Emory Biologist Receives Top Honor

biologist Bruce Levin was selected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences last week.

Levin is one of five Emory faculty in the organization, which is one of the highest honors given to a scientist or engineer in the United States.

Levin is a leader in using mathematical and computer simulation modeling to study the evolutionary biology of bacteria and their viruses. Some of the health questions his lab addresses include the pharmacodynamics of antibiotics and the within-host population and evolutionary dynamics of bacterial infections and their treatment with antibiotics.

"I am extremely pleased," Levin said, "mostly because of the recognition by colleagues that I greatly respect and admire. This honor doesn't really change who I am, or what I plan to do in the lab and as a teacher. However, now that it is clear that I am an official member of the establishment, I will purchase some new socks to fit in."

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit honorific society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to furthering science and technology and to their use for the general welfare.

"This honor represents well-deserved recognition for a lifetime of seminal research," said Steven L'Hernault, professor and chair of the Department of Biology at Emory. "Bruce is more than just a world leader in microbial evolution because he has also trained and collaborated with some very talented graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who have gone on to join him as leaders in this field." 

Levin will be inducted into the academy next April.

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