McGill's Sonenberg elected to Royal Society
Dr. Nahum Sonenberg, a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and McGill Cancer Centre at McGill University, has been named to the London-based Royal Society, the world's oldest and most respected continuous scientific academy.
Long recognized for his enormous contribution to our understanding of molecular and cellular biology, Dr. Sonenberg is among the 44 new fellows elected by the Society for 2006. His research, which has led to a better understanding of basic biologic processes in normal and cancer cells, now plays a major role in the creation of new cancer treatments. He joined McGill in 1979 and is today a James McGill Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and the McGill Cancer Centre. Dr. Sonenberg has a long-time interest in virology, particularly the study of poliovirus, rhinoviruses, HIV and HCV.
Founded in 1660, the Royal Society is the United Kingdom's national academy of science. Other McGill professors elected to its ranks include neuroscientist Brenda Milner and chemistry professor Allan Hay.
Dr. Sonenberg was also recently elected a 2006 Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was also awarded the 2005 Killam Prize for Health Sciences. In 2002, Dr. Sonenberg was awarded the Robert L. Noble Prize by the National Cancer Institute of Canada. He is an International Research Scholar of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Distinguished Scientist, and has been a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada since 1992.
