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University of Toronto professor of molecular genetics and Donnelly Centre investigator Charles Boone has been elected an international member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences for his contributions to functional genomics.

Founded in 1780, the academy is among the oldest scholarly societies in North America and its members rank among the world’s most accomplished scientists, scholars and artists.

Boone pioneered the field of systematic genetics that has transformed our understanding of how cellular processes are coordinated. Together with Brenda Andrews, he led the effort to produce the first map of genetic interactions for any cell, which revealed how these interactions form a network to influence trait inheritance. The research has implications for predicting disease risk from an individual’s personal genome – one of the fundamental goals of precision medicine.

“I would like to offer my heartfelt congratulations to Professor Boone on this prestigious and highly deserved honour,” said Stephane Angers, director of Donnelly Centre and Charles H. Best Chair of Medical Research at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. “Professor Boone’s contributions to functional genomics are widely known in the scientific community and they have in no small part shaped the Donnelly Centre as a leading global hub for research in systems biology.”