Dr. Angelique Corthals, associate professor in the Department of Sciences, was awarded the Belgian Order of the Crown at the rank of Knight (Chevalier) in recognition of her service to science and public health.

The Order of the Crown is one of Belgium's highest honors and is awarded for meritorious service to the Belgian state. Corthals received the award from the Belgian prime minister and consul general of New York at a reception at the Consulate on September 24th. Dr. Jennifer Rosati, chair of the Department of Sciences, also attended the reception.

Corthals is a biological/biomedical and forensic anthropologist and biomedical researcher who studies the link between neurodegeneration, pathogens and metabolism as well as the histomorphology of trauma. As a diagnostic consultant for Doctor Without Borders, she is also a fierce advocate for access to medical care, therapeutics, prophylactics (vaccines) and medical technology for all.

Corthals’ recent scholarship includes “The Evolution of Antimicrobial Peptides in Chiroptera” in Frontiers in Immunology (2023), “Inhibition of Carnitine Palmitoyl-Transferase 1 Is a Potential Target in a Mouse Model of Parkinson’s Disease” in Nature (2023), “Large-Scale Genome Sampling Reveals Unique Immunity and Metabolic Adaptations in Bats in Molecular Ecology (2021) and “Pharmacological Inhibition of Carnitine Palmitoyl Transferase 1 Inhibits and Reverses Experimental Autoimmune Encephalitis in Rodents” in PLoS One.

Previous to joining John Jay, Corthals was scientific director of the BioBank at SUNY Stony Brook University School of Medicine and held faculty and curatorial positions at the University of Manchester and the American Museum of Natural History. She earned her DPhil (PhD) and MPhil (MA) from the University of Oxford.