ITHACA, N.Y. -- Science Spectrum magazine has named the top minorities in science today, which includes two Cornell researchers: Kevin T. Kornegay, Cornell associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and director of Cornell Broadband Communications Research laboratory, and Lisa Staiano-Coico, dean of the College of Human Ecology.

The honorees, dubbed "Science Spectrum Trailblazers," represent outstanding Hispanic, Asian-American, Native American and African-American professionals, as well as women, in a science field "whose work on the job and in the community extends throughout and beyond their industry." A luncheon honoring these Science Spectrum trailblazers will be held Friday, Sept. 16, from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Baltimore Convention center in Baltimore, during the Minorities in Research Science Conference. The Minorities in Research Science Conference runs from Thursday, Sept. 15, to Saturday, Sept. 17.

Kornegay, an African-American, earned his doctorate from the University of California-Berkeley in 1992. After stints at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, N.Y., Purdue University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Kornegay joined Cornell in 1998.

A recipient of numerous awards including a national Science Foundation Career Award and the 2004 Menchel Award, Kornegay's research focuses on innovative circuit design for broadband wireless and optical communications systems. 

Cornell alumnus Lisa Staiano-Coico '81 received her Ph.D. in microbiology. After conducting postdoctoral research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (1981-83), Staiano-Coico joined the Weill Cornell Medical Colllege faculty in 1983. She is the co-author of nearly 100 peer-reviewed papers and is a professor in the fields of surgery, dermatology, cell biology, genetics and public health.