Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator H. Robert Horvitz has been elected as a foreign member of the Fellowship of the Royal Society, the national academy of science of the United Kingdom, in recognition of his exceptional contributions to science.

Fellows are elected for contributions to fundamental research as well as for leading scientific and technological progress in industry and research establishments. The 44 fellows elected today are “at the cutting edge of science worldwide,” said Martin Rees, president of the Royal Society. “Their achievements represent the vast contribution science makes to society."

Horvitz, a biologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is recognized for his work in the fields of developmental biology, genetics, and cell death.