Posted on March 26, 2026 in ASRC News, Environmental Sciences Initiative, Structural Biology Initiative
This spring, two of the ASRC’s founding initiative directors are being honored for work that is shaping STEM fields from medicine to environmental science.
CUNY ASRC Structural Biology Initiative Founding Director Kevin H. Gardner and Environmental Sciences Initiative Founding Director Charles Vörösmarty have been named 2025 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), one of the most prestigious lifetime honors in science.
With this latest recognition, three ASRC initiative directors have now been elected AAAS Fellows, including Andrea Alù, who leads Photonics and received the honor in 2019—highlighting the center’s sustained impact across multiple areas of research.
The distinction celebrates not just years of research, but the real-world impacts of that work, from advancing cancer treatments to rethinking how the world manages its water.
Science that touches everyday life
Gardner has spent his career uncovering how proteins (which function as tiny molecular machines) work to inform cells about changes in the world around them. That knowledge has helped pave the way for new, more precise drugs, including research that was essential to the development of a first-in-class targeted cancer therapy. Similar work has led to new photosensitive protein switches that let scientists control the activity of molecules and cells by shining specific types of light on them.
Gardner’s work doesn’t stop at medicine and biotechnology. He also has helped expand powerful imaging techniques that let scientists study complex biological systems in greater detail, and he has played a key role in building the CUNY ASRC’s Structural Biology Initiative into a hub for cutting-edge research and training.
“Our interdisciplinary science always relies on many people working together as a team to solve complex problems. While I’m honored to receive this recognition from AAAS, I really do so on behalf of the great students, postdocs, staff and collaborators I’ve had the privilege of working with throughout my career,” Gardner said.
A global view of water
A couple of floors up, Vörösmarty has been tackling challenges on a much larger scale—tracking how water moves across the planet and how human activity is reshaping that system.
His research has helped scientists and policymakers better understand threats to rivers, ecosystems, and global water supplies, from dam construction to climate change. Over decades, he has brought together experts from different fields to explore how engineering, environmental protection, and policy can work together.
“My interest in hydrology is rooted in the fact that water touches every part of life—from public health to food systems,” Vörösmarty said. “It’s all connected, and I have been fascinated by how that system works and how it responds to human pressures.”
A shared impact
According to CUNY ASRC Executive Director Mark Hauber, who is also a recent AAAS Fellow, the recognition reflects the broader mission and impact of the CUNY ASRC.
“Being elected to the fellowship of the AAAS represents the best company that a scientist can ask for,” Hauber said. It is a peer group of accomplished basic and applied researchers whose work has resulted in broader impacts, such as cancer treatment for Kevin and global sustainability for Charlie”
AAAS Fellows are elected each year for scientifically or socially distinguished achievements, joining a legacy that dates to 1874. Past honorees include inventors, scholars, and pioneers whose work has shaped modern life.
Gardner and Vörösmarty will be formally recognized at the AAAS Fellows Forum in Washington, D.C., in May.