Professor Thomas McDade elected to the National Academy of Sciences

Professor Thomas McDade, the Carlos Montezuma Professor of Anthropology at Northwestern University, was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. McDade is also director of the Laboratory for Human Biology Research and Director of Cells to Society (C2S): The Center on Social Disparities and Health in the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern.

A biological anthropologist, McDade’s work is primarily concerned with the dynamic interrelationships among society, biology and health over the life-course, with an emphasis on long-term effects of early environments, and the integration of biological measures into population-based research. In June 2020, he launched a large community-based study called SCAN: Screening for Coronavirus Antibodies in Neighborhoods. SCAN aims to track the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and to identify the circumstances and behaviors associated with exposure and severity of infection. Last summer, a team of Northwestern scientists, including McDade, received a $200,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to generate scientific insights into the determinants of SARS-CoV-2 exposure with a minimally invasive approach to community-based serological testing.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit institution that was established under a congressional charter signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. It recognizes achievement in science by election to membership, and—with the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine—provides science, engineering, and health policy advice to the federal government and other organizations.

Related: National Academy of Sciences press release on the election of new members