Two IGB faculty members elected AAAS Fellows

Seven professors at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, including two from IGB, have been elected 2022 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Mechanical science and engineering professor M. Taher Saif (M-CELS/RBTE) and materials science and engineering professor Charles Schroeder (BSD) from the IGB join physics professor James Eckstein, psychology professor Kara Federmeier, atmospheric sciences professor Atul Jain, chemistry professor Liviu Mirica, and computer science professor Grigore Rosu as the 506 scientists to be awarded the distinction of AAAS Fellow this year. Fellows are chosen by their peers for outstanding contribution to the field.

Saif studies the effects of forces at small scales, focusing on nanoscale materials and living cells. His work on deformation in nanomaterials could lead to self-healing metal components, and his work on the effects of cellular forces has opened new research avenues in neuron function, cancer progression and biological robotics. He is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He also is affiliated with the department of bioengineering, the Beckman Institute, and the Carle Illinois College of Medicine at Illinois.

Schroeder is a leader in using single-molecule techniques to study polymers, proteins and soft materials, with the aim of discovering how molecular-scale properties and behaviors inform large-scale ones. His work has led to advances in single-molecule electronics, DNA data storage, automated chemical synthesis and the use of lipid vesicles as drug-delivery vehicles. Schroeder also is affiliated with the departments of chemical and biomolecular engineering, chemistry and bioengineering, the Beckman Institute, and the Materials Research Lab at Illinois.