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Professor elected to National Academy of Sciences for research in parasite biology

Patricia Johnson, a professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics, was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. Johnson studies T. vaginalis, a parasite which causes the common sexually transmitted disease trichomoniasis. (Daily Bruin file photo)

By Kate Nucci

May 7, 2019 12:03 a.m.

A UCLA professor was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, a nonprofit organization composed of the nation’s leading researchers in science.

Patricia Johnson, a professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics, was one of 100 new members inducted into the National Academy of Sciences on April 30, according to the Academy website.

Johnson, who directs a lab at the David Geffen School of Medicine, studies Trichomonas vaginalis, a parasite which causes the common sexually transmitted disease trichomoniasis, according to the press release. According to its website, her lab researches how T. vaginalis establishes and maintains infection in the human body as well as its potential links to prostate cancer.

There are 2,347 active members in the Academy. New members of the Academy are elected by current members for their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research, according to the Academy’s website.

The Academy was chartered by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 to advise the national government on issues related to science, engineering and medicine. It also publishes the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

Forty percent of the new members elected to the Academy were women, the highest proportion of women ever offered membership in a single year, according to the Academy’s website. Since 1970, 53 UCLA faculty have been elected to the Academy.

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Kate Nucci | Senior staff
Nucci was the 2019-2020 Assistant News editor for the Features & Student Life beat. She was previously a contributor for the Campus Politics beat from 2018-2019 and Copy staff from 2017-2019.
Nucci was the 2019-2020 Assistant News editor for the Features & Student Life beat. She was previously a contributor for the Campus Politics beat from 2018-2019 and Copy staff from 2017-2019.
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