Four Health Center Faculty Named to Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering

The new members will be honored during the Academy’s annual meeting in May.

The Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering (CASE) has announced the election of 39 new members, including four from the UConn Health Center. The new members are experts in science, engineering and technology and will be introduced at the Academy’s 37th annual meeting and dinner on May 31 at the University of Connecticut’s Rome Ballroom in Storrs.

The newly elected members from the Health Center are:

Dr. Jeffrey C. Hoch

Jeffrey C. Hoch, professor in the Department of Molecular, Microbial and Structural Biology, director of the Biophysical Core Facility and director of the Gregory P. Mullen NMR Structural Biology Facility. Hoch’s lab studies protein structure, dynamics, and stability and how these properties relate to biological function. The lab’s principal tool is NMR spectroscopy, which the Health Center acquired in 2010 after Hoch secured a $2 million NIH grant. The proteins studied using the NMR are involved in viral and bacterial infection, cancer, neural development, and other biological pathways important for both health and disease. Hoch received his Ph.D. from Harvard University and was a founding member of the Rowland Institute for Science in Cambridge, Mass.

Dr. Marja M. Hurley
Dr. Marja Hurley

Dr. Marja Hurley is a professor of medicine and orthopaedic surgery and has been the associate dean of the Health Career Opportunity Programs for more than two decades. Hurley is a graduate of UConn and the UConn School of Medicine and has been an integral part of the faculty since completing her fellowship in endocrinology in 1986. Hurley is also a widely published researcher whose work has been supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) since 1989. She is known nationally and internationally for her research in the field of molecular biology of growth factors and their role in normal and pathological disorders of bone and has published extensively in this area in peer reviewed journals.

Dr. Mina Mina

Dr. Mina Mina is a professor of craniofacial sciences and has been chair of the Division of Pediatric Dentistry since 2003. Mina received her DMD degree from the National University of Iran and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from the UConn Health Center. During her years at the Health Center, she has assumed clinical, teaching and administrative responsibilities. In addition, she has maintained an active research program focused on three areas related to craniofacial biology and has been continuously supported by a number of grants from the NIH and private agencies.

Dr. Paul R. Skolnik
Dr. Paul R. Skolnik

Dr. Paul R. Skolnik, a nationally prominent infectious diseases clinical specialist and academician, is professor and chairman of the Department of Medicine. A graduate of Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Skolnik has focused on infectious diseases since completing his fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. His clinical research interests include studies of HIV-related therapeutics, adherence and retention in care. His current basic research interests include toll-like receptor (TLR)-mediated innate immune responses, modeling of cytokine and chemokine networks, and the interactions of microRNAs with the innate immune system in the lungs of patients who are HIV-positive.

Election to the Academy is on the basis of scientific and engineering distinction achieved through significant contributions in theory or applications, as demonstrated by original published books and papers, patents, the pioneering of new and developing fields and innovative products, outstanding leadership of nationally recognized technical teams, and external professional awards in recognition of scientific and engineering excellence.


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