James Collins honored for his achievements in original research
Wyss Institute Core Faculty member, James Collins, Ph.D., has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), which is one of the highest honors in science and technology.
The NAS is an organization with approximately 2,600 members and foreign associates that recognizes individuals for their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Its members are charged with providing independent, objective advice to the nation on matters related to science and technology. Collins joins 84 new members and 21 foreign associates elected this year.
“It’s an enormous honor to be inducted as a member in this illustrious organization of our nation’s leading scientists,” says Collins.
Collins helped to found the burgeoning field of Synthetic Biology, and has made seminal discoveries regarding the actions of antibiotics and the emergence of resistance. He holds the William F. Warren Distinguished Professorship at Boston University, where he is also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator as well as the co-director and co-founder of the Center for BioDynamics. Collins also leads the Anticipatory Medical & Cellular Devices Platform at the Wyss Institute, which builds medical and biomolecular devices designed to sense the breakdown of natural body rhythms, restore lost functions, and intervene automatically before life-threatening events occur.
“It’s thrilling to see Jim’s pioneering work acknowledged by the National Academy of Sciences,” says Wyss Institute Founding Director Donald Ingber, M.D., Ph.D. “The Wyss community is proud of his many contributions to science and technology, and very happy that he is receiving this well earned recognition from his peers.”