Andrew Pohorille | |
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| Born | (1949-05-14)May 14, 1949 Szczecin, Poland |
| Died | January 6, 2024(2024-01-06) (aged 74) |
| Education | University of Warsaw |
| Awards | NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal NASA Exceptional Service Medal |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | University of California, Berkeley UCSF NASA Ames Research Center |
| Doctoral advisor | David Shugar |
| Other academic advisors | Bernard Pullman |
Andrzej (Andrew) Pohorille (May 14, 1949 – January 6, 2024)[1] was a Polish-American astrobiologist, biophysicist, andquantum chemist who worked mostly at theNASA-Ames Research Center andUniversity of California, San Francisco. He was a leading scientist on theorigin of life andbiosignature detection atNASA.[2][3][4] His work proposed that proteins may have been the first molecules to support life, challenging RNA-first theories ofabiogenesis.[5][6][7]
Pohorille was the only child of Eugenia Gartenberg, a teacher, and Maksymilian Pohorille,[8] a professor of economics atSGH Warsaw School of Economics. He moved to the US at the age of six[4] and later studied physics at theUniversity of Warsaw, where he eventually obtained his Ph.D. in theoretical physics and structural biology under the supervision ofDavid Shugar.[9] He went on to conduct postdoctoral research at theInstitut de biologie physico-chimique in Paris, where he worked in the group ofBernard Pullman.[10] He became an assistant professor at theUniversity of California, Berkeley in 1988, where he worked until 1992. He moved to theUniversity of California, San Francisco in the same year as a professor at the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry.[1]
In 1996, Pohorille joined theNASA Ames Research Center, where he was a principal investigator and head of the NASA Center for Computational Astrobiology. He maintained his position at University of California, San Francisco.[11] At NASA, Pohorille conceived and led the development of the Life Detection Knowledge Base (LDKB), a community web tool that assists the detection of the evidence of life beyond Earth. He also was a leading figure in the establishment of the NASACenter for Life Detection, where he later became a co-director.[3]
In 2002, Pohorille received theNASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal.[12] In 2010, he received the H. Julian Allen Award.[10] In 2005, he became the Distinguished Lecturer at the Centre for Mathematical Modeling and the National Space Research Centre in the U.K.. In 2008, he was the Maxwell Colloquium speaker at theUniversity of Edinburgh.[13]
Pohorille's parents were the only members of their families who survived the Holocaust. Pohorille was married to Joanna Sokołowska, whom he met at a conference and is also his working partner.[4][14]
Authority control databases: Academics |
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