Michael Berns Elected British Royal Society of Medicine Fellow
UCI professor of cell biology follows in the footsteps of Charles Darwin, Louis Pasteur, Edward Jenner and Sigmund Freud among many other of the world’s most eminent scientists
May 24, 2021 – Among numerous prestigious scientists and physicians, Michael Berns, cofounder and founding director of UCI Beckman Laser Institute & Medical Clinic, has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine in the United Kingdom.
“I am truly honored to be invited to join the Royal Society, especially because it’s the same society that has honored so many elite luminaries of the past,” said Berns.
Fellows and Foreign Members of the Royal Society of Medicine are elected for life through a peer review process on the basis of excellence in science. The Society’s 200-year-old history has seen prominent figures in medicine and science as part of its membership and governance. Famous Fellows include Charles Darwin, Louis Pasteur, Edward Jenner and Sigmund Freud. Elected Fellows of the British Royal Society of Medicine are comparable to members of the National Academy of Medicine in the United States.
The Society is a leading provider of high quality continuing postgraduate education and learning to the medical profession. The mission of the organization is to advance health, through education and innovation.
The Royal Society of Medicine was founded in 1805 as the Medical and Chirurgical Society of London. In 1834, the Society was granted a Royal Charter by King William IV and was renamed, becoming the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society. In 1907, the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society of London merged with 15 specialist medical societies and, with a supplementary Royal Charter granted by Edward VII, the Royal Society of Medicine was born.
The organization hosts scientific symposia and training courses, as well as public information and discussion events. In addition, the Society operates one of the largest medical libraries in the world with approximately 600,000 volumes and 12,000 journals.
Berns was invited to join the Royal Society of Medicine based on his extensive biomedical optics contributions in the fields of biology and medicine. In addition to the Royal Society of Medicine, Berns is a Fellow of the British Royal Society of Biology and the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters. In the United States, Berns is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the International Society of Optics and Photonics (SPIE).
“I am grateful to UCI and the Beckman Laser Institute for all the support in encouraging my career development in biomedical optics during the last 50 years,” stated Berns.
In 1994, Berns received the UCI Medal. In 2011, he was honored with the Fariborz Maseeh Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award from the UCI Henry Samueli School of Engineering.
Learn more about Michael Berns and the British Royal Society of Medicine.
– Beckman Laser Institue & Medical Clinic
