Bethesda, MD - The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) is pleased to announce that Bonnie L. Bassler, PhD, has been chosen to receive the FASEB 2016 Excellence in Science Award. The award recognizes women whose outstanding career achievements in biological science have contributed significantly to further our understanding of a particular discipline by excellence in research. This prestigious award carries with it an unrestricted research grant of $10K.
Dr. Bassler is Professor and Chair of the Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton University, holding the Squibb Professor of Molecular Biology Endowed Chair. She has been a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator since 2005, and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2006. Her outstanding research, service to the professional community and mentoring of students at all levels made her the final choice of our committee.
Dr. Bassler's scientific research has made her an internationally recognized leader in microbial communication, which has wide ranging implications for numerous global problems in areas such as food production and preservation, health, energy and the environment. Her seminal contribution is the discovery that bacteria use a universal chemical code to communicate, called quorum sensing.
Dr. Bassler has taken a leadership role in numerous organizations and was appointed by President Obama to the President's National Science Board. She has also served on the Board of Directors/Trustees for numerous scientific foundations and corporations.
Dr. Bassler also has demonstrated an unusually high level of outreach to the public, giving numerous lectures to undergraduate organizations, teachers associations, senior citizen organizations, high school and junior high school students, and forums for women in the sciences and biomedical industries.
Dr. Bassler's teaching and mentoring accomplishments are equally impressive. She has trained a large number of post-doctoral fellows, graduate students and undergraduate students in her own laboratory, and she has made especial efforts to recruit and support the matriculation of students from under-represented groups.
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FASEB is composed of 27 societies with more than 125,000 members, making it the largest coalition of biomedical research associations in the United States. Our mission is to advance health and welfare by promoting progress and education in biological and biomedical sciences through service to our member societies and collaborative advocacy.