Gloved hand holding slide in front of microscope

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine’s Neil Greenspan named fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science

Photo of Neil Greenspan

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine Professor Neil Greenspan has been named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers for their “scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.”

Greenspan is a professor of pathology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and director of the Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics Laboratory at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center. Greenspan was selected in the fellowship category “medical sciences.”

Greenspan is among 564 awarded the fellow distinction in 2021. The honor is among the most prestigious in the world for academic researchers, with a competitive selection process involving a three-tier merit review.

A virtual induction ceremony is planned for the 2022 Annual Meeting in February.

“To my wife and family, I owe a great deal for their essential and broad-ranging support,” Greenspan said. “Of course, I am highly appreciative of the particular scientific colleagues who devoted their precious time and effort to directly supporting my nomination, and all of the faculty members, trainees and staff who have facilitated my varied activities at Case Western Reserve over the past 35 years. Finally, I thank the individuals associated with AAAS who have indicated that my efforts may have some value to the broader scientific community.”

Greenspan’s research interests include immunological recognition, antibody function, vaccine efficacy, mechanisms of immunity to bacterial and viral pathogens, the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus, and applications of principles of evolution to immunology and related biomedical fields. He is active in the field of evolutionary medicine and directs a clinical laboratory that performs testing related to organ transplants and blood and bone marrow transplants.

He was selected by AAAS for his “distinguished contributions to the understanding of antibody specificity and function and conceptual insights into aspects of immunity, microbiology, biophysics, genetics and evolutionary medicine.”

The tradition of AAAS Fellows began in 1874. Becoming an AAAS Fellow is a lifetime honor and recipients must maintain the highest level of professional and scientific integrity. The AAAS is the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science, as well as Science Translational Medicine; Science Signaling; a digital, open-access journal, Science Advances; Science Immunology; and Science Robotics.


For more information, contact Megan Hahn at megan.hahn@case.edu.

This article was originally published Jan. 26, 2022.