The American Association for the Advancement of Science recently named four Dartmouth professors as Fellows in the Biological Sciences for their research on topics ranging from neurological diseases to plants' biological clocks. Dartmouth Medical School professors Charles Barlowe, Ta-Yuan Chang and William Wickner, along with College biology professor C. Robertson McClung, were among the 504 scientists recognized by the AAAS in 2011, according to the association's website.
Fellows were selected for "their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications," an AAAS press release said. The program elects fellows in over 20 science and social science categories, ranging from the traditional hard sciences to social, economic and political sciences.
Chang received recognition for his research on the relationship between cholesterol metabolism and neurodegenerative diseases, according to a College press release.
Chang's research focuses largely on the study of Alzheimer's disease and the Niemann-Pick type C disease, a group of inherited metabolic disorders, he said.
Alzheimer's affects approximately 4.5 millions Americans and is becoming increasingly common among United States citizens, according to Chang's laboratory's website.
"I am honored by the recognition," Chang said. "Dartmouth is really a great place to do research of this kind. It is peaceful and very collegiate."
Chang added that he could not have pursued his research on his own.
"My wife played a very critical role in this success the lab is not a one-man show," he said in an interview with The Dartmouth. "I am really blessed to have her." Wickner was recognized for his study of membrane fusion in cells. His lab focuses on the proteins and lipids involved in the process of membrane fusion, a topic that has not been explored by the scientific community until recently, according to Wickner.
Wickner's studies combine structural, genetic and enzymological approaches, according to his lab's website.
"There is a deep satisfaction in an academic career, in teaching students and watching the careers of the people who work in your lab," Wickner said in an interview with The Dartmouth. "But it is also nice to see recognition like this."
McClung's research focuses on the molecular genetics of plant circadian rhythms, or their biological clocks. One of the largest challenges facing modern researchers is to understand how such rhythms affect crop growth and yield, McClung said in the release. The goal is to someday alter the "plant clock" to improve agricultural production, according to the release.
Barlowe, the chair of the biochemistry department at DMS, investigates lipid and protein transportation within cells. Barlowe previously served as the dean of graduate studies.
Provost Carol Folt said in a College press release that she is pleased so many Dartmouth professors received recognition from AAAS.
"It is a remarkable achievement for them as scholars and researchers and reflects the high caliber of scientific study under way throughout the College," she said in the release.
DMS Dean Wiley Souba also praised the caliber of research carried out at the College and DMS.
"Having the quality and breadth of our distinguished scientists' work honored in this way is especially gratifying and recognizes the individual and interdisciplinary achievements that distinguish Dartmouth science and medicine," Souba said in a Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center press release.Barlowe, Chang, McClung and Wickner join eight other Dartmouth professors who were previously named AAAS fellows.
A total of 44 researchers from Ivy League institutions will be recognized at the Fellows Forum on Feb. 19 in Washington D.C. Along with the four Dartmouth recipients, five individuals from Brown University, seven from Columbia University, four from Cornell University, eleven from Harvard University, three from Princeton University, three from the University of Pennsylvania and seven from Yale University were named as fellows, according to an AAAS news release.
The AAAS, founded in 1848, is an umbrella organization for 262 societies and academies of science that serves over 10 million individuals, according to the DHMC release. It began its Fellows program in 1874.
