Yale scientists Basu and Schatz elected to world’s largest scientific society

Two Yale scientists have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the largest international organization dedicated to advancing science, engineering, and innovation.

Two Yale scientists have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the largest international organization dedicated to advancing science, engineering, and innovation.

The new Yale fellows are Sarbani Basu, professor of astronomy, and David G. Schatz, professor of immunobiology and molecular biophysics and biochemistry. Their profiles follow:

Sarbani Basu

Sarbani Basu

Basu was honored for her “distinguished contributions to the field of stellar oscillations, probing deep inside stars to learn their inner secrets.” Her solar research into variations in the structure and dynamics of our Sun has informed her study of other stars. Basu was able to determine the exact position of the base of the solar convection zone, as well as the helium abundance of the Sun, and her work has aided in the characterization of the Kepler-444 “replica” solar system and other similar discoveries.

Basu joined the Yale faculty in 2000. She received a Master of Science degree in physics from the University of Poona and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in physics from the University of Bombay. She held postdoctoral positions at the Queen Mary University of London, the University of Aarhus, and the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton.

David G. Schatz

David G. Schatz

Schatz was recognized for his “distinguished contributions to our understanding of the mechanisms that assemble and diversify antigen receptor genes that encode antibodies and T cell receptors.” Schatz is best known for the discovery of RAG1 and RAG2 (recombination-activating genes), subsequent biochemical insights into RAG function and evolutionary origins, and the discovery of two distinct levels of regulation of somatic hypermutation.

Schatz joined the Yale faculty in 1991. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University in 1980, and a M.A. degree in philosophy and politics from Oxford University in 1982. His Ph.D. degree (1990) and postdoctoral training were done with Dr. David Baltimore at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research.

AAAS is the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science as well as Science Translational Medicine and Science Signaling. AAAS was founded in 1848, and includes 254 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals.

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Ziba Kashef: ziba.kashef@yale.edu, 203-436-9317