Bhanu Jena, Ph.D., the George E. Palade University Professor and Distinguished Professor of the Wayne State University School of Medicine, has been notified of his election as a member of the prestigious Academy of Science of the European Union.
In the notification, the president of the academy wrote:
"The election was done through the President's Council consisting of the following Board of Governors:
Board of Governors in the Division of Engineering and Physics: Professor E.G. Ladopoulos (2000 Outstanding Scientists 20th-21st centuries), Professor G. Mourou (Nobel Physics 2018) and Professor G. Smoot (Nobel Physics 2006).
Board of Governors in the Division of Chemistry: Professor R. Ernst (Nobel Chemistry 1991) and Professor F. Stoddart (Nobel Chemistry 2016).
Board of Governors in the Division of Medicine: Professor C. Greider (Nobel Medicine 2009), Professor R. Schekman (Nobel Medicine 2013) and Professor S. Yamanaka (Nobel Medicine 2012).
Board of Governors in the Division of Social Sciences, Law & Economics: Professor P. Krugman (Nobel Economics 2008), Professor J. Stiglitz (Nobel Economics 2001) and Professor C. Pissarides (Nobel Economics 2010)."
Dr. Jena, professor of Physiology, of Physics and Astronomy, and of Chemical Engineering and Material Sciences, is a pioneer in modern cell biology who has made seminal and landmark scientific contributions. He is known for his discovery of a new cellular structure called the porosome, the universal secretory machinery in cells, and the elucidation of its structure, chemistry, function and reconstitution into live cells. The porosome, discovered by Dr. Jena nearly 22 years ago when he was a professor at Yale University School of Medicine, is textbook material, and is included in the Boron and Boulpaep Medical Physiology textbook used at the School of Medicine.
Cell secretion is a fundamental life process involved in a wide range of physiological processes, such as neurotransmission and the release of hormones and digestive enzymes. Defects in cell secretion result in numerous debilitating diseases, including growth defects, diabetes, neurological, immune and digestive disorders to name a few.
In recent years, Dr. Jena's laboratory has developed Differential Expansion Microscopy, and new and novel approaches to understand the energetics of single biological molecules as they interact with other molecules, including ions, capable of revealing the structure-function of proteins at the single molecular level and its use in detection of pathogens, disease and therapy.