Drs. Giulio Taglialatela and Balaji Krishna (Department of Neurology, Mitchell Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases and Neuroscience Graduate Program) are the joint recipients of the 2021 Alzheimer Award for the most influential paper published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease: Functional Integrity of Synapses in the Central Nervous System of Cognitively Intact Individuals with High Alzheimer's Disease Neuropathology Is Associated with Absence of Synaptic Tau Oligomers J Alzheimers Dis, 78, 1661-1678. The paper is openly available to everyone. Congratulations to Drs. Taglialatela and Krishna on the recognition of their outstanding research! Journal announcement: https://www.j-alz.com/content/2021-alzheimer-award-goes-giulio-taglialatela-and-balaji-krishnan

Congratulations to Dr. Mariano Garcia-Blanco, Professor and Chair of the BMB department. Dr. Garcia-Blanco was recently elected as a new member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. The American Academy of Arts & Sciences, founded in 1780, is both an honorary society that recognizes and celebrates the excellence of its members and an independent research center convening leaders from across disciplines, professions, and perspectives to address significant challenges (from news release at https://www.amacad.org/news/2022-member-announcement).

APTR has appointed Cara Pennel, DrPH, MPH to the Board of Governors of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (AJPM). Dr. Pennel is Graduate Program Director for Public Health and Associate Professor of Preventive Medicine & Population Health at University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB). Dr. Pennel will serve a three-year term. AJPM is the official journal of the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research. It publishes articles in the areas of prevention research, teaching, practice and policy.

Kudos to Rebeca Wong, PhD, Associate Director of the Sealy Center on Aging, on her invitation to serve on the newly formed NIH Council of Councils Working Group on Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Integration. The panel of behavioral scientists and other community experts is tasked with providing recommendations on how to better integrate and realize the benefits to overall health from behavioral research at NIH.

Congratulations to Dr. Tracy Toliver-Kinsky, director of the BBSC and professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, on her election into The University of Texas Kenneth I. Shine, M.D., Academy of Health Science Education (Shine Academy). The Shine Academy supports and promotes excellence in all aspects of health science education, educational scholarship and leadership. Congratulations Dr. Toliver-Kinsky!