April 19, 2018—(BRONX, NY)—Einstein researcher Ana Maria Cuervo, M.D., Ph.D. has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, which honors exceptional scholars, leaders, artists and innovators in a range of fields and disciplines. Dr. Cuervo is a professor of developmental and molecular biology, of anatomy and structural biology, of medicine, co-director of the Institute for Aging Research and holds the Robert and Renée Belfer Chair for the Study of Neurodegenerative Diseases at Einstein.

Ana Maria Cuervo, M.D., Ph.D.The prestigious honor society announced 213 new members in class of 2018, including author Ta-Nehisi Coates, actor Tom Hanks, Neflix, Inc. CEO W. Reed Hastings, Jr., Supreme Court Justice Sonia M. Sotomayor, gene editing developer Feng Zhang, and Barack H. Obama, the 44th President of the United States. Dr. Cuervo was one of five elected in the section of medical science, clinical medicine, and public health.

Dr. Cuervo specializes in autophagy—from the Greek words “auto” and “phagein,” meaning “self-devouring”—a process cells use to dispose of or recycle their waste products, including damaged proteins and organelles, and the contribution of autophagy failure to aging and age-related diseases. Her research has resulted in better insights and possible treatments for a number of diseases, including Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and cancer.

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Dr. Cuervo is the thirteenth Einstein faculty member elected to the society since its establishment, including three current faculty Robert Singer, Ph.D., Susan Band Horwitz, Ph.D., and Matthew Scharff, M.D.

“Membership in the Academy is not only an honor, but also an opportunity and a responsibility,” said Jonathan Fanton, president of the American Academy. “Members can be inspired and engaged by connecting with one another and through Academy projects dedicated to the common good. The intellect, creativity, and commitment of the 2018 Class will enrich the work of the Academy and the world in which we live.”

Founded in 1780, the Academy has inducted 238 classes of new members into their ranks. The class of 2018 will be inducted at a ceremony in October in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where newly elected members will sign the Book of Members, which includes the signatures of Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Charles Darwin, Margaret Mead, Martin Luther King, Jr., and our institution’s namesake, Albert Einstein.