Jorge Benach, PhD
October 5, 2015 – Jorge Benach, PhD, Director of Stony Brook’s Center for Infectious Diseases and Chair of the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, was inducted into the American Society of Rickettsiology (ASR) as an Honorary Lifetime Member.
Established in 1979 with an international membership of around 400 of the most world-renowned microbiological experts, the ASR serves as an intellectual organization dedicated to the exchange of relevant information among scientists who are engaged in research concerning Rickettsiae and Rickettsial diseases.
In a letter to Dr. Benach, the ASR stated the induction “honors the many contributions that you have made over your impressive career that have significantly advanced understanding of the molecular pathogenesis and immune evasion mechanisms of arthropod vector transmitted diseases.”
Dr. Benach has been a researcher and educator at Stony Brook University for over 30 years. He has made significant strides and contributions in the field of microbiology, with part of his research dedicated to understanding diseases transmitted by arthropods such as ticks. Dr. Benach is well known to the scientific community for his discovery of the organism that causes Lyme disease. He has served on the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) Advisory Council of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. For more about his research, see this webpage.
