Four named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

• Link to: Northwestern Now Story

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Northwestern University professors Debabrata (Debu) Chakravarti, Julius B. Lucks, Viorica Marian and James M. Rondinelli have been elected 2024 fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the largest general scientific society in the world. 

The 2024 class of AAAS Fellows includes 471 scientists, engineers and innovators spanning 24 scientific disciplines, recognized for their scientifically and socially distinguished achievements. 

“This year’s class of fellows are the embodiment of scientific excellence and service to our communities,” said Sudip S. Parikh, AAAS chief executive officer and executive publisher of the Science family of journals. “At a time when the future of the scientific enterprise in the U.S. and around the world is uncertain, their work demonstrates the value of sustained investment in science and engineering.”

Debabrata Chakravarti 

Debabrata (Debu) Chakravarti is the Anna Lapham Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and a professor of pharmacology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. He also serves as vice chair for translational research in the department of obstetrics and gynecology.   

His research focuses on understanding how genes, the epigenome and other molecular factors influence the growth of tumors in humans and reproductive diseases. With the goal of helping to develop future therapies, his lab has made important discoveries related to uterine fibroids, which affect 70% of women, and endometriosis as well as proteins called cofactors. His collaborative research team has advanced understanding of how certain molecules and biological processes influence the development of prostate cancer.   

He has received the Future Leader Award from the International Life Sciences Institute, Michael S. Brown Junior Faculty Research award from the University of Pennsylvania. He has served as an associate editor of the journal Endocrinology and an editorial board member of the journal Molecular and Cellular Biology.  

Julius B. Lucks 

Julius B. Lucks is a professor of chemical and biological engineering at Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering and a co-director for the Center for Synthetic Biology. Lucks is being inducted into the AAAS “for distinguished contributions to RNA biology and synthetic biology, particularly for discovering RNA folding principles important for understanding biology and developing biotechnologies, and creating synthetic biology diagnostics for global health.” 

His research focuses on understanding of how biological systems sense and adapt to changing environments. Most recently, Lucks and his research group have used this understanding to develop cutting-edge cell free synthetic biology techniques to develop low-cost, on-demand diagnostics that detect water contaminants and pathogens. 

This work is being translated into the world via a large-scale field trial of water quality tests in the Chicago area and field trials of CRISPR-based crop pathogen detection in Kenya and Uganda.   

Lucks has been recognized with numerous awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship in Biology, and a fellowship in the American Institute of Medical and Biomedical Engineers.  

Viorica Marian 

Viorica Marian is the Ralph and Jean Sundin Endowed Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders in Northwestern’s School of Communication and professor of psychology in the Weinberg College of Arts and Science. She previously served as chair of the National Institutes of Health Study Section on Language and Communication and as chair of the department of communication sciences and disorders at Northwestern.   

Marian is a cognitive scientist who studies the interaction between language and mind in speakers of two of more languages, with a focus on the mechanisms and consequences of multilingualism for cognition, language and the brain.  

Her research uses behavioral and neurological measures to study the human linguistic capacity. Since 2000, Marian has directed the Northwestern University Bilingualism and Psycholinguistics Research Lab, supported by The National Institutes of Health, The National Science Foundation, and private organizations.  

Marian is the author of “The Power of Language: How the codes we use to think, speak and live transform our minds.”    

James M. Rondinelli 

James M. Rondinelli is the Walter Dill Scott Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and an associate chair of materials science and engineering at McCormick.   

He also leads the Materials Theory and Design Group at Northwestern, where he is a pioneer in the concept of using structure-driven properties to overcome materials challenges. He examines structure and dynamics of complex electronic, magnetic and optical materials to aid in the development of 21st-century technologies. His research has resulted in the discovery of new transition metal compounds, alloys and molecules with improved performance. He is particularly interested in the electronic structure theory and predictive design of functional materials by using picoscale (down to the size of atoms) structure-property relationships. 

Among his numerous accolades is an NSF CAREER Award, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Young Faculty Award, a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, a Sloan Research Fellowship, and a fellowship in the American Physical Society.