Andrzej (Andrew) Pohorille was born on May 14, 1949 in Szczecin, Poland. He died on January 6, 2024 at Stanford Hospital, Stanford, California, USA. Pohorille was a statistical and theoretical physicist, who studied the origin of life and made contributions to the significant expansion and maturation of astrobiology as a major field of scientific inquiry. https://astrobiology.com/2024/02/in-memoriam-andrzej-pohorille.html https://www.scopus.com/results/authorNamesList.uri?name=name&st1=Pohorille&st2=Andrew&origin=searchauthorlookup
He was the only child of Eugenia Gartenberg, a teacher, and Maksynilian Pohorille, a professor of economy at Main School of Planning and Statistics (SGPiS), now Warsaw School of Economics (SGH). His parents were the only members of their families to survive the Holocaust.
He was married to Joanna Sokolowska-Pohorille and had no children.
Pohorille received his Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics (with a specialization in Biophysics) from the University of Warsaw. The scientific advisor of his doctoral thesis was David Shugar and the reviewer was Wlodzimierz Kolos. He did his postdoctoral work with Prof. Bernard Pullman at the Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique in Paris. Since 1992 he has been Professor of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of California, San Francisco. In 1996, he joined the staff of the NASA Ames Research Center, where he directed the NASA Center for Computational Astrobiology ( https://www.nasa.gov/people/andrew-pohorille/).
His main interests have been focused on modeling the origins of life, computer simulations of biomolecular systems, modeling genetic and metabolic networks, and statistical mechanics of condensed phases. He has also worked on the development of novel computational methods for parallel and distributed computing, on developing concepts and designing instruments for microbiology experiments on small satellites and in the lunar environment. His most recent interests were in developing new ways to organize scientific information.
He is internationally recognized in the origin of life community, and through his leadership has significantly strengthened NASA's programs in the broader field of astrobiology. He served as the computational lead for astrobiology projects on three successive NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) teams, and as the computational lead for two Internal Scientist Funding Model (ISFM) teams. The first was on the origin of life on Earth and the second was on the detection of life on other planets.
He published scientific articles on a wide range of topics, ranging from the role of simple proteins in the Origin of Life, to molecular mechanisms of drugs, to in situ high throughput techniques for space biology. His work includes many important publications like a very early molecular dynamics simulations on supercomputers (doi.org/10.1177/109434209000400309) and a highly influential paper establishing best practices in free energy calculations (doi:10.1021/jp102971x).
His other research interests were rather eclectic —he published papers in various in fields ranging from the structure of comets to the mechanism of anesthetic action and risky decision-making.
He was an author and coauthored of 147 peer-reviewed publications ( https://research.com/u/andrew-pohorille).
In 2000 he received NASA Award for Astrobiology
In 2002 he was awarded NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal
In 2005 he was named Distinguished Lecturer at the Centre for Mathematical Modeling and the National Centre for Space Research in the U.K.
In 2010 he was awarded (together with Eric Darve) H. Julian Allen Award for the article Calculating Free Energies Using Average Force, published in Journal of Chemical Physics 115 (November 22, 2001) 9169-9183. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1410978
In December 2023 he was awarded NASA Exceptional Services Medal for "establishment of Astrobiology as a vibrant, rigorous and accessible scientific discipline".
- Hoehler, Tori; Brinckerhoff, Will; Davila, Alfonso; Marais, David Des; Getty, Stephanie; Glavin, Danny; Pohorille, Andrew; Quinn, Richard; Bebout, Lee; Broddrick, Jared; Dateo, Christopher (2021-03-18). "Groundwork for Life Detection". Bulletin of the AAS. 53 (4): 202. Bibcode:2021BAAS...53d.202H. doi:10.3847/25c2cfeb.bd9172f9. S2CID 236682722.
