(Photo l-r: Lai-Sheng Wang, Wendy Brown, David Prieur, Timothy Kohler)
PULLMAN – Four WSU professors and researchers have been elected to the rank of fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Included among those honored were Lai-Sheng Wang, professor of physics and materials science at WSI Tri-Cities Wendy C. Brown and David J Prieur in the College of Veterinary Medicine; Timothy Kohler, department of anthropology .
Alderete
Another researcher named as an AAAS fellow was John F. Alderete, a professor of microbiology and immunology in the University of Texas Health Science Center. Alderete is WSU’s recently named associate vice provost for research, effective Jan. 1, 2008.
Wang, whose research focuses on nanoscience, is an affiliate senior chief scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL.
AAAS fellowships have been awarded since 1874 to members “whose efforts on behalf of the advancement of science or its applications are scientifically or socially distinguished.”
Wang is known internationally as a leader in nanoclusters research. He and his colleagues created hollow, nanoscale groupings of 16 gold atoms in the shape of a cage — the first-known metallic equivalent of the famous carbon fullerene or “buckyball.”
The research showed that the most stable form of gold clusters undergoes shape transformations, a finding that addresses a
key issue in fundamental cluster science: understanding the structural
evolution of clusters from a single atom/molecule towards the bulk solid.
key issue in fundamental cluster science: understanding the structural
evolution of clusters from a single atom/molecule towards the bulk solid.
He conducted graduate and postdoctoral research at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, UC – Berkeley, the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and Rice University.
Brown is a professor of immunology in the department of veterinary
microbiology and pathology. Her research focuses on understanding the bovine helper T cell response to vector-borne hemoparasites and defining protective immune mechanisms and targeted protein antigens. Brown is recognized nationally and internationally for her research on T lymphocyte responses to tick-borne pathogens of cattle and for the use of T lymphocytes to identify promising vaccine antigens. T lymphocytes orchestrate the adaptive immune response in vertebrates, endowing animals and humans with immunological
memory to thwart infectious agents that have been previously encountered.
T lymphocytes are critically important in assisting B lymphocytes in
neutralizing pathogens, killing microbes, and for directly killing
pathogen-infected cells.
Brown received the Distinguished International Veterinary Immunologist Award from the International Union of Immunological Societies in 2004.
Prieur is the chair of the department of veterinary microbiology and pathology. His primary research focus has been on genetic diseases of animals, especially those that are spontaneous models of similar human genetic diseases.
The specific diseases he has studied include lysozyme deficiency of rabbits, Chediak-Higashi syndrome in multiple species, tyrosinemia in mustellids, familial canine dermatomyositis, ovine GM-1 gangliosidosis, canine Hunter syndrome, and others. Approaches utilized have included genetic, morphologic, biochemical, immunologic and pathologic.
Kohler is a WSU Regents Professor in anthropology. Much of his work involves quantitative analysis of archaeological data, along with simulation of aspects of prehistoric behavior. His work focuses on cooperative behavior, reciprocity, and other evolutionary processes in Neolithic societies.
In addition to his research, Kohler teaches graduate students and directs an Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) providing training to Ph.D. students in evolutionary modeling, please see the IPEM website for more details. He also served as editor of American Antiquity for four-years, ending in 2004.
Alderete’s research focuses on Trichomonas vaginalis, the number one nonviral STD in the United States. During his career, he has received nearly $20 million (direct and indirect costs) in research funding, mostly from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He holds six patents and patent pendings, invented a point-of-care diagnotic test for this STD, and participated in a start-up company that produces diagnostic tests for this disease.
He has served on national boards, including several panels for the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. He is a member of the Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), an NIH institute. He is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences in Mexico.
