Scott L. Friedman, MD, Named Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Scott L. Friedman, MD, the Irene and Dr. Arthur M. Fishberg Professor of Medicine, Liver Diseases, and Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics and Dean for Therapeutic Discovery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, has been named as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The election is an honor bestowed on AAAS members by their peers.
Dr. Friedman, a hepatologist and Chief of the Division of Liver Diseases at the Samuel Bronfman Department of Medicine at the Mount Sinai Health System, was recognized for his distinguished contributions to society’s understanding of fibrosis, the process that re-builds connective (scar) tissue as part of healing, but that interferes with the function of organs, including the liver, when it goes too far as part of disease.
“Scott’s many contributions to the study of liver disease, and his shepherding of medical innovations as our Dean for Therapeutic Discovery, make him the ideal AAAS Fellow, and we congratulate Dr. Friedman on this well-deserved honor,” said Dennis Charney, MD, the Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and President for Academic Affairs, Mount Sinai Health System.
Dr. Friedman has performed pioneering research into the underlying causes of scarring, or fibrosis, associated with chronic liver disease, which affects millions worldwide. He was the first to isolate and characterize the hepatic stellate cell, which is the key cell type responsible for scar production in liver. His work has been continuously funded by the NIH since 1985, in addition to grants from American Heart Association, the American Gastroenterological Association and research contracts with a number of companies developing new therapies for liver disease.
401 AAAS members were awarded this honor in 2014 because of their distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. New Fellows will be presented with an official certificate and rosette pin at a ceremony on February 14 at the AAAS Fellows Forum during the 2015 AAAS Annual Meeting in San Jose, Calif. This year’s AAAS Fellows were formally announced in the AAAS News & Notes section of the journal Science on November 28.
About AAAS
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world's largest general scientific society, and publisher of the journal Science. AAAS was founded in 1848, and includes some 262 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. Science has the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal in the world, with an estimated total readership of one million. The non-profit AAAS is open to all and fulfills its mission to "advance science and serve society" through initiatives in science policy; international programs; science education; and more.
# # #
About the Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with more than 43,000 employees working across eight hospitals, over 400 outpatient practices, nearly 300 labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time — discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.
Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 7,300 primary and specialty care physicians; 13 joint-venture outpatient surgery centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and more than 30 affiliated community health centers. We are consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report's Best Hospitals, receiving high "Honor Roll" status, and are highly ranked: No. 1 in Geriatrics and top 20 in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Neurology/Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Pulmonology/Lung Surgery, Rehabilitation, and Urology. New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked No. 12 in Ophthalmology. U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Children’s Hospitals” ranks Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital among the country’s best in several pediatric specialties.
For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.