Congratulation to Joe Heitman and Kerry Bloom on their election to the National Academy of Sciences in 2021.
Joseph Heitman, James B. Duke Professor and Chair of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology and Program Director for the Tri-I MMPTP, was one of two Duke professors elected into the National Academy in 2021. Heitman’s recent research has focused on a novel kind of drug resistance called epi mutation in which a microbe’s genes can be silenced through an RNA silencing pathway, causing mutant-like behavior, without any change in the DNA sequence. https://today.duke.edu/2021/04/two-duke-faculty-elected-national-academy-sciences
Mentor and faculty member Kerry Bloom, Thad L. Beyle Distinguished Professor and Chair of Biology at UNC-CH, was one of four UNC professors named to the National Academy this year. Kerry Bloom is recognized for his work studying dynamic aspects of the cytoskeleton and chromosomes in live cells. He is known for work on the chromatin structure of active genes and most recently biophysical studies demonstrating the physical basis for how centromeric chromatin is built into a molecular spring that resists microtubule-based extensional forces in mitosis. https://www.unc.edu/posts/2021/04/27/unc-chapel-hill-faculty-named-to-national-academy-of-sciences/
Heitman received Mycological Society of America’s distinguished mycologist award.
Joseph Heitman, MD, PhD received the 2021 Distinguished Mycologist Award from the Mycological Society of America this week. He joins other distinguished honorees including John Taylor, Rytas Vilgalys, Meredith Blackwell, Jim Anderson, Linda Kohn, and others. See previous honorees here. Dr. Heitman thanked his laboratory and collaborates in the following statement. “This is truly a reflection of all of your amazing efforts advancing the science, and a testament to all of your contributions to mycology. From my perspective, it is humbling to be considered a mycologist, let alone a distinguished one. That reflects the impact of Tim James and Rytas Vilgalys many years ago in teaching a myopic yeast geneticist about the wonder and mystery of the fungal kingdom.”
Joseph Heitman has also been elected to the German National Academy of Sciences -Leopoldina in 2021.
Nielsen Elected to American Academy of Microbiology (AAM).
Congratulations to Kirsten Nielsen, Post-doctoral Fellow Alumnus in the Heitman lab, on being one of 65 new Fellows elected into AAM. The American Society for Microbiology is one of the largest professional societies dedicated to the life sciences and is composed of 30,000 scientists and health practitioners. ASM’s mission is to promote and advance the microbial sciences. To read more click here.