Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation scientist Luke Szweda, Ph.D., has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Election as an AAAS Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers.
This year, 388 members were awarded this honor by AAAS because of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. Szweda joins OMRF scientists Xiao-Hong Sun, Ph.D., Jordan Tang, Ph.D., and President Stephen Prescott, M.D., in the distinguished group.
In the Medical Sciences group, Szweda was elected as an AAAS Fellow for his research into the role of oxidative damage in obese, diabetic and aging populations.
Szweda is a Member and Program Chair of OMRF’s Free Radical Biology and Aging Research Program. His lab focuses on how free radicals control the function of the mitochondria—the powerhouse of the cell—and how disruption of these processes negatively impacts heart function as humans age.
The AAAS is the largest general scientific society in the world, and its mission is lofty, said Szweda—to advance science, engineering and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all people.
“I am honored to have been elected a Fellow of the AAAS,” he said. “I am also deeply humbled, for I know that success in science depends on the excellence of the students who have trained in the laboratory, productive interactions with scientific collaborators and the good fortune of following discoveries of scientists who came before.
“Finally, I am grateful to Professor Gillian Air in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, who nominated me for this honor.”
The tradition of AAAS Fellows began in 1874. Members can be considered for the rank of Fellow if they are nominated by the Association’s steering groups or by any three Fellows who are current AAAS members.
