Brandeis biology professor named AAAS Fellow

Lizbeth Hedstrom elected for enzyme structure-function relationships

Photo/Mike Lovett

Professor Lizbeth Hedstrom has been named a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Hedstrom was elected for distinguished research on enzyme structure-function relationships, and on the action of inhibitors of enzyme-catalyzed reactions, in the Chemistry sector.

“I'm very happy that Liz's work has been recognized with this honor,” said Professor Leslie C. Griffith, chair of the Biology Department. “She's a dedicated colleague and superb teacher.”

Griffith says the lab is not just pure science, but uses their understanding of mechanism to design and synthesize candidate drugs that could be used, for example, to treat parasite-borne disease.

“Liz's lab has been doing precise and elegant work that sets the standard in mechanistic enzymology since she came to Brandeis in 1992.”

Election as a fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers for their efforts to advance science or its applications. This year’s 503 AAAS Fellows will be announced in the journal Science this month and be honored on Feb. 19 at the AAAS Fellows Forum during the 2011 AAAS Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.

The tradition of AAAS Fellows began in 1874. Currently, members can be considered for the rank of fellow if nominated by the steering groups of the Association’s 24 sections, or by any three fellows who are current AAAS members, as long as two of the three sponsors are not affiliated with the nominee's institution, or by the AAAS chief executive officer.

Each steering group then reviews the nominations of individuals within its respective section and a final list is forwarded to the AAAS Council, which votes on the aggregate list.

The AAAS is the world’s largest general scientific society, and publisher of the journal Science as well as Science Translational Medicine and Science Signaling.

AAAS was founded in 1848, and includes 262 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, with an estimated total readership of 1 million. 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, and more. For the latest research news, log onto EurekAlert!, the premier science-news website, a service of AAAS.