PHILADELPHIA — Five faculty members from the University of Pennsylvania have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Three are from the Perelman School of Medicine, one is from the School of Arts and Sciences, and one has appointments both at Penn Medicine and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
They are among 388 members of AAAS awarded the distinction this year for “their efforts toward advancing science applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished.”
Frederic D. Bushman, PhD, professor of Microbiology at the Perelman School of Medicine, was elected for distinguished contributions to microbiology, including methods development, bioinformatics and translational research to characterize host pathogen interactions.
Robert W. Doms, MD, PhD, professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine and pathologist-in-chief and chair of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, was elected for his significant discoveries in virus entry, including his work in identifying host cell pathways that HIV and other disease-causing viruses use to infect cells, and in investigating how AIDS develops.
J. Kevin Foskett, PhD, chair of the department of Physiology at the Perelman School of Medicine, was elected for pioneering studies of the InsP3R calcium channel and molecular mechanisms and roles of calcium signaling in Alzheimer's disease, programmed cell death and cellular bioenergetics.
Philip A. Rea, DPhil, professor of Biology in the School of Arts and Sciences and Rebecka and Arie Belldegrun Distinguished Director of the Roy and Diana Vagelos Program in Life Sciences & Management, was elected for outstanding fundamental research discoveries on the membrane transport and detoxification of xenobiotics and for distinguished accomplishments and creativity in science education.
The new Fellows will be honored on Saturday, Feb. 15, at the AAAS Fellows Forum during the 2014 AAAS Annual Meeting in Chicago.
Penn Medicine is one of the world’s leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, excellence in patient care, and community service. The organization consists of the University of Pennsylvania Health System and Penn’s Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine, founded in 1765 as the nation’s first medical school.
The Perelman School of Medicine is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $550 million awarded in the 2022 fiscal year. Home to a proud history of “firsts” in medicine, Penn Medicine teams have pioneered discoveries and innovations that have shaped modern medicine, including recent breakthroughs such as CAR T cell therapy for cancer and the mRNA technology used in COVID-19 vaccines.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System’s patient care facilities stretch from the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania to the New Jersey shore. These include the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Chester County Hospital, Lancaster General Health, Penn Medicine Princeton Health, and Pennsylvania Hospital—the nation’s first hospital, founded in 1751. Additional facilities and enterprises include Good Shepherd Penn Partners, Penn Medicine at Home, Lancaster Behavioral Health Hospital, and Princeton House Behavioral Health, among others.
Penn Medicine is an $11.1 billion enterprise powered by more than 49,000 talented faculty and staff.