News Release

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Three NIH Scientists Named 2007 AAAS Fellows

Three scientists from the National Institutes of Health have been awarded the distinction of AAAS Fellow. Election as a Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers.

This year 471 members have been awarded this honor by AAAS because of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. New Fellows will be presented with an official certificate and a gold and blue (representing science and engineering, respectively) rosette pin on Saturday, 16 February from 8 to 10 a.m. at the Fellows Forum during the 2008 AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston.

This year's AAAS Fellows will be announced in the AAAS News & Notes section of the journal Science on 26 October 2007.

As part of the Section on Chemistry, Dr. Jeremy M. Berg, director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, was elected as an AAAS Fellow for distinguished contributions to the structure and functions of metal ions in proteins and for leadership in advancing research in service to humanity.

Two NIH researchers were elected as AAAS Fellow for outstanding contributions under the Section on Medical Sciences. Dr. John E. Niederhuber, director of the National Cancer Institute, was elected for pioneering research on MHC immunology and cancer stems cells, and outstanding leadership of the University of Wisconsin Cancer Center and the National Cancer Institute.

Dr. Mark C. Udey of the National Cancer Institute was elected for seminal research on the biology of Langerhans cells (epidermal dendritic cells) and the role of E-Cadherin and TGF-beta in their development and localization.

The tradition of AAAS Fellows began in 1874. Currently, members can be considered for the rank of Fellow if nominated by the Steering Groups of the Association's 24 sections, or by any three Fellows who are current AAAS members (so long as two of the three sponsors are not affiliated with the nominee's institution), or by the AAAS Chief Executive Officer.

Each Steering Group then reviews the nominations of individuals within its respective section and a final list is forwarded to the AAAS Council, which votes on the aggregate list.

The Council is the policymaking body of the Association, chaired by the AAAS President, and consisting of the members of the Board of Directors, the Retiring Section Chairs, delegates from each electorate and each regional division, and two delegates from the National Association of Academies of Science.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world's largest general scientific society, and publisher of the journal, Science (www.sciencemag.org). AAAS was founded in 1848, and includes some 262 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. Science has the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal in the world, with an estimated total readership of 1 million. The non-profit AAAS (www.aaas.org) is open to all and fulfills its mission to "advance science and serve society" through initiatives in science policy; international programs; science education; and more. For the latest research news, log onto EurekAlert!, www.eurekalert.org, the premier science-news Web site, a service of AAAS.

The Office of the Director, the central office at NIH, is responsible for setting policy for NIH, which includes 27 Institutes and Centers. This involves planning, managing, and coordinating the programs and activities of all NIH components. The Office of the Director also includes program offices which are responsible for stimulating specific areas of research throughout NIH. Additional information is available at http://www.nih.gov/icd/od/.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

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