- Pohorille, A., Sokolowska, J. (2020). Evaluating Biosignatures for Life Detection. Astrobiology, 20(10) doi.org/10.1089/ast.2019.2151
- Pohorille, A.; Wilson, M.A.; Shannon, G. (2017). Flexible Proteins at the Origin of Life. Life , 7 (23). https://doi.org/10.3390/life7020023
- Wei, C., & Pohorille, A. (2013). Permeation of Aldopentoses and Nucleosides Through Fatty Acid and Phospholipid Membranes: Implications to the Origins of Life. Astrobiology, 13(2), 177–188. doi:10.1089/ast.2012.0901
- Pohorille, A. (2012). Processes that Drove the Transition from Chemistry to Biology: Concepts and Evidence. Orig Life Evol Biosph, 42(5), 429–432. doi:10.1007/s11084-012-9304-3
- Pohorille, A., & Pratt, L. R. (2012). Is Water the Universal Solvent for Life?. Orig Life Evol Biosph, 42(5), 405–409. doi:10.1007/s11084-012-9301-6
- Wei, C., & Pohorille, A. (2011). Permeation of Nucleosides through Lipid Bilayers. J. Phys. Chem. B, 115(13), 3681–3688. doi:10.1021/jp112104r
- Wilson, M. A., Wei, C., Bjelkmar, P., Wallace, B. A., & Pohorille, A. (2011). Molecular Dynamics Simulation of the Antiamoebin Ion Channel: Linking Structure and Conductance. Biophysical Journal, 100(10), 2394–2402. doi:10.1016/j.bpj.2011.03.054
- Hoehler, T.M. & Pohorille, A. (2011). The importance of water for high fidelity information processing and for life. [Invited] EOS Trans. AGU, 92(53), Fall Meet. Suppl., P24B-02.
- Pohorille, A. (2010). Emerging Properties in the origins of life and Darwinian evolution. Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biosphere, 40, 384-386.
- Pohorille, A. (2010). Was the Emergence of Life on Earth a Likely Outcome of Chemical Evolution? Orig. Life Evol. Biosphere, 40: 362-365.
- Pohorille, A., Jarzynski, C., & Chipot, C. (2010). Good Practices in Free-Energy Calculations. J. Phys. Chem. B, 114(32), 10235–10253. doi:10.1021/jp102971x
- Pohorille, A., & Deamer, D. (2009). Self-assembly and function of primitive cell membranes. Research in Microbiology, 160(7), 449–456. doi:10.1016/j.resmic.2009.06.004
- Wei, C., & Pohorille, A. (2009). Permeation of Membranes by Ribose and Its Diastereomers. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 131(29), 10237–10245. doi:10.102/ja902531k
- Darve, E., Rodríguez-Gómez, D., Pohorille, A. (2008). Adaptive biasing force method for scalar and vector free energy calculations. J. Chem. Phys. 128 (14), 144120. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2829861
Andrzej (Andrew) Pohorille was born on May 14, 1949 in Szczecin, Poland. He died on January 6, 2024 at Stanford Hospital, Stanford, California, USA. Pohorille was a statistical and theoretical physicist, who studied the origin of life and made contributions to the significant expansion and maturation of astrobiology as a major field of scientific inquiry. https://astrobiology.com/2024/02/in-memoriam-andrzej-pohorille.html https://www.scopus.com/results/authorNamesList.uri?name=name&st1=Pohorille&st2=Andrew&origin=searchauthorlookup
He was the only child of Eugenia Gartenberg, a teacher, and Maksynilian Pohorille, a professor of economy at Main School of Planning and Statistics (SGPiS), now Warsaw School of Economics (SGH). His parents were the only members of their families to survive the Holocaust.
He was married to Joanna Sokolowska-Pohorille and had no children.
Pohorille received his Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics (with a specialization in Biophysics) from the University of Warsaw. The scientific advisor of his doctoral thesis was David Shugar and the reviewer was Wlodzimierz Kolos. He did his postdoctoral work with Prof. Bernard Pullman at the Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique in Paris. Since 1992 he has been Professor of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of California, San Francisco. In 1996, he joined the staff of the NASA Ames Research Center, where he directed the NASA Center for Computational Astrobiology ( https://www.nasa.gov/people/andrew-pohorille/).
His main interests have been focused on modeling the origins of life, computer simulations of biomolecular systems, modeling genetic and metabolic networks, and statistical mechanics of condensed phases. He has also worked on the development of novel computational methods for parallel and distributed computing, on developing concepts and designing instruments for microbiology experiments on small satellites and in the lunar environment. His most recent interests were in developing new ways to organize scientific information.
He is internationally recognized in the origin of life community, and through his leadership has significantly strengthened NASA's programs in the broader field of astrobiology. He served as the computational lead for astrobiology projects on three successive NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) teams, and as the computational lead for two Internal Scientist Funding Model (ISFM) teams. The first was on the origin of life on Earth and the second was on the detection of life on other planets.
