Miller named Distinguished Professor
The University of Kentucky has appointed Anne-Frances Miller Distinguished Professor at the College of Arts and Sciences for 2022-23. Her professor of chemistry, Miller is recognized for her outstanding research, effective teaching and her professional service. She gives her annual Distinguished Professor Lecture in the spring.
Anne Francis Miller
The Miller lab studies enzymatic redox catalysis to understand the energy efficiency of biological systems and the mechanisms for optimizing intermittent energy storage and deploying it with maximum versatility. is working on
For her work, Miller received the Biophysical Society Young Investigator Award and the 2021 Herty Medal from the Georgia Section of the American Chemical Society. She was invited to chair the Gordon Research Council in her field, and recently she completed her tenure as chair of the American Chemical Society’s Division of Biochemistry.
Miller’s academic leadership includes reinventing molecular biophysics courses to enhance students’ quantitative thinking. She has sought to make science more accessible to artists through the development of courses such as ‘Plant Pigments, Aromas and Fibers’.
Miller was recently elected to the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Publications Committee and previously served on the committee from 2013-2016. From 2007 until 2012 she was a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
UVA Appoints Garcia Blanco as Chairman
Mariano A. Garcia–Blanco, an expert in virology and RNA biology, has been appointed Dean of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. He came to his UVA from the University of Texas Medical School in Galveston and has been Chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology since 2014.
Mariano A. Garcia-Blanco
Garcia–Blanco’s lab is known for studying RNA-binding proteins in infection and immunity. His research has identified a number of RNA-binding proteins that affect the replication of flaviviruses such as dengue, yellow fever, and Zika. They are also investigating the role of the RNA helicase DDX39B in alternative splicing of the interleukin-7 receptor, which has implications for autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis.
A member of the United Nations Scientific Advisory Council for the International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Garcia-Blanco previously served as a member of the National Advisory General Medical Science Council at the National Institutes of Health. He is a member of the American Medical Association and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society for Microbiology, and most recently the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Garcia-Blanco has taught undergraduate, graduate, and medical students on topics such as gene regulation, nucleic acids, cancer biology, and autoimmunity. In addition to his research and teaching at the UT Medical Branch, he is an Adjunct Professor of Emerging Infectious Diseases at his Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore. He was on the faculty of Duke University from his 1990 to 2014.
