News Release

AAAS and Sanford-Burnham announce 2011 fellows

Grant and Award Announcement

Sanford-Burnham Prebys

Washington D.C. and La Jolla, Calif., December 23, 2011 — John C. Reed, M.D., Ph.D., and Stuart A. Lipton, M.D., Ph.D., of Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham), have been named as Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Election as an AAAS Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers.

This year's AAAS Fellows were formally announced today in the AAAS News & Notes section of the journal Science.

As part of the section on Pharmaceutical Sciences, Dr. Reed was elected as an AAAS Fellow for contributions to the field of cell biology, particularly mechanisms of apoptosis and programmed cell death, including the links to cancer, innate immunity, and brain diseases. Dr. Reed serves as Chief Executive Officer, professor and Donald Bren Chief Executive Chair at Sanford-Burnham.

As part of the section on Neuroscience, Dr. Lipton was elected as an AAAS Fellow for studies of ion channels and redox signaling pathways in neurodegeneration and development of pharmacological agents for the treatment of nervous system dysfunctions. Dr. Lipton serves as professor and Scientific Director of Sanford-Burnham's Del E. Webb Neuroscience, Aging and Stem Cell Research Center.

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.

This year 539 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, February 18 at the AAAS Fellows Forum during the 2012 AAAS Annual Meeting in Vancouver, B.C., Canada.

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About Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute

Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute is dedicated to discovering the fundamental molecular causes of disease and devising the innovative therapies of tomorrow. Sanford-Burnham, with operations in California and Florida, is one of the fastest-growing research institutes in the country. The Institute ranks among the top independent research institutions nationally for NIH grant funding and among the top organizations worldwide for its research impact. From 1999 – 2009, Sanford-Burnham ranked #1 worldwide among all types of organizations in the fields of biology and biochemistry for the impact of its research publications, defined by citations per publication, according to the Institute for Scientific Information. According to government statistics, Sanford-Burnham ranks #2 nationally among all organizations in capital efficiency of generating patents, defined by the number of patents issued per grant dollars awarded.

Sanford-Burnham utilizes a unique, collaborative approach to medical research and has established major research programs in cancer, neurodegeneration, diabetes, and infectious, inflammatory, and childhood diseases. The Institute is especially known for its world-class capabilities in stem cell research and drug discovery technologies. Sanford-Burnham is a nonprofit public benefit corporation.

For more information about Sanford-Burnham research, visit our blog (http://beaker.sanfordburnham.org) or follow us on Twitter (http://twitter.com/SanfordBurnham).

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) as well as Science Translational Medicine (www.sciencetranslationalmedicine.org) and Science Signaling (www.sciencesignaling.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.


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