Tom Curran, Ph.D., FRS, elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Tom Curran, Ph.D., FRS, an expert in childhood brain cancer at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, has been elected to the 2012 class of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The Academy is one of the nation's most prestigious honorary societies and is a leading center for independent policy research.

Dr. Curran joins a select group of scholars, scientists, writers, artists, civic, corporate and philanthropic leaders that includes winners of the National Medal of Science, the Lasker Award, the Fields Medal, Pulitzer Prize awardees, and winners of MacArthur Fellowships, Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and Tony Awards, and Kennedy Center honors.

Dr. Curran's research concentrates on the molecular biology of the brain's growth and development, with the goal of finding new treatments for childhood brain tumors. He has been awarded grants from the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, as well as from private foundations. Dr. Curran is an elected member of the Royal Society in the United Kingdom, as well as the Institute of Medicine in the U.S.

He currently is the deputy scientific director of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute and is a professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and professor of Cell and Developmental Biology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a former president of the American Association of Cancer Research.

Born in Scotland, Dr. Curran received his Ph.D. from University College London. He was the founding chairman of the Department of Developmental Biology at St. Jude's Research Hospital before joining The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in 2006.

Founded in 1780 by John Adams, John Hancock, and other scholar-patriots, the Academy elects leading "thinkers and doers" from each generation. Past members have included George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Daniel Webster, and Albert Einstein.

The Academy announced its newest members on April 17. They will be honored in an induction ceremony on Oct. 6, at the Academy's headquarters in Cambridge, Mass. Among the 220 members of the 2012 Academy class are cancer researcher Brian Druker, astronomer Debra Ann Fischer, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, musician Paul McCartney, playwright Neil Simon, musician and conductor Andre Previn, and actor-filmmakers Clint Eastwood and Mel Brooks.

Provided by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia