University Times

Professor of pharmacology Angela M. Gronenborn is among 72 members elected May 1 to the National Academy of Sciences. Gronenborn, an expert in nuclear magnetic resonance, is the Rosalind Franklin Professor and chair of the Department of Structural Biology.

Gronenborn joins fellow Pitt professors Susan Amara and Robert Drennan, who were elected to the academy in 2004.

Gronenborn’s research focuses on understanding the structure and function of macromolecules, using NMR to study cellular processes at molecular and atomic levels. Her lab focuses on research in gene regulation and HIV pathogenesis.

Gronenborn, who earned her PhD in 1978 at the University of Cologne, came to Pitt in 2005 from the National Institutes of Health, where she served as chief of the Structural Biology Section in the Laboratory of Chemical Physics at the NIH Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

She could not immediately be reached for comment.

NAS was established by Congress in 1863 to act as an adviser to the federal government on matters of science and technology.

Members are elected by the group, which now numbers 2,025 active members, in recognition of their accomplishments in scientific research.

An analysis by The Chronicle of Higher Education found that this year’s inductees include nine women, the smallest number since 2001, in spite of efforts from the group to increase its diversity.