PHILADELPHIA Perelman School of Medicine researchers Thomas Curran, PhD, professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and Gary A. Koretzky, MD, PhD, vice chair for research and chief scientific officer, Department of Medicine, and are among the 220 elected to the 2012 class of members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

One of the nation's most prestigious honorary societies, the Academy is also a leading center for independent policy research. The current membership includes some of the world's most accomplished leaders from academia, business, public affairs, the humanities and the arts.

Gary A. Koretzky is also a Francis C. Wood professor in the Department of Medicine. Through investigations of the regulation of blood cell formation and movement, Koretzky has made inroads into understanding the complexities of immune system function.

Thomas Curran is also an investigator at the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute and deputy scientific director at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Curran's studies of the molecular basis of brain cell growth have informed new strategies to treat pediatric brain tumors. He is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine and of the Royal Society.

The other Penn winners admitted to this years' class are Robert M. Seyfarth, professor of psychology, George J. Mailath, Walter H. Annenberg Professor in the social sciences and professor of economics, and Michael Kearns, professor and National Center Chair in Resource Management and Technology, Computer and Information Science Department.

An alphabetical list of the 220 new members is at http://www.amacad.org/news/alphalist2012.pdf.

The new class will be inducted at a ceremony on Oct. 6, at the Academy's headquarters in Cambridge, Mass. For full release on all Penn winners, visit http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/news/five-penn-professors-elected-american-academy-arts-and-sciences.

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Penn Medicine is one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $4.3 billion enterprise.

The Perelman School of Medicine is currently ranked #2 in U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $479.3 million awarded in the 2011 fiscal year.

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Perelman School of Medicine Researchers Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences