Washington DC (November 20, 2017) —Jonathan Chernoff, MD, PhD, chief scientific officer and Stanley P. Reimann Chair in Oncology Research at Fox Chase Cancer Center, has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Election as an AAAS Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers.
This year 396 members have been awarded this honor because of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. New Fellows will be presented with an official certificate and a gold and blue rosette pin on Saturday, February 17 at the AAAS Fellows Forum during the 2018 AAAS Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas.
This year’s AAAS Fellows will be formally announced in the AAAS News & Notes section of the journal Science on November 24, 2017.
As part of the Medical Sciences section, Chernoff was elected as an AAAS Fellow for distinguished contributions to the field of cancer biology, particularly PAK kinases, service to the Fox Chase Cancer Center, and mentoring young scientists. A molecular oncologist and board-certified medical oncologist, Chernoff has a special interest in factors that control cell growth and movement, including oncogenes and tumor-suppressor genes, and has made fundamental contributions in this research. In his role as a member of the leadership of Fox Chase, Chernoff charts the course of research at the institution.
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 (so long as two of the three sponsors are not affiliated with the nominee’s institution), or by the AAAS chief executive officer. Fellows must have been a continuous member of AAAS for four years by the end of the calendar year in which they are elected.
Each steering group 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 Council is the policymaking body of the Association, chaired by the AAAS president, and consisting of the members of the board of directors, the retiring section chairs, delegates from each electorate and each regional division, and two delegates from the National Association of Academies of Science.