IRVINE : Professor Named to Science Society
UC Irvine professor Michael W. Berns, director of the Beckman Laser Institute, has been elected to the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences.
“Dr. Berns is one of the most creative world leaders in basic and clinical laser research as it relates to medical diseases,” said William E. Bunney, distinguished professor of psychiatry at the UCI College of Medicine. “This is certainly a significant honor.”
The international scientific society inducts only a few non-Norwegian natural scientists a year as members.
“It’s a great honor that’s well deserved,” added James L. McGaugh, director of the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory at UCI. “It’s a clear recognition of his international standing in applying laser technology to medical research.”
Berns received the honor in recognition of his contributions to the use of lasers to medicine and biology, including surgical uses and manipulations of single cells.
He is known internationally, McGaugh said, for pioneering work in using lasers to make precise alterations to individual chromosomes. That work helped create the UCI laser institute to develop medical treatments with lasers, McGaugh said.
Berns co-founded and has directed the Beckman Laser Institute since it opened in 1986. The institute combines laser research with outpatient care, especially with treating skin disorders.
He has worked to expand the laser institute’s services and programs, including giving local veterinarians access to advanced laser equipment to treat animals.
Being elected to the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences is an honor, Berns said Monday. He was nominated by Prof. Lars. O. Svaasand of the University of Trondheim in Norway after collaborating on several research projects, he said.
In a letter Svaasand sent to Berns, Svaasand wrote that the society’s members elected him with “an overwhelming majority of the votes.”
The society elects new members only to replace positions vacated by death, so very few scientists become members of the prestigious organization. American chemist Linus Pauling is one of about 90 of the society’s foreign members.
