By GREGORY ZELLER //
Add another honorable distinction to Betty Diamond’s all-world trophy case – this time, from a scientific academy that traces its roots all the way to Abraham Lincoln.
Diamond, director of the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research’s Institute of Molecular Medicine, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, one of 120 new domestic members and 30 new international members (each affiliated with a U.S. research program) announced May 3.
She’s not the only Long Island scientist included in the academy’s Class of 2022: Stony Brook University Distinguished Professor of Mathematics Mikhail Lyubich also made this year’s cut.
Like Diamond, Lyubich – director of SBU’s Institute for Mathematical Sciences – is a leader in his field. Among other achievements, the renowned mathematician has earned a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Canadian Mathematical Society’s Jeffery-Williams Prize; he’s also a fellow of the American Mathematical Society and an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
But few scientists have gained the international acclaim that’s been earned by Diamond, a Harvard-educated pioneer of molecular medicine and original research. A relentless investigator of the dreaded immune-system disease lupus, Diamond has led several influential studies and medical programs – and collected numerous awards – throughout her stellar career.
The former head of the rheumatology divisions at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Diamond currently runs the Feinstein Institutes’ Center for Autoimmune, Musculoskeletal and Hematopoietic Diseases and directs the PhD and MD/PhD programs of the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell.
Mikhail Lyubich: Multiplying honors.
A former president of the American Association of Immunologists, she’s also served on the American College of Rheumatology Board of Directors and the Scientific Council of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. The veteran researcher is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member in good standing of the National Academy of Medicine.
Now add membership in the National Academy of Sciences – a nonprofit institution chartered in 1863 by President Lincoln to recognize top scientific achievement – to her impressive curriculum vitae.
Diamond called election to the academy – which as of 2022 boasts 2,512 active domestic members and 517 international members – “an honor,” one she shares with many research associates over the years.
“It is a time to acknowledge the many trainees and collaborators whose work led to this honor,” the scientist said. “Together, we will continue to produce knowledge to cure disease.”
Feinstein Institutes President and CEO Kevin Tracey, also something of a research specialist, said Diamond’s National Academy of Sciences election “recognizes the importance of her contributions to immunology and molecular medicine.”
“It reflects the caliber of outstanding science at the Feinstein Institutes,” Tracey added. “And the importance of advancing the academy’s mission to advise the nation on matters related to science and technology.”
