Timothy Mitchison and Andrew Murray elected to membership of the National Academy of Sciences

We are happy to announce that Dr. Timothy Mitchison and Dr. Andrew W. Murray have been elected among others as members of the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a private, non-profit society of distinguished scholars. Established by an Act of the U.S. Congress, signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, the NAS is charged with providing independent, objective advice to the nation on matters related to science and technology. Scientists are elected by their peers to membership in the NAS for outstanding contributions to research. The NAS is committed to furthering science in America, and its members are active contributors to the international scientific community. Nearly 500 members of the NAS have won Nobel Prizes, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, founded in 1914, is today one of the premier international journals publishing the results of original research.

Dr. Timothy Mitchison, Hassib Sabbagh Professor, co-founder, and deputy chair, department of systems biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, studies how mechanisms in cells undergoing cell division respond to metabolism, cell size and shape, and pharmacological responses. His lab uses Xenopus embryos and cell extracts to study cell division. His early work clearly demonstrated the dynamic instability of microtubules as cells divide.

Click here to visit the Mitchison Lab page.

Dr. Andrew W. Murray professor of molecular and cellular biology and director, Bauer Center for Genomics Research, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, uses budding yeast to discover and understand the general principles underlying the function and evolution of cells. His laboratory is interested in how cells evolve in response to selective pressure. His laboratory monitors the transmission of genetic information during cell division. His early work with Dr. Marc Kirschner using Xenopus egg cell extracts showed that synthesis of cyclin protiens drives the cell cycle.

Click here to visit the Murray Lab page.

Click here for the news release from the National Academy of Sciences. Click here to learn more about the NAS.