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Melissa Moore elected to National Academy of Sciences

  Melissa Moore, PhD
 

Melissa J. Moore, PhD

The National Academy of Sciences has announced the election of Melissa J. Moore, PhD, the Eleanor Eustis Farrington Chair in Cancer Research and professor of RNA therapeutics. Dr. Moore, who was appointed chief scientific officer of messenger RNA platform at Moderna Therapeutics last fall, was among 84 new members and 21 foreign associates elected, in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, non-profit society of distinguished scholars. Established by an act of Congress signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, it is charged with providing independent, objective advice to the nation on matters related to science and technology. Scientists are elected by their peers to membership in the NAS for outstanding contributions to research. As the role of science has expanded in the United States, the National Academy has grown to include the Institute of Medicine, the National Academy of Engineering and the National Research Council.

Moore’s research has encompassed a broad array of topics related to the role of RNA and RNA-protein complexes in gene expression and touched on many human diseas, including cancer, neurodegeneration and preeclampsia. Prior to joining UMMS in 2007, she spent 13 years as a professor at Brandeis University.

Moore joins three UMass Medical School colleagues in the National Academy of Sciences: Nobel laureate Craig C. Mello, PhD, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, the Blais University Chair in Molecular Medicine and distinguished professor of molecular medicine and cell & developmental biology; Victor Ambros, PhD, the Silverman Chair in Natural Sciences and professor of molecular medicine; and Michael R. Green, MD, PhD, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, the Lambi and Sarah Adams Chair in Genetic Research, chair and professor of molecular, cell & cancer biology, professor of molecular medicine and director of the UMass Medical School Cancer Center. Dr. Green is also a member of the National Academy of Medicine.

Robert H. Brown Jr., DPhil, MD, the Leo P. and Theresa M. LaChance Chair in Medical Research and chair and professor of neurology, and John E. Ware, PhD, professor of quantitative health sciences and chief of the Outcomes Measurement Division, are members of the National Academy of Medicine.

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