PNNL

Scott Baker, the Functional and Systems Biology Group leader at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), has been elected a Fellow by the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE).

He joins more than 2,000 scientists from over 30 countries who have been named AIMBE fellows for their significant contributions to medical and biological engineering. AIMBE advocates for advancing the understanding of medical and biological engineering and for accelerating medical and biological innovation.

AIMBE selected Baker for “pioneering contributions in the fields of fungal genomics and biotechnology with applications to the environment, society, and sustainable biomanufacturing.”

In addition to his role at PNNL, Baker is the Functional and Systems Biology science area leader for EMSL, the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a Department of Energy, Office of Science user facility at PNNL.

“It is great to be recognized by your peers as having made a positive contribution,” says Baker. “I am looking forward to the opportunity to contribute and advocate ideas and priorities for research in biological engineering.”

Baker was nominated for the AIMBE fellowship by EMSL user Michelle O’Malley, a chemical engineer at the University of California, Santa Barbara. O’Malley refers to Baker as one of the early leaders who advocated for the sequencing of a diversity of fungal genomes. He also helped establish the Joint Genome Institute Fungal Genomics Program. She notes that Baker’s most recent genome project, sequencing every species in the Aspergillus genus, or “whole genus sequencing,” will help the fungal community to better understand the evolution of fungal species and to identify novel secondary metabolite pathways and enzymes.

“Through his genomics studies, he has identified genes whose products are involved in major mycotoxin and virulence factor biosynthetic pathways, from fumonisin to ochratoxin to T-toxin,” O’Malley wrote. “His identification of the fumonisin biosynthesis pathway in Aspergillus niger is highly cited and led to several studies by other groups to assess fumonisin contamination in a variety of foods.”

Baker’s research focuses on translating omics information into insights related to fungal biology and fungal biotechnology. In addition to more than 150 publications, Baker has six issued patents on gene regulation and strain engineering of fungi that have improved the secretion of enzymes or small molecules. He holds a joint appointment as a fungal biotechnology scientist with the Department of Energy Joint BioEnergy Institute and is also a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and former President and Fellow of the Society of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology (SIMB).

Learn more about AIMBE fellows.