AAAS Fellows are a distinguished cadre of scientists, engineers and innovators who have been recognized for their achievements across disciplines, from research, teaching, and technology, to administration in academia, industry and government, to excellence in communicating and interpreting science to the public.
Department of Materials Design and Innovation; Department of Structural Biology
A prolific researcher in crystallography and biophysics, Eaton Lattman, PhD, pioneered the emerging field of using X-ray free electron lasers to study biological and nonbiological processes. In 2008, Dr. Lattman came to Buffalo from Johns Hopkins University to serve as chief executive officer at Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute. He joined the UB Department of Structural Biology in 2009. In 2013, he was instrumental in the awarding of a $25 million National Science Foundation grant to UB and its partners to establish BioXFEL, an X-ray laser science center, to transform the field of structural biology. He served as director of BioXFEL until 2017. In 2020, Dr. Lattman was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Department of Learning and Instruction
A leading expert on science education, Xiufeng Liu, PhD, professor in the Department of Learning and Instruction, is renowned for his scholarship on measurement and evaluation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education. A prolific scholar, he has authored/co-authored more than 120 refereed publications including 12 books, and been principal or co-principal investigator on grants totaling more than $20 million. Dr. Liu has served as editor, associate editor or editorial board member for ten journals, including the Journal of Research in Science Teaching, the premier journal in science education. In 2020, Dr. Liu was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in recognition of his distinguished contributions to the fields of science education research and scientific communication.
Department of Chemistry
UB Distinguished Professor and Larkin Professor of Chemistry, Janet Morrow, PhD, is an internationally acclaimed researcher in the field of bioinorganic chemistry who focuses on transition metal ion and lanthanide ion complexes in medicine and biomedical imaging. An inventor and entrepreneur, Dr. Morrow co-founded Ferric Contrast, a startup that is developing iron-containing MRI contrast agents. She has a sustained federal funding record and is associate editor of Inorganic Chemistry, the leading journal in her field. Her research contributions have been recognized with many honors, including the prestigious Alfred P. Sloan fellowship, American Chemical Society Schoellkopf Medal, and National Science Foundation Special Award for Creativity. In 2020, Dr. Morrow was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Department of Oral Biology
Professor of oral biology, Stefan Ruhl, DDS, PhD, is an internationally renowned expert on saliva, oral bacteria and the oral microbiome. His groundbreaking research attempts to unravel the roles that saliva and microorganisms play in health, including in adhesion to the teeth and surfaces of the mouth, defense against pathogens and colonization of the oral cavity. He was among the first researchers to catalogue the human salivary proteome, the entirety of proteins present in saliva and salivary gland ductal secretions. The International Association for Dental Research recognized Dr. Ruhl with the Distinguished Scientist Award in Salivary Research in 2020 and Salivary Researcher of the Year Award in 2014. In 2020, he was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.