USC luminaries named to AAAS

November 9, 2007

School of Pharmacy Professor Jean C. Shih and Provost C. L. Max Nikias are among five leading scientists at USC named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in recognition of outstanding contributions in science and engineering.

Shih, the sole Health Sciences Campus faculty member named, was recognized in the neuroscience category “for distinguished contributions to the field of molecular neuropharmacology, particularly for contributing to the present knowledge on monoamine oxidases and their roles in behavior.” Her findings have therapeutic applications for depression, anxiety and aggression, as well as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.

Shih, a University Professor and the Boyd P. and Elsie D. Welin Professor in Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, has won international acclaim for her study of how the brain enzyme monoamine oxidase (MAO) affects behavior. Her laboratory was the first to clone the human MAO A and B genes and to unravel the structure, functions and regulation of these genes.

MAO has profound effects on behavior and influences neurotransmitters crucial to emotion, such as serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine. For example, Shih’s work has shown that mice lacking both MAO genes display relentless aggression.

Shih, who has previously won two MERIT Awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has had more than 30 consecutive years of NIH funding for her work.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the prestigious journal Science.

Joining Shih and Provost Nikias as new AAAS fellows are Maja Mataric, from the Viterbi School of Engineering, and Douglas Capone and Howard Taylor, both from the College. The USC awardees will be among 471 scientists honored in February 2008 at the Fellows Forum of the 2008 AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston, Mass.

The tradition of AAAS fellows began in 1874. Members are considered for the rank of fellow if nominated by the steering group of their respective sections, by three fellows or by the association’s chief executive officer. The AAAS Council votes on the final list.