Updates + Accolades / Molecular Geneticist, Physiologist Elected to National Academy of Sciences

Two UT Southwestern researchers – Russell DeBose-Boyd, Ph.D. (left), and Duojia Pan, Ph.D. (right), were elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in recognition of their scientific discoveries. Election to the NAS is one of the greatest honors a scientist can receive.

Dr. DeBose-Boyd, Professor of Molecular Genetics, discovered the biochemical pathway by which sterol and nonsterol isoprenoids combine to regulate the degradation of HMG-CoA reductase, a basic cellular mechanism that informs the prevention and treatment of heart disease.

Dr. Pan, Professor and Chair of Physiology, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, identified the “Hippo” signaling pathway, which plays important roles in the determination of organ size, tissue regeneration, and tumorigenesis.

With their elections, UT Southwestern now has 26 faculty who are members of the NAS, surpassing all other institutions in Texas.