Five BU Medical Campus Faculty Honored by Their Peers
Elected Fellows by the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Five faculty at the Boston University Medical Campus have been named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society.
David Michael Center, BU School of Medicine (MED) professor of medicine and biochemistry and associate provost for translational research, was elected under the Section on Medical Sciences for his “contributions to the field of immunology, particularly for the discovery of the first human (IL-16) and virus-derived (HIV-1 gp120) lymphocyte chemotactic factors.” Center said he is “very honored to have been included.”
Ronald B. Corley, a MED professor of microbiology and director of the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories, was elected under the Section on Medical Sciences for his “contributions to the field of immunology, particularly in elucidating innate functions of antibodies and B cells and their roles in accelerating adaptive immunity.” “The AAAS is one of the oldest and most respected professional organizations that advances science and advocates for the scientific enterprise,” Corley said. “I am honored to have been recognized by AAAS as a Fellow.”
Josée Dupuis, School of Public Health (SPH) professor and associate chair of biostatistics, was elected under the Section on Biological Sciences for her “contributions to the field of statistical genetics, leading to the discovery and improved understanding of the genetic basis for common diseases.”
Katya Ravid, MED professor of medicine and biochemistry and founding director of the Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research, was elected under the Section on Medical Sciences for “pursuing interdisciplinary research, and outstandingly combining the fields of hematology and vascular biology, leading to the discovery of transcriptional and cell cycle signatures that govern polyploidy during megakaryocyte/platelet development.” “It is gratifying to be selected by a distinguished AAAS Council as an AAAS Fellow,” Ravid said. “This is of particular meaning, as the AAAS was founded in 1848, the same year MED began its history as the New England Female Medical College, the first institution in the world to offer medical education to women.” While her citation “reflects interdisciplinary approaches to research I have taken in my own lab and at the school level,” Ravid said, “it also exemplifies opportunities for academic growth at the School of Medicine and at Boston University at large.”
David J. Salant, MED professor of pathology and laboratory medicine and chief of the renal section at Boston Medical Center, was elected under the Section on Medical Sciences for his “contributions to the field of immunological kidney diseases, particularly for discovering that the anti-phospholipase A2 receptor is the major autoantigen in human membranous nephropathy.” “Learning of my election as an AAAS Fellow was an unexpected but welcome surprise and an affirmation of the work we have been doing in autoimmune kidney disease,” Salant said.
AAAS is the publisher of the journals Science, Science Translational Medicine, and Science Signaling. It began electing Fellows in 1874 in recognition of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. This year’s 401 new Fellows will be recognized at the Fellows Forum at the AAAS annual meeting in San Jose, California, on February 14, 2015.