PITT PROFESSOR WINS GUGGENHEIM FELLOWSHIP

PITTSBURGH, May 11 -- University of Pittsburgh Chemistry Professor David N. Beratan has received a 1999 Guggenheim Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

Beratan, whose research interests include theoretical biophysical chemistry, biological electron transfer and the electronic structure of macromolecules, says Guggenheim Fellowships give recipients the freedom to pursue their own vision.

"I'll be looking at how energy is manipulated in biological systems," said Beratan. "How does the energy in ATP (adinosine triphosphate) get processed in a form the cell can use? How is it stored and used by other biological processes?"

Beratan was a National Science Foundation Young Investigator from

1992-97, and won the University of Pittsburgh's Chancellor's Distinguished Research Award in 1998.

Beratan, from Potomac, MD, earned his bachelor's degree in chemistry from Duke University and his Ph.D. from California Institute of Technology.

Guggenheim Fellows are appointed on the basis of distinguished achievement in the past and exceptional promise for future development. The 1999 Fellowship winners include 179 artists, scholars and scientists selected from nearly 2,800 applicants.

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