8424. PMC   3203809 . PMID   22006333.
  12. ↑ Kubanek, Julia; Whalen, Kristen E.; Engel, Sebastian; Kelly, Sarah R.; Henkel, Timothy P.; Fenical, William; Pawlik, Joseph R. (2002-03-01). "Multiple defensive roles for triterpene glycosides from two Caribbean sponges". Oecologia. 131 (1): 125–136. Bibcode:2002Oecol.131..125K. doi:10.1007/s00442-001-0853-9. ISSN   1432-1939. PMID   28547502. S2CID   42211837.
  13. ↑ Prince, Emily K.; Myers, Tracey L.; Kubanek, Julia (2008). "Effects of harmful algal blooms on competitors: Allelopathic mechanisms of the red tide dinoflagellate Karenia brevis". Limnology and Oceanography. 53 (2): 531–541. Bibcode:2008LimOc..53..531P. doi: 10.4319/lo.2008.53.2.0531 . ISSN   1939-5590.
  14. ↑ Kubanek, Julia; Hicks, Melissa K.; Naar, Jerome; Villareal, Tracy A. (2005). "Does the red tide dinoflagellate Karenia brevis use allelopathy to outcompete other phytoplankton?". Limnology and Oceanography. 50 (3): 883–895. Bibcode:2005LimOc..50..883K. doi: 10.4319/lo.2005.50.3.0883 . ISSN   1939-5590. S2CID   85794335.
  15. ↑ Zhang, Fan; Zhao, Miao; Braun, Doug R.; Ericksen, Spencer S.; Piotrowski, Jeff S.; Nelson, Justin; Peng, Jian; Ananiev, Gene E.; Chanana, Shaurya; Barns, Kenneth; Fossen, Jen (2020-11-20). "A marine microbiome antifungal targets urgent-threat drug-resistant fungi". Science. 370 (6519): 974–978. Bibcode:2020Sci...370..974Z. doi:10.1126/science.abd6919. ISSN   0036-8075. PMC   7756952 . PMID   33214279.
  16. ↑ Halford, Bethany (2020). "Fungus fighter from the sea". cen.acs.org. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
  17. ↑ Poulin, Remington X.; Lavoie, Serge; Siegel, Katherine; Gaul, David A.; Weissburg, Marc J.; Kubanek, Julia (2018-01-23). "Chemical encoding of risk perception and predator detection among estuarine invertebrates". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 115 (4): 662–667. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1713901115 . ISSN   0027-8424. PMC   5789921 . PMID   29311305.
  18. ↑ Klein, JoAnna (2018-01-08). "The Invisible Underwater Messaging System in Blue Crab Urine". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2021-04-26.
  19. ↑ US 8106013,McCarty, Nael; Fuller, Matthew& Kubanek, Julia,"ABC transporter ligand GATX1",published 2012-01-31, assigned to Georgia Tech Research Corp.
  20. ↑ US 8481757,Kubanek, Julia M.; Hay, Mark E.& Le Roch, Karine G.et al.,"Compounds and compositions useful in the treatment of malaria",published 2013-07-09, assigned to Georgia Tech Research Corp. and The Regents of the University of California
  21. ↑ US 8324158,McCarty, Neal; Thompson, Christopher H.& Kubanek, Julia,"Methods for inhibiting CLC-2 channel with GATX2",published 2012-12-04, assigned to Georgia Tech Research Corp.
  22. ↑ "President Bush Names 20 Promising, Young Scientists and Engineers to Receive Awards". www.nsf.gov. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
  23. ↑ "Award Winners | Women's Leadership Conference". wlc.gatech.edu. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
  24. ↑ "International Society of Chemical Ecology". www.chemecol.org. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
  25. ↑ "AAAS Members Elected as Fellows | American Association for the Advancement of Science". www.aaas.org. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
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