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In This Issue:
K. Frank Austen, MD, AstraZeneca Professor of Respiratory and Inflammatory Diseases and Director, BWH Inflammation and Allergic Diseases Research Section, was recently inducted as a fellow into the prestigious Royal Society. The society, an independent academy founded in 1660, promotes both natural and applied sciences. It numbers among its early fellows such luminaries as Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, and Christopher Wren. Austen is one of only six foreign members selected this year from the broad array of scientific endeavors.
Dr. Austen is renowned for his fundamental cellular and molecular characterization of mast cells and their cysteinyl leukotriene products, key components of allergic inflammation and asthma. His studies, which span nearly 45 years, have identified key inflammatory mediators and led to novel drug therapies.
“It is a great honor to be elected to the Royal Society, which represents science at its best and broadest sense, with sensitivity to the world in which we live, and of which medicine is just a part,” said Austen.
“K. Frank Austen has long distinguished our institution with his many important and insightful contributions to our understanding of the immunologic response,” said BWH President Gary Gottlieb, MD, MBA. “It is wonderful to see him elevated to Royal Society Fellow, joining a rich heritage of acclaimed scientific leaders. The entire BWH community shares in this accomplishment,” he said.