Six UNC faculty members named AAAC fellow

Six University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty members have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

The association, the world's largest general scientific society, elects fellows to recognize their efforts toward advancing science applications that are considered scientifically or socially distinguished.

The six new fellows are biochemist Henrik Dohlman, microbiologist William Goldman, geneticist Fernando Pardo-Manuel de Villena, virologist Nancy Raab-Traub, geneticist Jeff Sekelsky and biochemist Yue Xiong.

In total, 58 Carolina faculty members have been elected fellows of the association.

Dohlman was recognized for innovative experimental approaches and discovery of RGS proteins, which have transformed the fields of molecular pharmacology and yeast microbiology. He is professor and vice chair of biochemistry and biophysics in the School of Medicine and a member of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Goldman was recognized for meritorious contributions to infectious disease research on important fungal and bacterial pathogens, and for administrative service as chair of the microbiology and immunology department in the School of Medicine, where he also is a professor.

Pardo-Manuel de Villena was recognized for contributions in the fields of mouse genetics and genomics and the evolution of the mammalian karyotype, which describes the complete set of chromosomes in a species. He is a genetics professor in the School of Medicine and a member of the Lineberger Center.

Raab-Traub was recognized for her contributions as the world's foremost expert on the molecular pathogenesis of the most common Epstein-Barr Virus malignancy, nasopharyngeal carcinoma. She is a microbiology and immunology professor in the School of Medicine and a member of the Lineberger Center.

Sekelsky was recognized for distinguished contributions to the field of genetics, particularly the genetic and molecular descriptions of DNA repair and recombination processes. He is a biology professor in the College of Arts and Sciences and a member of the Lineberger Center.

Xiong was recognized for distinguished contributions to the field of cancer research, particularly for the study of cell cycle control, ubiquitin pathway and metabolic regulation in cancer development. He is William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics in the School of Medicine and a member of the Lineberger Center.

The six are among 539 scientists awarded the honor this year. New fellows will receive certificates and rosette pins at the association's annual meeting in Vancouver, Canada, in February.

Source: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill