Barry Zirkin Elected as AAAS Fellow

Barry Zirkin, professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, was among six Johns Hopkins faculty elected as fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Election as an AAAS fellow honors scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.

The names of the awardees will be published in the “AAAS News and Notes” section of Science on December 23. The newly elected fellows will be awarded a certificate and a rosette pin during the AAAS Fellows Forum at the 2012 AAAS annual meeting to be held on February 18 in Vancouver, British Columbia.

As part of the section on biological sciences, Zirkin was recognized for his studies of the molecular regulation of Leydig cell aging, and the hormonal regulation of spermatogenesis. With regard to aging, Zirkin has investigated the role of oxidative stress resulting from increased production of reactive oxygen and decreases in cellular antioxidant defenses in the reduced testosterone formation that characterizes aging Leydig cells.  In his studies of spermatogenesis, he has investigated the role of testosterone in maintaining and restoring spermatogenesis. Zirkin is the principal investigator of a NICHD-funded Specialized Cooperative Center in Reproduction and Infertility Research at Johns Hopkins University. He also is a recipient of a prestigious Merit Award from the National Institutes on Aging, and has garnered several awards for his teaching and research accomplishments in the past.

Zirkin earned his bachelor of arts in biology from the State University of New York, Binghamton, in 1963 and his PhD in cell biology from the University of Rochester in 1969. He was a post-doctoral fellow in cell biology at the University of California, Davis, from 1969 to 1971.

In addition to Zirkin, Johns Hopkins faculty Kit Hansell Bowen and Sarah Woodson of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences; Andrew Feinberg and Min Li of the School of Medicine; and Paula Pitha-Rowe of the Kimmel Cancer Center are also selected as AAAS fellows.

Johns Hopkins news release