Kenneth Ira Berns (June 14, 1938 – January 26, 2024) was an American virologist who was a distinguished professor emeritus at the department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at the

University of Florida College of Medicine The University of Florida College of Medicine is the medical school of the University of Florida. It is part of the J. Hillis Miller Health Science Center, with facilities in Gainesville and Jacksonville, Florida. The school grants Doctor ...

. He is primarily known for his work on

adeno-associated virus Adeno-associated viruses (AAV) are small viruses that infect humans and some other primate species. They belong to the genus '' Dependoparvovirus'', which in turn belongs to the family ''Parvoviridae''. They are small (approximately 26 nm in ...

es (AAV), and his group was one of the first which showed the specificity of the integration of the AAV genomes into the cellular genome. He was a member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

from 1995-2024. He was the president of the

American Society for Virology The American Society for Virology (ASV) is an American scientific society serving the community of researchers in virology. The organization was founded in 1981 and was the first scientific society in the world dedicated exclusively to virology. Fo ...

(ASV) for the academic year 1988–1989 and the president of the

American Society for Microbiology The American Society for Microbiology (ASM), originally the Society of American Bacteriologists, is a professional organization for scientists who study viruses, bacteria, fungi, algae, and protozoa as well as other aspects of microbiology. It wa ...

(ASM) for the academic year 1996–1997. He was elected in 2000 a fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

. Berns died on January 26, 2024, at the age of 85.

References

American virologists Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences University of Florida faculty Fellows of the American Academy of Microbiology Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science 1938 births 2024 deaths Members of the National Academy of Medicine {{US-scientist-stub