AAAS is one of the most respected and renowned scientific organizations on the planet. Founded in 1848 it’s the world’s largest general scientific society, publisher of Science, an industry journal, and is affiliated with more than 250 other societies and academies of science. In total the organization serves an estimated 10 million people.
“We are delighted that these six exceptional professors have been honored by election to fellowship in AAAS,” said Dr. Paul R. Sanberg, AAAS Fellow and senior vice president for research, innovation and economic development at USF. “Their commitment to discovery and scholarship in their areas of expertise has helped the University of South Florida be increasingly recognized as a global research university.”
Being elected as an AAAS Fellow is considered one of the highest honors in the scientific community and is done so by peers who are already members. Fellows are selected for their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. Overall, 347 new members received the prestigious recognition this year.
USF is now tied for fourth place worldwide with the University of California, San Diego and the University of Michigan with six elected members this year. Duke University and Pennsylvania State University are tied for third with seven, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Vanderbilt University are in second place with eight, and Stanford University sits alone in first with nine of their faculty members being named Fellows in 2015.
Dennis Edward Kyle, Ph.D., was one of the six Fellows selected from USF. A distinguished professor of the school’s global health colleges he was picked for his contributions and innovations in the field of global health, especially tropical and infectious diseases.
One of his biggest areas of interest is the research and discovery of new anti-parasitic drugs for tropical diseases, such as malaria. With more than 175 publications in peer-reviewed scientific literature and funding from the Medicines for Malaria Venture organization there’s no doubt his work has helped the efforts to fight malaria across the continent of Africa. According to a new study published in the journal Nature and co-authored by researchers at the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, such efforts have cut the rate of infections in half since 2000.
The six new Fellows brings USF’s grand total to 52. It is considered a top 50 research institute in terms of total research expenditure.