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Congratulations to these Bouchet Honors Society Inductees!

Congratulations to all the GDBBS students who were formally inducted into the Bouchet Honors Society on April 26, 2023:

  • Veronica Canarte, Cancer Biology
  • Yemko Pryor, Genetics & Molecular Biology
  • Kedamawit Tilahun, Genetics & Molecular Biology
  • Keenan Wiggins, Genetics & Molecular Biology

The National Edward Alexander Bouchet Graduate Honor Society is named for the first African American doctoral recipient in the United States, Dr. Edward Alexander Bouchet (Physics, Yale University, 1876). The Society honors outstanding scholarly achievement and promotes diversity and excellence in doctoral education and the professoriate.

Inductees at Emory are doctoral and postdoctoral scholars who are committed to contributing to the development of their field(s) of study and to the application of that knowledge into action to improve the lives and conditions of the community. Members exhibit the highest values of Emory University—through their integrity, honor, and exemplary conduct and behavior. 


Emory ranked third in new drug discoveries by public institutions

Emory was recently ranked #3 in new analysis of new drug discoveries by public universities and research organizations, contributing more FDA-approved drugs and vaccines than any other public institution in the world except the University of California and the National Institutes of Health. The study, published in April in the Journal of Technology Transfer, analyzed international public-sector contributions to Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs and vaccines in search of a clearer understanding of worldwide biomedical innovation.

The authors, led by Ashley J. Stevens, PhD, founder of the intellectual property consultancy Focus IP Group LLC, consulted multiple sources to identify 364 FDA-approved drugs and vaccines from 1973 to 2016 that they categorized as discovered in whole or in part through public academic research. In order to be included, an institution needed to create specific intellectual property (IP) such as patented inventions or new materials needed to make, use or sell drugs and transfer its invention to a company, usually through a patent. Their analysis credited Emory researchers with 18 drugs in that period. Overall, public research institutions in the United States dominated academic drug discovery, with two thirds of the total approved by the FDA.

“In the context of the global public sector landscape, the U.S. dominates drug discovery,” the authors stated, “accounting for two-thirds of these drugs and many of the important, innovative vaccines introduced over the past 30 years.”


GDBBS Highlights, March 2023

GDBBS Highlights-March 2023

GDBBS faculty named 2022 fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has named six Emory faculty members as 2022 Fellows, which is one of the largest classes of AAAS Fellows selected from Emory in more than a century. These scientific leaders have been awarded the distinction of Fellow because of their efforts toward advancing science applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished.

Among them were four GDBBS faculty members:

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Sandra Mendiola

James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies Names 2022 – 2023 Kharen Fulton Award for Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement

Sandra Mendiola, a PhD student in the Population Biology, Ecology, and Evolution (PBEE) program, was recognized for ‘herculean’ efforts to promote diversity, inclusion at Emory University.

From the moment Sandra Mendiola, a PhD student in Population Biology, Ecology, and Evolution (PBEE), arrived on campus at Emory University in 2017, she started working to create more equitable spaces in her department, her program, her university, and her field.

Laney Graduate School (LGS) recognized Mendiola’s efforts by naming her the winner of the 2022 – 2023 Kharen Fulton Award for Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement in Graduate Education.


Congratulations to these Bouchet Honors Society Inductees!

Congratulations to all of the GDBBS students who were formally inducted into the Bouchet Honors Society on April 27, 2022:

  • Brent Allman, Population Biology Ecology and Evolution
  • Jamie Hamilton, Cancer Biology
  • Jordan Lewis, Population Biology Ecology and Evolution
  • Sandra Mendiola, Population Biology Ecology and Evolution
  • Lenore Monterroza, Cancer Biology
  • Juan Rodriguez, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Named for the first African American doctoral recipient in the United States, Dr. Edward A. Bouchet, the Bouchet Society recognizes outstanding scholarly achievement and promotes diversity and excellence in doctoral education and the professoriate. 

Each of these researchers exemplifies these qualities through their science and commitment to community. 


Dr. Hanjoong Jo Elected Fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science

MSP faculty Hanjoong Jo has been elevated to the rank of Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), one of the highest distinctions in the scientific community.

Jo, who serves as distinguished faculty chair at Emory and Georgia Tech’s Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, joins this group of distinguished scientists for his contributions to atherosclerosis research, according to the citation from AAAS.

The AAAS especially noted Jo’s use of novel animal models and cultured cells to discover the role of blood flow on endothelial cell dysfunction in atherosclerosis, a buildup of artery-clogging fats and cholesterol that can lead to heart attacks and strokes.

To learn more, please visit the Emory News Center.


Dr. Guido Silvestri Recognized for 2022 Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Award

Lynne Segall, associate dean of management practice initiatives and senior lecturer at Goizueta Business School, presented IMP faculty member Dr. Guido Silvestri with his award and recognized his extensive efforts lifting up the faculty, staff, residents, and fellows in the Emory University Pathology Department since June 2020 with the creation of a discussion group, Conversations on Racism.

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I am an Emory Researcher

The next pandemic could be averted if we better understand why viruses spill over from wildlife to humans. Emory researcher and PBEE graduate student Amanda Vicente-Santos is looking at bats for answers.

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