Arup Chakraborty, Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT, has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine in recognition of his distinguished contributions to medicine and health.

According to MIT’s website, Chakraborty is a physics, chemistry and biological engineering professor and is one of the 70 new members and 10 international members announced recently at the annual meeting of the academy.

Membership in the NAM is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievements and commitment to service.

“I am honored to be elected to the National Academy of Medicine,” said Chakraborty.

In addition to being the founding director of MIT’s Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, Chakraborty is a founding steering committee member of the Ragon Institute of MIT, MGH and Harvard, as well as an associate member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.

His research is focused on bringing immunology together with both physical and engineering sciences and his concentrations include T cell signaling, T cell development and repertoire and a mechanistic understanding of HIV evolution, antibody evolution and vaccine design.

Chakraborty has been honored by the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award, the E.O. Lawrence Medal for Life Sciences from the U.S. Department of Energy, the Allan P. Colburn and Professional Progress awards from the AIChE, a Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar award and a National Young Investigator award.

He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and serves on the U.S. Defense Science Board; he has also received four teaching awards.

The National Academy of Medicine was established in 1970 as the Institute of Medicine and is an independent organization of eminent professionals from diverse fields including health and medicine; the natural, social, and behavioral sciences; and beyond.