BY NICOLE KRESGE

Forty-eight members of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology have been awarded the distinction of American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow, an honor bestowed on AAAS members by their peers.

BY ANGELA HOPP

Stanford University professor Axel T. Brunger has been named the winner of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology’s inaugural DeLano Award for Computational Biosciences.

BY ANGELA HOPP

The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology has named Nobel laureates Michael S. Brown and Joseph L. Goldstein, pioneers in the study of cholesterol metabolism, the joint winners of its first Earl and Thressa Stadtman Distinguished Scientist Award.

BY ANGELA HOPP

Christine Guthrie, a leading figure in the field of RNA processing and a dedicated mentor to young scientists, has been named the winner of the 2011 American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology-Merck Award.

BY KAREN R. MOWRER AND JENNIFER A. HOBIN

Many of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology's recent efforts have been aimed at increasing research funding, including supporting a $1 billion NIH funding increase and working to prevent reauthorization of the SBIR set aside.

ASBMB members in the news this month include David Ginsburg, Michael F. Holick, Gideon J. Davies, Carol Robinson, Sharon Tooze, Roger J. Davis, Elaine Fuchs, Thomas D. Pollard and Chi-Huey Wong. We also look back on the lives of Gerald C. Mueller and Mark Smith.

BY GEOFFREY HUNT

The National Institutes of Health announced in December that a new center focused on improving the translation of basic research to clinical care and therapeutics would be formed. Provisionally named the National Center for the Advancement of Translational Sciences, the center is set to commence operations in the fall.

BY NICOLE KRESGE

Eugene Goldwasser, the Alice Hogge and Arthur A. Baer professor emeritus of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Chicago, died Dec. 17. He was 88.

BY SUZANNE PFEFFER

Last month ASBMB President Suzanne Pfeffer wrote about the importance of explaining the significance of our research at every opportunity in papers, in talks and in research proposals. Keith Yamamoto, executive vice dean of the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, has played an incredibly important, behind-the-scenes role in steering the evaluation of U.S. science toward impact.

BY BENJAMIN W. CORB

Last month’s recommendation by the National Institutes of Health’s Scientific Management Review Board to create a new translational science institute at the NIH came as a surprise to many in the extramural research community due to the short timetable for SMRB's recommendation.