Academia Sinica Academician Li-Huei Tsai has been elected a member of the US Institute of Medicine (IOM), the institute announced October 17, 2011. Election to the IOM is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service. This year the institute elected a total of 65 new members and five foreign associates.

Academician Tsai is interested in elucidating the pathogenic mechanisms underlying neurological disorders affecting learning and memory. Her major research areas include neuropsychiatric disorders, Alzheimer's disease, autism and schizophrenia. Academician Tsai's research has focused on a protein kinase called Cdk5 and has led to the hypothesis that deregulation of Cdk5, through conversion of p35 to p25, plays an important role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. Using the inducible p25 mouse model developed in her lab Dr. Tsai recently found that chromatin remodeling via increased histone acetylation is beneficial for learning impairment and memory loss caused by severe neurodegeneration.

Academician Tsai is currently the Director and Picower Professor of Neuroscience at the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2009-), an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (2006 -) and the Director of the Neurobiology Program, Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, The Broad Institute (2007-). She was elected an Academician of Academia Sinica in 2008.

Academician Tsai received a Ph.D. from University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in 1990. She is a member of the Society of Neuroscience, and also a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2008). During her career she has received many awards including the Rita Allen Scholarship (1996-2001), Klingenstein Fellowship in the Neurosciences (1997-2000), Young Investigator Award, Metropolitan Life Foundation (2001), Outstanding Contributor Award, Alzheimer Research Forum (2004), Alzheimer's Research Consortium (2003-2006), NIH Cantoni Lecture Award (2009), Glenn Award for Research in Biological Mechanisms of Aging (2010).

The IOM is not-for-profit organization with honorific membership. It was established in 1970 as the health branch of the US National Academy of Sciences, a member of the National Academies. IOM has become recognized as a national resource for independent, scientifically informed analysis and recommendations on health issues. The newly elected members raise IOM’s total active membership to 1,688 and the number of foreign associates to 102. An additional 80 members hold emeritus status, meaning IOM's total membership is 1,870.

With their election, members of the IOM make a commitment to volunteer their service on IOM committees, boards, and other activities. Projects during the past year include studies on calculating people's vitamin D and calcium needs; improving the process for clearing medical devices for the shopping market; preventing obesity among infants and toddlers; improving American's access to oral health care; preparing for the future of HIV/AIDS in Africa; ensuring the health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people; and enhancing nurses' role in improving health care.

Related Website: http://www.iom.edu/Global/News%20Announcements/2011-New-Members.aspx