Caius Fellow and Professor of Developmental Neuroscience, Professor Christine Holt, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) as an International Member.

The NAS, a private non-profit organisation, is one of the oldest and most prestigious scientific membership organisations in the United States. Each year it elects renowned scientists to its membership to acknowledge their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.

Professor Holt’s ground-breaking discoveries about how nerve cells grow and develop have made significant contributions to our understanding of neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s, Huntington’s and Alzheimer’s Diseases. Her laboratory focuses on the developing visual system with a goal of understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms of axon guidance that enable axons to navigate from the eye to their distant synaptic targets in the midbrain.

Professor Holt is among 120 new members and 26 international members elected this year. The new election brings the total number of active NAS members to 2,403 and the total number of international members to 501. International members are nonvoting members of the Academy, with citizenship outside the United States. She joins the growing number of Caians who have been elected, including Nobel Laureates Michael Levitt, Michael Kosterlitz, Francis Crick, Sir Howard Florey, Sir Nevill Mott, Sir Charles Sherrington and Roger Tsien, and Joseph Needham, Stephen Hawking and Sir Alan Fersht, just to name a few.  

Commenting on her election, Professor Holt said, “I’m thrilled and deeply honoured by the news of my election. It was a wonderful surprise and a spirit-lifting moment amidst these dark Covid-19 times. I’m extremely grateful to all members of my research group over the years, and to my collaborators, who have contributed to the body of work that this election recognizes.”

For a complete list of the 2020 NAS cohort, visit the NAS website.