AAAS Fellowship Decision Criticized

The chemist charged with felony labor code violations following a 2008 lab fire that killed a research assistant was recently named an American Association for the Advancement of Science fellow.

Written byBob Grant

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Fellowship rosettes (pictured) are presented to newly elected fellows. AAAS

Biochemist Patrick Harran of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), has been named one of the fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for 2015. Harran joins 346 other fellows from diverse disciplines and from institutions across the nation for their “contributions to innovation, education, and scientific leadership.”

But Harran’s election is being criticized due his role in a tragedy that unfolded in his lab seven years ago. On December 29, 2008, Harran’s research assistant, 23-year-old Sheharbano “Sheri” Sangji, was badly burned in a fire that engulfed her clothes and body as she handled a dangerous chemical, tert-butyllithium. Sangji, who was not wearing the proper protective lab coat as she conducted the experiment, died from her injuries 18 days later. ...

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Meet the Author

Bob Grant
From 2017 to 2022, Bob Grant was Editor in Chief of The Scientist, where he started in 2007 as a Staff Writer. Before joining the team, he worked as a reporter at Audubon and earned a master’s degree in science journalism from New York University. In his previous life, he pursued a career in science, getting a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from Montana State University and a master’s degree in marine biology from the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Bob edited Reading Frames and other sections of the magazine.
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