With her appointment to the Argentinian Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences, Marcela Carena joins the ranks of notable inductees, such as Nobel laureates Bernardo Alberto Houssay, Luis Federico Leloir, César Milstein and former Fermilab Director Leon Lederman. Photo: Marcela Carena
Marcela Carena, distinguished scientist and head of the Theory Division at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, has been appointed a member of the National Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences of Argentina.
Past inductees have included Nobel laureates Bernardo Alberto Houssay, Luis Federico Leloir, César Milstein and former Fermilab Director Leon Lederman.
Carena is also a professor of physics at the University of Chicago, where she is a member of both the Enrico Fermi Institute and the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics.
Her research explores the possible connections between the Higgs boson, dark matter and the origin of matter in the early universe. Her work has dived into radical new concepts, such as supersymmetry and warped extra dimensions, focusing on how these ideas can be tested in experiments. Carena works closely with physicists at the CERN Large Hadron Collider, especially those at Fermilab and the University of Chicago, to create and implement strategies for discovery. A current interest of hers: ideas at the boundary between particle physics and quantum information, with an eye on tackling problems of quantum theory and the early universe.
“Marcela is a globally renowned scientist and leader of the international particle physics community,” said Fermilab Deputy Director of Research Joe Lykken, “so it is especially appropriate for her to be recognized by academic peers in her native land.”
Carena was the 2017 chair of the Division of Particles and Fields of the American Physical Society. Since 2002, she’s been an APS fellow, where she’s also served as general councilor and board member. Since 2017, she’s been a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She has served on the U.S. DOE/NSF High Energy Physics Advisory Panel, and on several international scientific advisory panels, sometimes as chair.
Her research explores the possible connections between the Higgs boson, dark matter and the origin of matter in the early universe. Her work has dived into radical new concepts, such as supersymmetry and warped extra dimensions, focusing on how these ideas can be tested in experiments.
Earlier in her career, Carena won the Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, as well as distinctions or fellowships from the Kavli Institute, CERN and the European Commission.
“Marcela’s impactful research reaches around the world, and recognition by the Argentinian Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences is an exclamation mark on that fact,” said Fermilab Director Nigel Lockyer. “I am very pleased she has been recognized; it’s well-deserved.”
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