USC biophysicist Scott E. Fraser, PhD, has as been elected to the National Academy of Medicine, the organization announced Monday. He’s among 100 new members of the Academy.
“For integrating biophysics, quantitative biology, and molecular imaging to enable unprecedented views of normal function and disease in live organisms, from embryonic development to old age,” the Academy said in his official citation.
Fraser is Provost Professor of Biological Sciences and Biomedical Engineering at USC. He is also the Elizabeth Garrett Chair in Convergent Bioscience and Director of Science Initiatives. He holds joint appointments at the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, the Viterbi School of Engineering, the Keck School, and Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles in the departments of Physiology and Biophysics, Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Pediatrics, Radiology, and Ophthalmology.
Fraser’s research centers on imaging and molecular analyses of intact biological systems, with an emphasis on early development, organogenesis, and medical diagnostics. His innovations have spawned several start-ups, and have been integrated into instruments and FDA approved diagnostics from firms ranging from Zeiss and Leica to Genmark.
After training in physics (B.S., Harvey Mudd College, 1976) and biophysics (Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University, 1979), he joined the faculty at UC Irvine, and rose through the ranks to become Chair of the Department of Physiology and Biophysics. In 1990 he moved to Caltech to serve as the Anna L. Rosen Professor of Biology, and the Director of the Biological Imaging Center. Deeply committed to interdisciplinary training and translational research, he helped found the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, as well as serving as the founding Director of both the Caltech Brain Imaging Center and the Rosen Center for Biological Engineering.
Fraser moved to USC in fall 2012. In addition to his other titles, he is co-director of USC’s Bridge Institute with its Founding Director, Ray Stevens.
A prolific author and inventor, Fraser has more than 240 peer-reviewed articles and more than 75 issued patents to his credit. He is the recipient of numerous honors and has been elected Fellow to the National Academy of Inventors, American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineers, American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Academy of Arts and Science, and the European Academy of Science.