VCU news

By VCU College of Engineering staff

Lukasz Kurgan, Ph.D., the Robert J. Mattauch Endowed Professor and vice chair of the Department of Computer Science at Virginia Commonwealth University’s College of Engineering, has been named a fellow of the Royal Society of Biology.

As the leading professional body for the biological sciences in the United Kingdom, the society advises the government on pressing scientific issues and policies; advances education and professional development for its members; and engages and encourages public interest in the life sciences.

Kurgan is a leader in the bioinformatics community – the interdisciplinary field, which touches on computer science, biology, math, physics and other specialties, applies computation and analysis to the capture and interpretation of biological data. Kurgan has developed popular bioinformatics tools and databases, and his strong scholarship record includes many multinational and high-impact publications.

“I am truly grateful for this recognition and would like to share this honor with my current and former students, postdoctoral fellows and collaborators. This recognition would not have been possible if not for their continuing contributions and support,” Kurgan said.

The Royal Society of Biology represents a diverse membership of individuals, learned societies and other organizations. Individual members include practicing scientists; students at all levels; professionals in academia, industry and education; and nonprofessionals with an interest in biology.

Fellows are selected by application and require support from at least two equally or more accomplished scientists. Applications are reviewed by the membership team and fellowship committee, who particularly look for examples of the applicant’s impact on the biosciences.

Honored to be inducted into the society, Kurgan points to his research team’s history of excellence in the area of computational prediction and characterization of protein function and intrinsic disorder in proteins.

“We spearheaded a number of large-scale collaborative bioinformatics studies of proteins that range in scale from a single protein to individual proteomes/organisms to hundreds of proteomes,” he said.

Kurgan is also a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts.