Dr. Stephen Goff Elected To National Academy Of Sciences
NEW YORK, NY, April 28, 2006 -- A Columbia University Medical Center researcher known for his groundbreaking work in improving our understanding of retroviruses has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences. Stephen P. Goff, Ph.D., was among 72 new members honored for their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research on April 25 at the 143rd annual meeting of the Academy.
“I’m thrilled with this honor,” said Dr. Goff, a professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics in the department of biochemistry and molecular biophysics at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. “I deeply appreciate this recognition of our work. I really want to give credit to all the people who have worked over the years in my lab to make the research possible.”
Stephen P. Goff, Ph.D.
Dr. Goff’s lab is interested in understanding how retroviruses, such as HIV and leukemia viruses, replicate and cause disease, and how these viruses interact with host cells. He is especially focused on the ways that the host cells can block viruses through innate immunity. Dr. Goff’s lab is also studying genes in retroviruses that cause cancer. and the signaling pathways activated by these viral oncogenes.
"Steve is noteworthy as a scientific star who has always made time to contribute to the Columbia community," says colleague Aaron Mitchell, professor of molecular pathogenesis in the department of microbiology. "He is a popular mentor for Ph.D. and M.D. students; he serves on numerous thesis committees, and he is one of the course directors for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Eukaryotes, which he and our colleague Richard Mann have revamped extensively."
Dr. Goff is joined in his election to the NAS by Ann McDermott, Ph.D., Columbia University professor of chemistry, whose research focuses on the development and applications of new spectroscopic techniques to study proteins that play a variety of roles in biology. These studies are aimed at understanding the mechanism of basic cellular processes, such as the acceleration of chemistry by enzymes and the binding of drugs to their targets.
Click here for the full Columbia University press release
The National Academy of Sciences is a private organization of scientists and engineers dedicated to the furtherance of science and its use for the general welfare. It was established in 1863 by a congressional act of incorporation signed by Abraham Lincoln that calls on the Academy to act as an official adviser to the federal government, upon request, in any matter of science or technology.
"Election to the Academy is considered one of the highest honors in American science and engineering," said Ralph Cicerone, who became president of the Academy in 2005. Barbara Schaal, an NAS member since 1999 who was elected last year as the academy's first woman vice president, noted, "This year's new class represents outstanding accomplishment in a wide variety of disciplines."
Andrew R. Marks, M.D., director of the Center for Molecular Cardiology, and Iva S. Greenwald, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics, were elected in 2005.
Additional information about the Academy and its members is available online at http://www.nasonline.org.
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