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Charles S. Abrams, MD, a professor of medicine, pathology, and laboratory medicine; vice chair for research and chief scientific officer of the Department of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania; and director of the Blood Center for Patient Care and Discovery at the University of Pennsylvania and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, will become president of the American Society of Hematology on December 8. Serving a 1-year term, he will succeed David A. Williams, MD.

A graduate of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD, and Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, CT, Abrams's research interests include platelet activation, platelet disorders, and production of megakaryocytes. In particular, his lab focuses on phospholipid signaling in platelets and its contribution to inappropriate platelet activation.

Nobel laureate Venkatraman “Venki” Ramakrishnan, PhD, became president of the Royal Society, the United Kingdom's preeminent scientific institution, on December 1. He replaces geneticist Paul Nurse, PhD, who held the position for the past 5 years. Nurse will continue his role as director and chief executive of the London, UK–based Francis Crick Institute, a biomedical research center.

Most recently, Ramakrishnan served as deputy director of the Medical Research Council Laboratory for Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK. He was awarded a share of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2009 for his work on the structure and function of ribosomes.

The Royal Society was founded in 1660. As the organization's president, Ramakrishnan will wield influence over and be able to speak out on science policy, as well as the government's research budget, which has flagged significantly in purchasing power since 2010.

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