SEATTLE — May 3, 2005 — The National Academy of Sciences today announced the election of its new members. Among them is Steven Henikoff, Ph.D., a member of the Basic Sciences Division of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. Henikoff also is an affiliate professor of genome sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
Henikoff, a biologist and an inventor, studies some of the oldest problems in chromosome research using innovative strategies designed in his own laboratory. His inventions, which include databases for making sense of DNA sequence information, have been indispensable to biologists from all disciplines, from those who study metabolic pathways in yeast to researchers who seek clues to the origins of cancer.
Henikoff is credited with helping build the infrastructure for analyzing the human genome and was among the first to realize that computing and the Internet had the power to revolutionize the way biological research is done.
Election to membership in the NAS is considered one of the highest honors that can be accorded a U.S. scientist or engineer. Those elected today bring the total number of current active members to 1,976.
Other NAS members from Fred Hutchinson include Nobel laureate Lee Hartwell, Ph.D., center president and director; Nobel laureate E. Donnall Thomas, M.D., director emeritus of the center's Clinical Research Division; Nobel laureate Linda B. Buck, Ph.D., member and associate director of the Basic Sciences Division; Mark Groudine, M.D., Ph.D., deputy director of Fred Hutchinson, member and former director of the center's Basic Sciences Division; Robert Eisenman, Ph.D., a member of the center's Basic Sciences Division; and the late Hal Weintraub, M.D., Ph.D., a founding member of the center's Basic Sciences Division.
Media Note
A digital photo of Henikoff is available on request.
Media Contacts
Kristen Woodward
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
(206) 667-5095
kwoodwar@fhcrc.org
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Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, home of three Nobel laureates, is an independent, nonprofit research institution dedicated to the development and advancement of biomedical technology to eliminate cancer and other potentially fatal diseases. Recognized internationally for its pioneering work in bone-marrow transplantation, the center's four scientific divisions collaborate to form a unique environment for conducting basic and applied science. Fred Hutchinson, in collaboration with its clinical and research partners, UW Medicine and Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center, is the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in the Pacific Northwest and is one of 40 nationwide. For more information, visit the center's website at www.fhcrc.org.