He published scientific articles on a wide range of topics, ranging from the role of simple proteins in the Origin of Life, to molecular mechanisms of drugs, to in situ high throughput techniques for space biology. His work includes many important publications like a very early molecular dynamics simulations on supercomputers (doi.org/10.1177/109434209000400309) and a highly influential paper establishing best practices in free energy calculations (doi:10.1021/jp102971x).
His other research interests were rather eclectic —he published papers in various in fields ranging from the structure of comets to the mechanism of anesthetic action and risky decision-making.
He was an author and coauthored of 147 peer-reviewed publications ( https://research.com/u/andrew-pohorille).
In 2000 he received NASA Award for Astrobiology
In 2002 he was awarded NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal
In 2005 he was named Distinguished Lecturer at the Centre for Mathematical Modeling and the National Centre for Space Research in the U.K.
In 2010 he was awarded (together with Eric Darve) H. Julian Allen Award for the article Calculating Free Energies Using Average Force, published in Journal of Chemical Physics 115 (November 22, 2001) 9169-9183. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1410978
In December 2023 he was awarded NASA Exceptional Services Medal for "establishment of Astrobiology as a vibrant, rigorous and accessible scientific discipline".
- Hoehler, Tori; Brinckerhoff, Will; Davila, Alfonso; Marais, David Des; Getty, Stephanie; Glavin, Danny; Pohorille, Andrew; Quinn, Richard; Bebout, Lee; Broddrick, Jared; Dateo, Christopher (2021-03-18). "Groundwork for Life Detection". Bulletin of the AAS. 53 (4): 202. Bibcode:2021BAAS...53d.202H. doi:10.3847/25c2cfeb.bd9172f9. S2CID 236682722.
- Pohorille, A., Sokolowska, J. (2020). Evaluating Biosignatures for Life Detection. Astrobiology, 20(10) doi.org/10.1089/ast.2019.2151
- Pohorille, A.; Wilson, M.A.; Shannon, G. (2017). Flexible Proteins at the Origin of Life. Life , 7 (23). https://doi.org/10.3390/life7020023
- Wei, C., & Pohorille, A. (2013). Permeation of Aldopentoses and Nucleosides Through Fatty Acid and Phospholipid Membranes: Implications to the Origins of Life. Astrobiology, 13(2), 177–188. doi:10.1089/ast.2012.0901
- Pohorille, A. (2012). Processes that Drove the Transition from Chemistry to Biology: Concepts and Evidence. Orig Life Evol Biosph, 42(5), 429–432. doi:10.1007/s11084-012-9304-3
- Pohorille, A., & Pratt, L. R. (2012). Is Water the Universal Solvent for Life?. Orig Life Evol Biosph, 42(5), 405–409. doi:10.1007/s11084-012-9301-6
- Wei, C., & Pohorille, A. (2011). Permeation of Nucleosides through Lipid Bilayers. J. Phys. Chem. B, 115(13), 3681–3688. doi:10.1021/jp112104r
- Wilson, M. A., Wei, C., Bjelkmar, P., Wallace, B. A., & Pohorille, A. (2011). Molecular Dynamics Simulation of the Antiamoebin Ion Channel: Linking Structure and Conductance. Biophysical Journal, 100(10), 2394–2402. doi:10.1016/j.bpj.2011.03.054
- Hoehler, T.M. & Pohorille, A. (2011). The importance of water for high fidelity information processing and for life. [Invited] EOS Trans. AGU, 92(53), Fall Meet. Suppl., P24B-02.
- Pohorille, A. (2010). Emerging Properties in the origins of life and Darwinian evolution. Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biosphere, 40, 384-386.
- Pohorille, A. (2010). Was the Emergence of Life on Earth a Likely Outcome of Chemical Evolution? Orig. Life Evol. Biosphere, 40: 362-365.
- Pohorille, A., Jarzynski, C., & Chipot, C. (2010). Good Practices in Free-Energy Calculations. J. Phys. Chem. B, 114(32), 10235–10253. doi:10.1021/jp102971x
- Pohorille, A., & Deamer, D. (2009). Self-assembly and function of primitive cell membranes. Research in Microbiology, 160(7), 449–456. doi:10.1016/j.resmic.2009.06.004
- Wei, C., & Pohorille, A. (2009). Permeation of Membranes by Ribose and Its Diastereomers. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 131(29), 10237–10245. doi:10.102/ja902531k
- Darve, E., Rodríguez-Gómez, D., Pohorille, A. (2008). Adaptive biasing force method for scalar and vector free energy calculations. J. Chem. Phys. 128 (14), 144120. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2829861