BOSTON (Nov. 24, 2014) — Carol Kumamoto, PhD, of Tufts University School of Medicine and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Tufts has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Election is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers.
As part of the section on medical sciences, Kumamoto was elected as an AAAS Fellow for her distinguished contributions to clarifying how specific genes and environmental factors regulate the interactions between a fungal pathogen and human hosts.
Kumamoto studies a fungal pathogen (Candida albicans), which inconspicuously lives in our bodies until it senses that we are weak. The fungus, known for causing yeast and other minor infections, also causes a sometimes-fatal infection known as candidiasis in immunocompromised patients, such as cancer patients and transplant recipients. Growth of the fungus C. albicans in filamentous forms is associated with the development of disease and tissue invasion related to cancer. Her research is directed towards understanding how C. albicans senses that the host is unable to protect itself from infection, and how this sensing and other environmental cues control filamentous growth.
Innovative researchers have been recognized for their work by AAAS since 1874. This year, 401 members have been honored as an AAAS Fellow 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 (representing science and engineering, respectively) rosette pin on Saturday, 14 February from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. at the AAAS Fellows Forum during the 2015 AAAS Annual Meeting in San Jose, Calif.
This year’s AAAS Fellows will be formally announced in the AAAS News & Notes section of the journal Science on 28 November 2014.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world’s largest general scientific society, and publisher of the journals, Science, Science Translational Medicine and Science Signaling. AAAS was founded in 1848, and includes 254 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. The non-profit AAAS (www.aaas.org) is open to all and fulfills its mission to “advance science and serve society” through initiatives in science policy, international programs, science education, and more.
