Ten Stanford scholars elected 2006 fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

By Brian D. Lee

Ten Stanford professors are among the 449 newly elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world's largest organization of scientists.

Steven Block, Henry Greely, Keith Hodgson, Chaitan Khosla, Joseph Lipsick, William Mobley, Martin Perl, Shauna Somerville, Teresa Wang and Jeffrey Wine will be presented with certificates and pins on Feb. 17, during the AAAS annual meeting in San Francisco. The scientists were chosen "because of their efforts toward advancing science applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished," according to a statement by the AAAS Office of Public Programs in Washington, D.C.

Steven M. Block, professor of applied physics, was honored for the development and application of optical trapping techniques in bioscience and for his work combating the threat of bioterrorism.

Henry T. Greely, the Deane F. and Kate Edelman Johnson Professor of Law, was selected for exemplary service to the public policy debate on emerging technologies and in particular, on human genetic and stem cell search.

Keith O. Hodgson, the Howard H. and Jessie T. Watkins University Professor of the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory and Chemistry and the deputy director of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, was chosen for applications of synchrotron radiation spectroscopy, diffraction and scattering to study structure and function relations in bioinorganic chemistry and biophysics, in particular nitrogenase.

Chaitan Khosla, the Wells H. Rauser and Harold M. Petiprin Professor in the School of Engineering, was elected for contributions to the field of metabolic chemistry and engineering, particularly to the biosynthesis of polyketide antibiotics.

Joseph S. Lipsick, professor of pathology and of genetics, was singled out for his distinguished contributions to the field of cancer biology in elucidating functions of the myb oncogene in abnormal cell growth.

William C. Mobley, the John E. Cahill Family Professor in the School of Medicine, was recognized for outstanding contributions to understanding the role of neurotropic factors in normal and disease states, and for service at the local, national and international levels.

Martin L. Perl, emeritus professor at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, was awarded for his fundamental contributions to particle physics, including the discovery of a new generation of leptons which earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1995.

Shauna Somerville, consulting professor of biological sciences, was distinguished for her pioneering work on plant pathogen interrelations, specifically for developing the premier model for analyzing plant fungus interactions with the Arabidopsis-powdery mildew system.

Teresa S.-F.Wang, the Klaus Bensch Professor in Experimental Pathology, was celebrated for her distinguished contributions to understanding the molecular mechanisms and structure and function of eukaryotic DNA polymerases, and elucidating the biological responses to stress during cellular replication.

Jeffrey J. Wine, professor of psychology and pediatrics, was honored for his studies of airway innate defenses, establishing that submucosal glands in airways of people with cystic fibrosis fail to secrete in response to pathways involving the molecular messenger cyclic AMP.

Founded in 1848, AAAS fulfills its mission to "advance science and serve society" through its projects, programs and publications, including the journal Science. The tradition of naming AAAS fellows began in 1874.

Brian D. Lee is a science writing intern with the Stanford News Service.