Four 91探花 researchers have been named AAAS Fellows, according to . They are among 449 newly elected fellows from around the world, who are recognized for their 鈥渟cientifically and socially distinguished achievements鈥� in science and engineering. New Fellows will receive an official certificate and a gold and blue rosette pin 鈥� representing science and engineering, respectively 鈥� to commemorate their election.

A tradition dating back to 1874, election as an AAAS Fellow is a lifetime honor. AAAS Fellows play a crucial role in shaping public policy, advancing scientific research and influencing national and global perspectives on critical issues. Becoming a AAAS Fellow is among the most distinct honors within the scientific community, and those elevated to the rank have made distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. All fellows are expected to meet the commonly held standards of professional ethics and scientific integrity.

This year鈥檚 91探花AAAS fellows are:

, professor of biochemistry at the 91探花School of Medicine and the director of the 91探花Medicine Institute for Protein Design, was recognized for his groundbreaking work in computational protein design. Baker鈥檚 early work was in predicting how chains of chemicals fold into molecular structures that determine protein functions. He went on to design new proteins from scratch to carry out tasks in medicine, technology and sustainability. His team is developing vaccines, targeted drug delivery for cancer, enzymes to break down environmental pollutants and innovative biomaterials, among other endeavors. Baker received the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his scientific achievements to benefit humankind. He has also been awarded the Overton Prize in computational biology, Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology, Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences and Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences.

, professor and chair of neurobiology and biophysics at the 91探花School of Medicine, was honored for her distinguished contributions to cognitive and systems neuroscience. Buffalo, who is the Wayne E. Crill Endowed Professor, is particularly noted for her pioneering research on the neural basis of remembering and learning, and for advancing translational research into broader insights on human brain function. She studies the relationship between eye movements and activity in the hippocampus and other nearby brain regions involved in forming memories, navigating and recalling the emotional context of past events. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, which presented her with the Troland Award for innovative, multidisciplinary studies. She also helps train postdoctoral scholars at the 91探花Medicine Institute for Translational Immunology.

, professor and chair of genome sciences at the 91探花School of Medicine, was noted for her distinguished contributions to the fields of genetics and genomics. She is known for advancing knowledge of the mechanisms underlying molecular evolution and genetic variation in yeasts and in humans. Her lab develops new tools to study mutations and their consequences, genome structure, gene interactions, and the evolution of gene expression. She has a longstanding interest in how copy number variations 鈥� how many times a particular segment of DNA repeats 鈥� affect adaptation, and how these variations arise. Dunham applies her genomics methods to diverse topics, including the biology of aging and the emergence of multi-drug antibiotic resistance. Dunham is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University and was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Faculty Scholar.

, 91探花professor of chemistry, was honored for distinguished contributions to the theoretical understanding of nanoscale light-matter interactions, particularly for the design and interpretation of advanced spectroscopies that use electrons and light to probe material excitations. Masiello is an applied physicist whose research focuses on creating simple-yet-rich theoretical models that bring insight and understanding to observations spanning from quantum materials to nanophotonics. Masiello was hired as an assistant professor at the 91探花in 2010. He is a faculty member in both the Molecular & Engineering Sciences Institute and the Institute for Nano-Engineered Systems, and is also an adjunct professor of applied mathematics and of materials science and engineering. Masiello’s honors include receiving an NSF CAREER Award and a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, called PECASE, awarded by President Obama at the White House.

Amid a decline in funding for scientific research, is partnering with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Simons Foundation to launch a new Faculty Scholars program. by HHMI, the of early career scientists includes five faculty members from the 91探花.

The Faculty Scholars program, which is distinct from the HHMI , is intended to support scientists in their initial years as research faculty. With dwindling grant opportunities, early and mid-career research scientists may feel more pressure to shelve innovative yet risky projects in favor of “safe,” more conventional alternatives. According to its , HHMI intends for this support to provide faculty members freedom and flexibility to pursue more innovative or risky projects 鈥� endeavors which have greater potential for scientific advancements but also less certainty for success.

The 84 scholars will share $84 million in funds over five years, broken down into $600,000 to $1.8 million for each recipient. Scholars are based at 43 institutions across the United States.

Three HHMI Faculty Scholars have primary appointments at the 91探花 or the College of Arts & Sciences.

: associate professor of genome sciences

Dunham uses comparative genomics and experimental evolution techniques to investigate how yeast genomes evolve over spans of a few weeks to millions of years. Her research informs therapies that counter the evolution of drug resistance in fungal and bacterial pathogens, viruses and cancer.

: professor of biology

Nemhauser studies plant signaling pathways to learn how multicellular organisms develop and respond to their environment. She gleans information about molecular networks in natural systems and then synthetically programs these core functions into yeast cells to measure the effect of evolved and engineered changes. Her ultimate aim is to develop technologies that support farmers and foster global health.

: associate professor of immunology

Stetson studies how our cells detect infection by a virus. Sensors of foreign DNA and RNA are essential for activating immune responses to viruses, but they can also cause autoimmune disease if not properly regulated. Stetson鈥檚 lab explores this dichotomy of protective immunity and autoimmunity activated by the same antiviral sensors.

In addition, two scholars based at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have joint appointments as 91探花faculty members.

: assistant member at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and 91探花affiliate associate professor of genome sciences and microbiology

Bloom studies the evolution of proteins and viruses. He develops experimental and computational techniques to understand the forces that shape evolution at the molecular level. This work provides insight into how viruses such as influenza can rapidly change to evade immune system defenses.

: associate member at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and 91探花affiliate associate professor of statistics

Matsen is developing computational algorithms to analyze large sets of genetic data from an evolutionary perspective. He also is working to improve the accuracy of analyses used by biologists to infer evolutionary relationships between species or individual organisms.

###

Portions of this post were adapted from provided by HHMI.

For more information, contact James Urton in the 91探花Office of News & Information at 206-543-2580 or jurton@uw.edu.