Three UC San Francisco researchers have been selected as 2021 fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world's largest multidisciplinary scientific society and a leading publisher of cutting-edge research through its Science family of journals. They are among 564 newly elected fellows announced Jan. 26.
AAAS Fellowship recognizes important contributions to STEM disciplines, including pioneering research, leadership within a given field, teaching and mentoring, fostering collaborations, and advancing public understanding of science. AAAS Fellows are elected each year for this lifetime honor by their peers serving on the Council of AAAS, the organization’s member-run governing body.
Katerina Akassoglou, PhD, is professor of Neurology in the School of Medicine and member of the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences. She is a senior investigator at the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease and founder and director of the Gladstone Center for In Vivo Imaging Research. She has pioneered studies in the investigation of neurovascular and neuroimmune mechanisms in neurologic diseases, and in particular the role of the blood clotting factors in central nervous system autoimmunity, trauma and neurodegeneration.
Dean Sheppard, MD, is professor of Medicine in the School of Medicine. His research focuses on the molecular mechanisms underlying pulmonary and other organ fibrosis, asthma and acute lung injury. One aim of the research is to identify new therapeutic targets to ultimately improve the treatment of each of these common diseases.
Jeffrey Bluestone, PhD, is the A.W. and Mary Margaret Clausen Distinguished Professor of Metabolism and Endocrinology and Emeritus Distinguished Professor in the Department of Medicine and Diabetes Center at UCSF. His research over the past 25 years has focused on understanding the basic processes that control T cell activation and immune tolerance in autoimmunity and organ transplantation.
The new Fellows will be celebrated later this year during an in-person gathering when public health allows.