Cancer Biology Researcher Named 2015 AAAS Fellow

DNA is the basis of existence for all living organisms. 

When something goes wrong in DNA, which is made up of thousands of other components, it can cause any number of problems in a person’s overall health.

That’s why Carolyn Price’s research is so important, and that’s one of the reasons she has been named a 2015 fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Specifically, Price, PhD, who is a professor in the Department of Cancer Biology, is being honored for her contributions to the field of telomere biology in the area of telomere replication.

Her lab focuses on the structure and function of telomeres, the DNA-protein complexes that cap the ends of chromosomes. Telomeres are essential for genome stability as defects in their structure and/or failure to fully replicate the telomeric DNA lead to chromosome shortening and end-to-end fusion of chromosomes. This loss of telomere function can cause bone marrow failure and lung disease. 

"I’m honored to be selected for such a prestigious distinction,” she says. "Many esteemed colleagues have been named AAAS fellows, and I’m proud to be part of that group and happy that the importance of my research has been recognized.”

Price received her PhD from the University of Colorado Medical Center in 1985 and completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1988, where she focused on telomere biology in Thomas Cech’s lab. 

The AAAS has awarded the distinction of fellow to 347 of its members this year. These individuals have been elevated to this rank because of their efforts toward advancing science applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished. 

Price and the additional new fellows, which include UC's David Lentz, PhD, from the McMicken College of Arts and Sciences, and Marc Cahay, PhD, from the College of Engineering and Applied Science, will be presented with an official certificate and a gold and blue rosette pin on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016, at the AAAS Fellows Forum during the 2016 AAAS annual meeting in Washington, D.C.