BME, ChBE, ECE faculty members are among the latest recognized with the 151-year-old lifetime honor for scientific excellence.
Four Georgia Tech engineers are among the new fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) announced March 27.
Wilbur Lam, Anant Madabhushi, Krista Walton, and Chaouki Abdallah have been elected for their contributions to medical science, information and computing, and engineering. AAAS fellowship is considered a distinguished lifetime honor within the scientific community. The organization has elected fellows from across science and engineering for more than 150 years.
AAAS is one of the world’s largest general scientific societies. It also publishes the Science family of scientific journals.
More about the new fellows:
Wilbur Lam
W. Paul Bowers Research Chair and Professor
Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering
Associate Dean of Innovation
Emory University School of Medicine
Vice Provost for Entrepreneurship
Emory University
Lam is an engineer, researcher, and physician whose work spans three organizations: Georgia Tech, Emory University, and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. He was elected a fellow by the medical sciences section of AAAS, which cited his efforts advancing hematologic biophysics and developing point-of-care diagnostics with global impact.
“The fact that we’re being honored for both our research in blood biophysics and point-of-care diagnostics is a testament to the AAAS’ appreciation for both fundamental and translational science,” Lam said. “As the latter can’t happen without the former, this is such an important point to communicate to the public. The AAAS is well poised to do this as a truly independent organization free of ties from governmental politics and industry.”
Lam is researcher and pediatric hematologist/oncologist at Children’s. His work broadly focuses on applying and developing micro- and nanotechnologies to study, diagnose, and treat blood disorders, cancer, and childhood diseases. Among his innovations are a smartphone app that uses photos of users’ fingernails to assess whether the level of hemoglobin in their blood is low. He also co-created a point-of-care device to help chemotherapy patients monitor their white blood cell counts.
“It’s such an honor to be elected into the AAAS, an organization I’ve looked up to since I was a student. It’s a true milestone for me personally and our laboratory.”
Anant Madabhushi
Robert W. Woodruff Professor
Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering
Director
Emory Empathetic AI for Health Institute
Madabhushi is a leader in developing artificial intelligence to improve outcomes for people with cancer and other diseases. In its fellowship citation, AAAS noted his “seminal contributions” applying AI, machine learning, and other tools to medical imaging for precision medicine.
“I am truly honored to be named an AAAS Fellow,” Madabhushi said. “This recognition underscores the transformative potential of AI and machine learning in medical imaging and digital pathology, particularly in enhancing disease diagnosis and treatment.”
His team applies their innovations to diagnosing and predicting treatment outcomes for a range of diseases, including different types of cancer, kidney and cardiovascular conditions, and ophthalmology. He holds more than 100 patents.
Madabhushi came to the Coulter Department to create Emory’s Empathetic AI for Health Institute. The interdisciplinary effort gathers technologists, humanists, and social scientists to position Emory as the leading advocate for thoughtful, ethical, and wise use of AI technologies across society.
“My passion has always been to bridge engineering and medicine,” Madabhushi said, “and I’m grateful to be part of a field that is shaping the future of healthcare through digital pathology and computational imaging.”
Krista Walton
Associate Vice President for Research Operations and Infrastructure
Robert “Bud” Moeller Faculty Fellow
School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Walton’s research on function porous materials has advanced important technologies such as carbon dioxide capture, air purification, and harvesting water from the atmosphere. AAAS cited her contributions to design, synthesis, and characterization of those materials for a range of adsorption applications.
“These technologies are essential in addressing global challenges such as climate change and water scarcity,” Walton said. “The AAAS’ mission to advance science, engineering, and innovation throughout the world resonates deeply with my own commitment to using scientific research to make a positive impact on society.”
Walton has cofounded several companies based on her research. She has served as Georgia Tech’s associate vice president for research since 2023 after four years as associate dean for research and innovation in the College. She will join North Carolina State University as vice chancellor of research and innovation this summer after 17 years at Tech.
“This recognition reflects the dedication and hard work of over 100 graduate students, postdocs, senior scientists, and undergraduate researchers whom I have had the honor to mentor and collaborate with over the past two decades,” Walton said. “I am grateful for this honor and look forward to continuing our work to develop solutions for a sustainable future.”
Chaouki Abdallah
Professor
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
AAAS cited Abdallah “for distinguished contributions in control, communications, and computing systems, and for leadership in higher education.” Now on leave to serve as president of Lebanese American University, Abdallah was Georgia Tech’s executive vice president for research from 2018 to 2024. He also had a long career at the University of New Mexico, including as provost and president.
Abdallah earned his master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering at Tech. During his career, he has used his systems and network science expertise to improve the complexity of college curricula and improve graduation rates. At Tech, he oversaw grow of the overall research enterprise to $1.37 billion dollars annually.
Abdallah also has launched startups borne from his work in the lab, including a company focused on image watermarking in the dot-com era and another developing analytics for universities.
Altogether, Georgia Tech has seven new fellows this year. They join 112 Tech faculty members and researchers honored by AAAS.
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