Credit: University of South Florida
Five of the University of South Florida's leading scientific researchers have been named to the new class of Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world's largest and one of its most prestigious scientific societies.
Spanning medicine, public health, and technology research, the new group of USF AAAS Fellows are among some of the university's most accomplished faculty members, representing decades of scientific accomplishments and more than 50 patented technologies. The new designations bring the total number of AAAS Fellows among USF's faculty to 61.
"The global recognition of the accomplishments and careers of these five stellar scientists says much about the quality and impact of research across the University of South Florida System," said Paul Sanberg, senior vice president for research, innovation and economic development at USF and himself a AAAS Fellow.
"These five faculty members are on the leading edge of discovery in areas that have great impact on the daily lives of people everywhere. Their scientific accomplishments have led to better healthcare and more advanced technology that serve humankind in a myriad of ways. We're very proud these individuals are leaders in our community here at USF and among scientists around the world."
With this year's new Fellows class, USF again ranks fourth among all organizations worldwide, tied with University of Florida, in the designation of new AAAS Fellows, joining Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Pennsylvania State University, Texas A&M University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Texas at Austin, and University of Wisconsin-Madison. USF and UF lead Florida universities in new AAAS Fellows selection.
Election as a AAAS Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers.
This year 391 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 rosette pin in February during the 2017 AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston. The tradition of AAAS Fellows began in 1874.
The five faculty members from USF are:
John H. Adams, Ph.D.
Elected AAAS Fellow in the Biological Sciences Section
Citation: For pioneering efforts and distinguished contributions in fundamental and translational malaria research, particularly in discoveries to improve antimalarial drugs and vaccines.
Adams is a Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Global Health, in the College of Public Health. He also holds joint appointments in the Department of Molecular Medicine and Division of Infectious Disease & International Medicine, and Department of Internal Medicine in the Morsani College of Medicine. He is an internationally recognized scientist who has distinguished himself in the field of malaria research and dedicated his career to finding solutions for one of the leading causes of death and disease throughout the world. Early in his career he identified and characterized the proteins of Plasmodium vivax, one of the five types of malaria parasites that infect humans. He also assisted in the sequencing of the complete genome of Plasmodium falciparum, another human malaria, in 2008, published as a cover story in the journal Nature, which has stimulated new research pathways for potential drug targets and vaccines. He received an $8.5 million grant in 2010 (as PI) from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to lead an interdisciplinary multi-national team to develop new technologies to advance research on Plasmodium vivax. The development of these state of the art genomic and functional tools for both Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax greatly propelled the field of anti-malarial drug discovery and vaccine development. He has published more than 120 articles, and is an inventor on 6 patents. He earned his M.Sc. and Ph.D. at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In addition to AAAS, he is an active member of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), American Society of Parasitologists, American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH), and the Society of Protozoologists.
Dmitry B. Goldgof, Ph.D.
Elected AAAS Fellow in the Information, Computing, and Communication Section
Citation: For distinguished contributions to the fields of computer vision, pattern recognition and biomedical applications, particularly in biomedical image analysis.
Goldgof is a Professor in the USF Department of Computer Science & Engineering in the College of Engineering, and the Department of Oncological Sciences in the Morsani College of Medicine, and a Member of the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute. His expertise spans the research areas of computer vision, image analysis, and pattern recognition, with an emphasis in biomedical applications. For example, he developed a system that automatically identifies tumors in human brain MRI scans, and techniques for automated tracking of deformation in cardiac MRIs. These developments have led to faster and more precise evaluations of medical imaging. He has also made significant advances in the area of biometrics and facial analysis for security applications. He holds five patents and published five edited volumes, 20 book chapters, and more than 85 journal articles. In addition to AAAS, he is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and International Association for Pattern Recognition (IAPR); and member of the International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE), Optical Society of America (OSA), Pattern Recognition Society, and Sigma Xi: The Scientific Research Society. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, his M.S. at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and his B.S. from Moscow Forest Engineering Institute, Moscow, Russia.
Dennis K. Killinger, Ph.D.
Elected AAAS Fellow in the Physics Section
Citation: For pioneering contributions in tunable laser spectroscopy and atmospheric remote sensing, especially new techniques for Lidar sensing of global CO2 and environmental trace species.
