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Stanley L. Lemon, MD

Stanley M. Lemon, MD, a member of the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases and professor of medicine in infectious diseases and microbiology and immunology, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences. Membership is a widely accepted mark of excellence in science and is considered one of the highest honors that a scientist can receive.

Lemon came to UNC’s Department of Medicine in 1972 as an intern, and after finishing his residency in internal medicine completed a fellowship in the Division of Infectious Diseases. From 1983-1990, he served as Chief of Infectious Diseases and from 1990-1997 was Associate Chair for Research while launching his research focused on the molecular biology of hepatitis viruses, and how these viruses have evolved to replicate efficiently in the liver and escape host defenses. In 1997, he left UNC to chair the Department of Microbiology & Immunology at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, later serving as Dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch. He returned to UNC in 2010. 

Much of Dr. Lemon’s research career has focused on elucidating the molecular virology and pathobiology of positive-strand RNA viruses that infect the liver in humans: hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis A virus (HAV). His team discovered that HAV both escapes from cells and evades neutralizing antibodies by cloaking itself in host membranes hijacked via interactions of the virus with ESCRT-associated proteins, a novel immune escape mechanism. More recently, his lab discovered how cellular protein and enzymes interact to allow hepatitis A virus to replicate, resulting in identification of an antiviral drug capable of reversing infectious hepatitis in an animal model.

Members are elected to the National Academy of Sciences in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Membership is a widely accepted mark of excellence in science and is considered one of the highest honors that a scientist can receive. Current NAS membership totals approximately 2,400 members and 500 international members, of which approximately 190 have received Nobel prizes.