Four UCI researchers in the areas of medicine, computer science, biological sciences and physics have been made fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest general scientific society.

“The AAAS plays an important role with the advancement of scientific research, education and outreach in the U.S.,” said John Hemminger, UCI vice chancellor for research and an AAAS fellow himself. “These four brilliant scientists personify the innovation and excellence that mark research at UCI, and we are proud of their achievements.”

With this year’s class, UCI has 140 AAAS fellows. The new members are:

Philip Collins, professor of physics & astronomy, for his distinguished contributions to the solid-state physics of conducting molecules, particularly for applying carbon nanocircuits to new applications in biophysics and other sensing applications.

Christopher Hughes, professor and chair of molecular biology & biochemistry, for his distinguished contributions to the field of vascular biology, particularly in angiogenesis (the growth of new blood cells). He and his team have identified critical pathways that allow blood vessels to interact with – and regulate the function of – various cells of the immune system.

Eric Mjolsness, professor of computer science, for his distinguished contributions to the fields of computer science and biology, particularly for new computational models of gene regulation (networks of genes that turn each other on, off or partly on) and resulting technologies.

Paolo Sassone-Corsi (pictured), Donald Bren Professor of Biological Chemistry, for his distinguished contributions to the understanding of circadian clocks, particularly for unraveling the links among environmental influences, cellular signaling and gene expression. He is the director of UCI’s Center for Epigenetics & Metabolism.

Photo by Daniel A. Anderson / UC Irvine