Tufts School of Medicine Dean Elected Fellow of American Academy of Microbiology
Helen W. Boucher, MD, FACP, FIDSA, (Hon) FRCPI, dean of Tufts University School of Medicine and chief academic officer of Tufts Medicine, has been elected a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology.
The academy’s fellows represent the honorific leadership group and scientific think tank of the American Society for Microbiology, one of the world’s largest life science societies. The academy recognizes scientists whose work has advanced microbiology and public health, selecting fellows through a rigorous, peer-reviewed process that rewards excellence, originality, and lasting impact in the field of microbial science.
This recognition reflects Dr. Boucher’s decades-long contributions to microbiology and public health. A longtime School of Medicine faculty member and former chief of the Division of Geographic Medicine and Infectious Diseases at Tufts Medical Center, she has earned a national reputation for her work in infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance. Her research focuses on drug-resistant infections and improving care for immuno-compromised patients. And as a previous director of the Stuart B. Levy Center for Integrated Management of Antimicrobial Resistance (Levy CIMAR), she helped advance collaborative research, education, and clinical innovation to confront resistant pathogens.
Outside Tufts, she has served on the Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria and on the editorial boards of leading infectious diseases journals. Her election to the academy places Dr. Boucher among a distinguished global community of scientists who are advancing the field of microbiology and addressing important infectious disease challenges.
“Dean Helen Boucher’s election as a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology is a well-deserved honor, recognizing her extraordinary scholarship, leadership, and service to the microbial sciences,” said Bernard Arulanandam, vice provost for research at Tufts University. “Her pioneering research on infections in immunocompromised patients and antibiotic-resistant pathogens has significantly advanced scientific discovery, informed clinical practice, and strengthened global collaboration in infectious diseases. Tufts University is immensely proud of her achievements and the far-reaching impact of her work.”
Over the last 50 years, more than 2,700 distinguished scientists have been elected to the American Academy of Microbiology, representing all subspecialties of the microbial sciences. This year, the academy received 145 nominations for fellowships from across the globe. The 63 newly elected fellows hail from 14 countries, including Australia, Belgium, Canada, China (Mainland), Czech Republic, Denmark, Israel, Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States.