Topics ranging from the dissociation of chemical bonds to computer algorithms characterize the research of the five Dartmouth faculty members selected as fellows at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, according to a Dec. 7 press release posted on the organization's website.
Duane Compton, Russell Hughes, Lee Lynd, Jason Moore and George O'Toole will be formally recognized by the AAAS at the group's annual meeting, which will take place in Vancouver Feb. 16-20.
The AAAS an international non-profit organization that facilitates collaboration between scientists in various fields and encourages public dialogue about the sciences recognizes fellows annually for distinction in one of 24 fields of study. Dartmouth Medical School professors Compton, Moore and O'Toole were recognized in the field of biological sciences, while Hughes was selected in the chemistry field and Lynd was recognized in engineering. In total, 539 fellows were selected this year among professors and researchers from colleges, universities and medical research institutions across the globe, according to the press release.
The number of College faculty members elected to the fellowship in the past few years has experienced a significant increase, according to AAAS records. While four professors were awarded the fellowship in 2010, only two were selected in 2009 and one in 2008. In total, twenty-six College faculty members are currently AAAS fellows.
The AAAS selected six fellows each from both Harvard University and Princeton University. Cornell University, University of Pennsylvania and Yale University each had four fellows, while three fellows were chosen from Brown University and two were selected from Columbia University, according to the press release.
Hughes chosen for his work in organo-metallic chemistry and the development of synthetic methods for the conversion of carbon-fluoride to carbon-hydrogen bonds is the first member of the chemistry department to be awarded an AAAS fellowship, he said.
"I hope there are more fellows in the future," Hughes said. "There are certainly many people in my department and in the College who I think are deserving. You have to have a bit of a culture if people don't get nominated, they don't become fellows. We need to have a culture of nominating people who are deserving."
DMS dean Wiley Souba said he sees the increase in AAAS fellowships as a sign of heightened national recognition of the research being done at the College and DMS. "The talent is here. We want to take advantage of these opportunities by building a culture for submitting nominations and making known our good work," Souba said in an email to The Dartmouth.
Research by faculty at DMS is becoming increasingly visible on a national and international scale, Moore said.
"I think DMS has always had really good people, but we're kind of hidden away in northern New England," he said. "It's not necessarily that we're doing better science, but DMS is raising its visibility here and internationally. People are discovering all the good stuff going on here."
Moore, a genetics and community and family medicine professor, was nominated for the AAAS fellowship for his work using computer algorithms to map genetic and environmental patterns for common diseases. Moore and his team found that these factors work together in a "synergistic way" to influence an individual's risk for a specific disease and have made their computer software available for free download for doctors and health care providers. The program has been downloaded 30,000 times since 2005 and has emerged as the "gold standard" in the field for this type of analysis, Moore said.
Compton, who was nominated for the fellowship for his work in cell division as a biochemistry professor at DMS, has contributed insight into how tumor cells improperly segregate during this process.
"In a practical sense, we are trying to stop this error in chromosomal segregation," Compton said. "If we corrected the pathway, obviously it would be much better for the patient."
Lynd's nomination follows his research on extracting energy from plant biomass as a professor at the Thayer School of Engineering. O'Toole, a microbiology and immunology professor, was nominated for his work on cystic fibrosis, according to a College press release.
Expanding research projects and increasing funding awards are key elements of the DMS strategic plan, according to Souba and Compton. Last year, DMS funding awards for research rose from $128 million to $137 million.
Despite decreases in the budgets of institutions like the National Institute for Health, growth in DMS funding is likely to continue as a result of strategic planning, according to Compton.
"In the medical school, we've put together a pretty aggressive strategic plan to actively increase research activities through new recruitments and projects here," he said. "I think [research funding] will increase in the future."
Nomination to the AAAS fellowship is largely an honorary position and fellows will not take on many new responsibilities within the AAAS, though they will gain the ability to nominate new fellows and are invited to attend the AAAS annual meeting, according to Moore.
"It's quite an honor for these faculty members but also for Dartmouth Medical School and Dartmouth," Souba said. "It's kind of a merit badge of excellence. The honor itself is special but at a more fundamental level, it embodies what we're all about at DMS: improving the lives of the people we serve through research and education."
Hughes said that for many fellows, the honor recognizes their long-term commitment to a particular field of research.
"I take this as a recognition of all the people in my team that I've worked with over the years and as a tribute to my department that provides the collegiate environment that allowed and provided for this research," he said.
Moore said that the recognition that comes with the fellowship advances the College's and researchers' reputations.
"I think we are getting recognized more for the work we're doing, and it comes with more success," Moore said. "Along with publishing more papers, receiving more grants, it all plays an important role and improves the reputation of the institution. People are going to look more favorably on the research being done at Dartmouth because of that."
Completed fellowship nominations for 2011 were due in April, Hughes said. Fellows heard of their successful election to the AAAS via email on Nov. 6 and were later sent formal congratulatory letters.
"I was surprised, but knew it was in the cards," Hughes said. "You have to know you're up for position because you submit a number of information, but the deadline for all that to go in was in April."
Nominations to the AAAS can be submitted in one of three ways: three current and active fellows can nominate a peer not from an affiliated institution, the AAAS chief executive officer can make a nomination or a field's steering group can make a nomination, according to the organization's website. Each of the 24 fields of study recognized by the AAAS has its own steering group to oversee nominations. Potential fellows must receive at least five votes in favor within the steering group and nominations are then passed to the AAAS Council for a final vote.
