Two researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have been elected as new members to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation's most prestigious honorary societies and a leading center for independent policy research.

The new honorees, who join 23 other Penn Medicine expertspreviously elected, are:

• Jean Bennett, MD, PhD, F.M. Kirby Professor of Molecular Ophthalmology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, 
• Paul A. Offit, MD, Maurice R. Hilleman Professor of Vaccinology and Professor of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania; Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases and the Director of the Vaccine Education Center at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

The Academy’s current membership includes some of the world's most accomplished leaders from mathematics, the physical and biological sciences, medicine, the social sciences, business, public affairs, the humanities, government, and the arts. Among the Academy's Fellows are more than 250 Nobel laureates and 60 Pulitzer Prize winners.

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