The prestigious National Academy of Sciences honored two Texas Universities in Austin Faculty members. Neuroscience professor Kristen Harris was among 120 newly elected members, and molecular bioscience professor Keiko Torii was among 24 newly elected international members of the NAS. Membership recognizes distinguished and ongoing achievements in original research and is considered one of the highest honors a scientist can receive.
“This remarkable recognition of our faculty members is a reflection of the phenomenal basic research happening here in life science disciplines as diverse as neuroscience and plant biology,” said David Vanden Bout, dean of the College of Natural Sciences. “Kristen Harris and Keiko Torii exemplify transformative research leadership and commitment to their disciplines, which leads to important advances in our understanding of the world.”
Harris’ research focuses on understanding the structural components of the brain involved in learning and memory. She pioneered serial electron microscopy techniques that had a profound effect on the field of neurobiology. She developed a software program for the three-dimensional reconstruction of serial electron microscopy images, allowing efficient analysis of hundreds of serial sections, as opposed to a handful when done manually. Her innovation and techniques have led to a new understanding of synaptic structure both under normal conditions and in response to long-term potentiation, a cellular mechanism for learning and memory.
In 2020, Harris received the Mika Salpeter Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society for Neuroscience for promoting the professional advancement of women in neuroscience. In 2016, she was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Torii, who holds the Johnson & Johnson Centennial Chair in Plant Cell Biology, conducts research that has illuminated aspects of the molecular genetic processes that drive plant development. Early in her career, she discovered how plant cells signal to each other using specific receptors, and her research has since provided important insights into how plant cells communicate with each other to determine which of them will become stomata, the plant-like structures. pores on the surface. of plants.
Stomata facilitate the equivalent of respiration in plants, allowing the exchange of gases and moisture in the atmosphere, and are also essential for photosynthesis. Torii and his team have identified master regulators that drive stem cell stomatal differentiation. The work provided important insights into plant resilience, including in the face of climate change, helping scientists better understand plants’ ability to navigate changes such as hotter and drier environmental conditions.
Torii also received the Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon of the Emperor of Japan at the Imperial Palace. Previously, she received the Stephen Hales Award from the American Society of Plant Biologists, the Asahi Award from the Asahi Shimbun Foundation, and the Saruhashi Award. She was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2012 and the American Society of Plant Biologists in 2015. She is a founding member of the Institute for Transformative Biomolecules at Nagoya University and a researcher at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
With the addition of Harris and Torii, 19 UT faculty members are members of the NAS.
