Academia Sinica Academician Chuong Cheng-ming was recently named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for his contributions to innovation, education and scientific leadership.
Currently a professor of pathology at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Chuong graduated from National Taiwan University in 1978 and obtained his doctoral degree from Rockefeller University five years later.
The scholar was elected Academician in 2008, and has maintained close collaboration with researchers at his alma mater in Taipei City, National Cheng Kung University in Tainan City and National Chung Hsing University in Taichung City.
Chuong’s research focuses on morphogenesis, namely how cells are organized into particular tissue patterns and shapes. His recent study includes the cellular and molecular basis of complex pigment patterns in bird feathers.
The scientist will be honored with the 400 other new AAAS fellows at the organization’s 2015 annual meeting scheduled for Feb. 14 in San Jose, California.
In addition to Chuong, two other NTU alumni made the AAAS fellowship list this year: Hou Ya-ming, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Thomas Jefferson University, and Kao Teh-hui, distinguished professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Pennsylvania State University.
Last week, an academic paper co-authored by Chuong was selected as one of the top 10 breakthroughs of 2014 by Science magazine. Headlined “An integrative approach to understanding bird origins,” the article was published Dec. 12 in the prestigious journal.
According to the magazine, the study by Chuong’s group, along with 10 related papers by other biologists, shed new light on the mode and tempo of the evolutionary transition from dinosaurs to birds by comparing the fossils of early birds and dinosaurs to modern birds. (SFC-GW)
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