Killinger is a USF Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Physics and Director of the Lidar Remote Sensing Laboratory in the College of Arts and Sciences. He is also President and CEO of SenOptics, Inc., a developer of patented LIF and Lidar sensors. He was one of the early pioneers in the field of laser remote sensing more than 30 years ago, and he is responsible for some of the major advances of this field, such as the understanding of "noise" in these systems, and for developing parameters to determine signal-to-noise ratio, among many other leading contributions. He is a past Member of the National Academy/NRC Committee on Optical Science and Engineering (COSE) to assess the future technology trends in optics and lasers: Harnessing Light; and University Representative to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Southeastern Science Policy Colloquium. In addition to AAAS, he is a Fellow of the Optical Society of America (OSA) and SPIE; founding member of the National Academy of Inventors; and Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He has published eight patents and more than 100 papers and book chapters. He earned his doctorate from the University of Michigan, M.S. from DePauw University, and B.A. from the University of Iowa.
Charles J. Lockwood, MD, MHCM
Elected AAAS Fellow in the Medical Sciences Section
Citation: For distinguished contributions to reproductive science particularly discovery of the first biochemical marker of preterm birth, fetal fibronectin, and the molecular mechanisms underlying uterine hemostasis.
Lockwood is the Senior Vice President for USF Health and Dean of the Morsani College of Medicine. At USF Health, Lockwood leads the Morsani College of Medicine and the Colleges of Nursing, Public Health and Pharmacy; and the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences. He also oversees the USF Physicians Group, the faculty group practice of the medical school — and the largest multispecialty group practice on the West Coast of Florida. He is a Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Public Health at USF. Lockwood is an internationally recognized health care and research leader who earned a Sc.B., magna cum laude, with distinction, from Brown University, his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and his Master of Science in Health Care Management degree from the Harvard School of Public Health. He served his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Pennsylvania Hospital and his fellowship in maternal-fetal medicine at the Yale-New Haven Hospital. Lockwood is the recipient of multiple research grant awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the March of Dimes and other foundations. He has authored 290 peer-reviewed publications and 170 editorials, authored or co-authored three books, and co-edited seven major textbooks. He led a research team that discovered fetal fibronectin, the first biochemical predictor of prematurity. His clinical interests include prevention of recurrent pregnancy loss, preterm delivery and maternal thrombosis, and he maintains an active laboratory at USF Health dedicated to research in these areas. Lockwood is also member of the March of Dimes Board of Trustees.
Shyam S. Mohapatra, Ph.D., MBA, FAAAAI, FNAI, FAIMBE
Elected AAAS Fellow in the Pharmaceutical Sciences Section
Citation: For outstanding contributions in the field of pharmaceutical and health sciences, particularly for pioneering achievements in advancing biomedical nanotechnology for inflammatory diseases.
Mohapatra is a Distinguished USF Health Professor; Associate Dean of Graduate Programs and Professor in the College of Pharmacy; Director of Translational Medicine; Distinguished Professor in the Institute for Advanced Discovery & Innovation; and Vice Chair of Research in the Department of Internal Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine. His research on respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), atrial natriuretic peptides (ANPs), and Nanoparticle-mediated gene/drug delivery has helped guide the fields of immunology, infectious disease, biotherapeutics and translational medicine. RSV infection is a condition which afflicts primarily infants, but also adults and the elderly. Even 45 years after the discovery of RSV, there is no vaccine or other effective therapy against RSV, however, Mohapatra's research has led to the unraveling of the molecular mechanisms underlying RSV infection and resulting illnesses, and the development of a potential multi-gene vaccine against RSV. He has also pioneered novel treatment approaches for lung cancer, respiratory viral infections, respiratory allergies, and other chronic lung diseases. He also founded the USF Center for Research & Education in Nanobioengineering in 2010. In addition to AAAS, he is a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineers (AIMBE), and American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Clinical Immunology; member of the National Academy of Inventors; and among the inaugural inductees of the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame. He holds 28 patents, and has published nearly 200 articles and book chapters. He earned his Ph.D. from the Australian National University; M.S. from the GB Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, India; and B.S. from Orissa University of Agriculture & Technology, India.
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This year's AAAS Fellows will be formally announced in the AAAS News & Notes section of the journal Science on Nov. 25.
The University of South Florida is a high-impact, global research university dedicated to student success. USF is a Top 25 research university among public institutions nationwide in total research expenditures, according to the National Science Foundation. Serving over 48,000 students, the USF System has an annual budget of $1.6 billion and an annual economic impact of $4.4 billion. USF is a member of the American Athletic Conference.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world's largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science as well as Science Translational Medicine, Science Signaling, a digital, open-access journal, Science Advances, Science Immunology, and Science Robotics. AAAS was founded in 1848 and includes nearly 250 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. The non-profit AAAS is open to all and fulfills its mission to "advance science and serve society" through initiatives in science policy, international programs, science education, public engagement, and more. For the latest research news, log onto EurekAlert!, the premier science-news Web site, a service of AAAS. See http://www.aaas.org.
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Story Source: Materials provided by Scienmag