March 27, 2025 — Fourteen University of Florida faculty members, including two at the College of Medicine, have been elected 2024 fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Borna Mehrad, M.D., a professor and chief of the division of pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine; and Arun Srivastava, Ph.D., a professor in the departments of Pediatrics and Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, are among the 471 scientists, engineers and innovators who have been recognized for their scientifically and socially distinguished achievements by the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the Science family of journals.
“Being elected as AAAS fellows is a remarkable achievement that reflects both the groundbreaking contributions and the dedication of Dr. Mehrad and Dr. Srivastava to advancing scientific knowledge,” said Jennifer Hunt, M.D., M.Ed., interim dean of the College of Medicine. “This prestigious honor places them among the most distinguished scientists in their fields, underscoring the impact of their research and scholarship. We are immensely proud of their accomplishments and celebrate this well-earned recognition of their excellence.”
A tradition dating back to 1874, election as an AAAS fellow is a lifetime honor, and all Fellows are expected to meet the commonly held standards of professional ethics and scientific integrity.
Learn more about the UF College of Medicine’s 2024 AAAS fellows:
Borna Mehrad, M.D.
Borna Mehrad, M.D.
Mehrad is the Ethel Smith Research Professor, chief of the UF division of pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine and vice-chair for research in the Department of Medicine. A board-certified pulmonary and critical care physician since 1999, Mehrad is an expert in lung disease and intensive care unit medicine, with a particular clinical focus on interstitial lung diseases and sarcoidosis, a group of uncommon and complex illnesses that result in inflammation and scarring of the lungs.
His research lab — which has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health — studies the mechanisms of lung injury and fibrosis. He has published more than 120 research papers with more than 9,000 citations and holds two patents.
Mehrad is also a member of the American Society of Clinical Investigators, an honor society for physician-scientists.
Arun Srivastava, Ph.D.
Arun Srivastava, Ph.D.
Srivastava, the George H. Kitzman Professor of Genetics in the departments of Pediatrics and Molecular Genetics & Microbiology and a member of the Powell Gene Therapy Center, UF Genetics Institute and UF Health Cancer Center, was recognized for his distinguished contributions over more than four decades to the field of gene therapy.
His fundamental studies of adeno-associated virus, or AAV, molecular biology and the development of next-generation and optimized AAV vectors have paved the way for new and more effective treatments for genetic diseases.
Srivastava has received uninterrupted research funding for 41 years from the National Institutes of Health, been awarded 21 U.S. patents, founded four startups and mentored 45 postdoctoral and clinical fellows. His laboratory has identified two AAV vectors that efficiently transduce primary human cells, and his current research focuses on gene therapy for genetic diseases such as hemophilia and muscular dystrophies, malignant disorders such as liver cancers, and “nuclease-free” genome editing for β-thalassemia and sickle cell disease.