Two faculty members from UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences are among the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2025 Fellows, retired biochemistry and molecular biology professor Gerald Hart and cellular biology professor Karl Lechtreck. Election to AAAS is one of the nation’s most prestigious scientific honors. 

Hart’s work has revealed how complex sugar modifications regulate cellular processes and contribute to disease. Lechtreck’s research focuses on cilia -tiny, hair-like structures on cells – and has advanced understanding of related disorders by uncovering how proteins move within cells.

“The rare congenital disorder Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS) illustrates the importance of this work,” Lechtreck said. His lab was the first to show that mutations in BBS genes prevent signaling proteins from being exported from cilia, a mechanism now widely recognized as the root cause of the syndrome. The disease can lead to blindness, skeletal abnormalities, and obesity.

“I am fascinated by observing living cells and tracking how proteins move,” Lechtreck said. “Watching them enter cilia, assemble into structures, or be exported has been especially exciting and productive.”

Read more about their research..