ASEM - FL

2026 Full Member Inductees

Kathleen Amm

Director

National High Magnetic Field Laboratory

For leadership in high magnet field science, superconducting magnet technology & engineering, in industry as well as at National Laboratories.

Antoni Barrientos

Tenured Professor of Neurology and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Miller School of Medicine

University of Miami

For having uncovered a unique programmed ribosomal frameshifting mechanism that resolves long-standing questions about the translation of two overlapping open reading frames from a bicistronic transcript. These mt-mRNA folding maps now serve as a crucial reference for studying mt-mRNA.

Olveen Carrasquillo

Professor of Medicine and Public Health Sciences, Associate Dean for Clinical and Translational Research, Miller School of Medicine

University of Miami

For being a national leader in community-based research in underserved and vulnerable communities.

Kwang Chen

Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

University of South Florida

For significant innovation and commercialization of wireless communication technology that has advanced mobile Internet devices.

Jessie Chen

Senior Research Scientist (ST) for Soldier Performance in Socio-Technical Systems

U.S. Army Research Lab

For groundbreaking contributions to human-autonomy teaming and agent transparency, advancing the design of intelligent systems for defense applications, and for sustained leadership in international research collaborations shaping human-machine interaction.

Suvranu De

Google Endowed Dean and Professor, College of Engineering

Florida A&M University-Florida State University

For visionary leadership in engineering education and research, advancing high-fidelity simulation, artificial intelligence, neuroimaging, and computational modeling to transform surgical training and patient safety.

Robert Ferl

Distinguished Professor and Assistant Vice President for Research

University of Florida

For being a pioneer in understanding the responses of plants to environmental stresses incurred during spaceflight, paving the way for growing crops in space and for developing climate-resilient crops on Earth.

Michael Francis

Chief Executive Officer and Founder & Associate Professor of Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine and Medical Engineering, Morsani College of Medicine

University of South Florida

For revolutionizing regenerative orthopedics through patented biomaterials and implants, leading innovations like Tapestry‚ and ActiBraid‚ securing over $55M in funding, 25 granted US patents, and a $275M acquisition that advanced global musculoskeletal care.

Robert Guralnick

Curator of Biodiversity Informatics, Florida Museum of Natural History

University of Florida

For integrating data science and biodiversity science to yield new approaches to understanding life on Earth and for developing platforms to engage the public in science.

Jayanta Kapat

Pegasus Professor and Trustee Chair Professor, College of Engineering; Director, Center for Advanced Turbomachinery & Energy Research

University of Central Florida

For innovative research and digital twin modeling and their impact on improved costs, efficiency and emissions in advanced turbines and energy systems.

Nasser Kutkut

Chief Executive Officer and Founder & Graduate Faculty Scholar

University of Central Florida, Smart Charging Technologies, LLC

For having pioneered high-efficiency and IoT-enabled battery charging systems, cloud-based energy management, and smart telematics platforms — technologies that cut costs, reduce emissions, and modernize industrial and electric vehicle power management worldwide.

Assefa Melesse

Distinguished University Professor, Department of Earth and Environment

Florida International University

For excellence in research, international leadership and bridging science and policy for global water security.

Mark Padilla

Professor, Department of Global and Sociocultural Studies, School of International Public Affairs (SIPA)

Florida International University

For pioneering anthropological research on HIV, migration, and disaster recovery in the Caribbean and U.S. Latino communities, integrating ethnographic, visual, and policy-relevant methods to advance health equity and resilience.

Jorge Piekarewicz

Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor, Physics

Florida State University

For seminal and sustained contributions on the impact of the nuclear equation of state on the physics of neutron stars.

Harrison Prosper

Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor, Kirby W. Kember Endowed Professor of Physics

Florida State University

For the application of Neural Networks and Bayesian statistics that played a crucial role in identifying the mass of the top quark.

Carlos Rinaldi-Ramos

Professor, J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering & Department of Chemical Engineering

University of Florida

For advancing the science and engineering of magnetic nanoparticles and their biomedical applications, including imaging, targeted therapies, and innovative technologies that have expanded knowledge and improved approaches to cancer treatment.

Steven Safren

Professor and Director of Scholarship and Behavioral Sciences and the Humanities, Miller School of Medicine

University of Miami

For pioneering contributions to clinical psychology, advancing evidence-based interventions for HIV, chronic illness, and mental health, and for his dedication to research, education, and improving patient care outcomes.

Elias Sayour

Bonnie R. Freeman Professor for Pediatric Oncology Research

University of Florida

For discovering novel paradigm for cancer care leveraging universal mRNA formulations coupled with proprietary formulations under license to iOncologi, Inc (iONC101)

Norman Schmidt

Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Research Professor and Chair, Department of Psychology

Florida State University

For being one of the world’s leading authorities on the nature, treatment, and prevention of anxiety and related disorders. He has changed the field with important theoretical contributions, important basic research, and development of numerous innovative clinical interventions.

Michael Shatruk

Distinguished Research Professor, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry

Florida State University

For broad contributions to chemistry of materials and related areas, including research on interplay between chemistry and physics of metallic magnets, discovery of magneto-structural correlations in spin-state switching materials, and elaboration of chemical approaches to molecular spin qubits.

Brent Sumerlin

George Bergen Butler Professor of Chemistry

University of Florida

For transformative advances in polymer chemistry that enable clinically translated polymers, recyclable plastics, and self-healing materials to improve human health, environmental sustainability, and the design of custom smart materials.

Mustafa Tekin

Professor and Chair, Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation, Department of Human Genetics, Miller School of Medicine

University of Miami

For being a global leader in human genetics, having identified 60+ novel disease genes, advancing diagnosis and therapy for rare disorders, leading high-impact research, training future genetics leaders, and strengthening genomic medicine worldwide.

Michal Toborek

Leonard M. Miller Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Vice-Chair for Research, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Associate Dean for Basic Science, Miller School of Medicine

University of Miami

For pioneering research on cerebral vascular biology in brain infection by HIV and neurotoxicity of environmental pollutants.

Marjana Tomic-Canic

Professor, Vice Chair of Research and Director of Wound Healing and Regenerative Medicine Research Program Dr Phillip Forst Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery, Miller School of Medicine

University of Miami

For being an internationally recognized leader whose pioneering work transformed the field of wound healing and regenerative medicine by establishing the discipline of wound genomics and uncovering fundamental biological mechanisms that govern tissue repair, inflammation and host defense.

Damla Turgut

Pegasus Professor and Chair of Computer Science

University of Central Florida

For pioneering contributions to the application of value of information in wireless networks, and for outstanding leadership in advancing research and education at both the university and international professional society levels.

Vladimir Uversky

Professor, Department of Molecular Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine

University of South Florida

For discovery of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs), revealing that IDPs, lacking fixed 3D structures, are essential in cellular processes and contribute to the pathogenesis of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, transforming protein biology and disease research.

Richard Wagner

Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor of Psychology and W. Russell and Eugenia Morcom Endowed Chair

Florida State University

For contributions to science, policy, and practice on improving learning to read and on diagnosis and remediation of dyslexia.

Leor Weinberger

Sylvester Professor, Founding Chair, Department of Cell & Systems Biology, Miller School of Medicine

University of Miami

For pioneering novel antiviral strategies such as Therapeutic Interfering Particles, TIPs, and for the fundamental discovery of transcriptional dither pathways — including the discovery of stochastic latency circuits in HIV and herpesviruses.