Overview of Member Election
Election to the National Academy of Medicine recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service.
New members are elected by current members through a process that acknowledges individuals who have made major contributions to the advancement of the medical sciences, health care, and public health. A diversity of talent among the National Academy of Medicine’s membership is assured by its Articles of Organization—which stipulate that at least 25% of the membership should be selected from fields outside the health professions such as law, engineering, social sciences, and the humanities. The newly elected members bring the National Academy of Medicine’s total membership to more than 2,400, which includes nearly 200 international members.
“I am deeply honored to welcome these extraordinary health and medicine leaders and researchers into the National Academy of Medicine,” commented Victor J. Dzau, MD, President of the National Academy of Medicine. “Their demonstrated excellence in tackling public health challenges, leading major discoveries, improving health care, advancing health policy, and addressing health equity will critically strengthen our collective ability to tackle the most pressing health challenges of our time.”
Among the newly elected members of the National Academy of Medicine are the following who are recognized for contributions to oncology:
Omar Abdel-Wahab, MD, Chair, Molecular Pharmacology Program, Department of Medicine, Sloan Kettering Institute, New York. Dr. Abdel-Wahab was selected for pioneering the discovery of genetic causes underlying diverse forms of blood cancers and for leveraging these findings to develop therapeutic approaches to transform clinical care. His laboratory has made pivotal contributions to understanding Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor resistance mechanisms and the role of RNA splicing factor mutations in leukemogenesis.
John C. Byrd, MD, FASCO, Director, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Hillman Cancer Center; and Associate Vice Chancellor for Cancer Affairs, University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Byrd was selected for his role in establishing non-oncogene addiction as an effective therapeutic strategy in cancer through the preclinical and clinical development of the BTK inhibitors ibrutinib and acalabrutinib, which transformed chronic lymphocytic leukemia from a fatal disease into one that now is associated with a natural life expectancy.
Lieping Chen, MD, PhD, FAACR, Professor of Immunobiology, Medical Oncology, and Dermatology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven. Dr. Chen was selected for his fundamental contributions to cancer immunology and immunotherapy, advancing the understanding of how cancers evade immune detection. He played a direct role in the seminal clinical studies that established PD-1 pathway–blocking antibodies as a cornerstone of cancer treatment.
Robert L. Ferris, MD, PhD, Lineberger Distinguished Professor and Executive Director, University of North Carolina (UNC) Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, North Carolina Basnight Cancer Hospital; and Chief of Oncology Clinical Services, UNC Health, Chapel Hill. Dr. Ferris was selected for his work in optimizing therapies for head and neck cancer that transformed clinical practice, leading the first positive phase III trial and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of PD-1 immunotherapy—including advancing neoadjuvant immunotherapy—and changing the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Guidelines® to allow deintensification for patients with good-prognosis human papillomavirus–positive cancers by reducing postoperative chemotherapy and radiotherapy after robotic surgery.
Wendy S. Garrett, MD, PhD, Irene Heinz Given Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; and Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston. Dr. Garrett was selected for her research on microbiome in colorectal cancer, among other conditions, which has advanced understanding of microbiome-host interactions and how microbial metabolites shape immune system function in health and disease.
Andrea Hayes-Dixon, MD, FACS, PhD(h), FAAP, Dean and Senior Vice President of Health Affairs, Howard University College of Medicine, Washington, DC. Dr. Hayes-Dixon was selected for pioneering cytoreductive therapy for rare pediatric cancers, which increased survival rates from 30% to 70%. As the first pediatric surgeon who is an African American woman in the United States and the first female dean of the Howard University College of Medicine, she continues to lead by example, inspiring and training the next generation of physicians from underrepresented backgrounds.
David G. Kirsch, MD, PhD, Peter and Shelagh Godsoe Chair in Radiation Medicine, Senior Scientist, and Director, Radiation Medicine Program, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre; Head, Department of Radiation Oncology, University Health Network; and Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto, Toronto. Dr. Kirsch was selected for developing innovative genetically engineered mouse models of sarcoma that illuminated the biologic mechanisms underlying its development, metastasis, and response to radiotherapy and immunotherapy. As an international expert in the treatment of sarcomas, he has translated discoveries from his laboratory into clinical trials that have improved patient outcomes.
Rebecca R. Richards-Kortum, PhD, MS, Malcolm Gillis University Professor, Professor of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston. Dr. Richards-Kortum was selected for her significant contributions to global health, having developed low-cost, life-saving technologies for underserved communities. Her innovations, from cervical cancer diagnostics to other medical technologies, have revolutionized health systems worldwide. She also founded educational programs that train the next generation of engineers to create impactful and affordable health technologies.
Eben L. Rosenthal, MD, Barry and Amy Baker Professor and Chair, Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville. Dr. Rosenthal was selected for having conducted numerous first-in-human clinical trials of novel imaging agents, advancing the field of surgical imaging in head and neck and other cancers.
Michel W. Sadelain, MD, PhD, FAACR, Professor and Director, Columbia Institute for Cell Engineering and Therapy, Department of Medicine, Columbia University, New York. Dr. Sadelain was selected for pioneering more than 25 years of research that helped to lay the foundation for chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell immunotherapy and its clinical application, advancing the treatment paradigms for certain blood cancers and potentially other pathologies.
Margaret “Gretchen” Schwarze, MD, MPP, FACS, Morgridge Endowed Professor of Vascular Surgery, Department of Surgery and Department of Medical History and Bioethics, University of Wisconsin, Madison. Dr. Schwarze was selected for pioneering work that has reshaped the way surgeons communicate with patients regarding major treatment decisions and informed consent for surgery. Her empirical bioethics scholarship and internationally recognized framework, the Best Case/Worst Case tool, have been applied in oncology as well as in other disciplines.
Jay Ashok Shendure, MD, PhD, Professor of Genome Sciences and Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Washington, Seattle. Dr. Shendure was selected for pioneering the second wave of genomics technologies for gene discovery, with applications in cancer and other conditions; for developing noninvasive cell-free DNA–based testing for cancer and other diagnostics; for innovations in synthetic biology; and for advancing understanding of gene regulation and embryonic development based on analysis of individual cells.
Victor E. Velculescu, MD, PhD, FAACR, Professor of Oncology, Pathology, Medicine, and Genetic Medicine, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore. Dr. Velculescu was selected for pioneering contributions to the discovery of genomic alterations in cancer and the development of noninvasive cancer detection technologies, including the first genome-wide sequence analysis in human cancer, which have enabled the identification of cancer-related genes and pathways involved in tumorigenesis and advanced individualized approaches to early detection and diagnosis.
Lihong Wang, PhD, MS, Bren Professor of Medical Engineering and Electrical Engineering, Andrew and Peggy Cherng Medical Engineering Leadership Chair, and Executive Officer for Medical Engineering, Andrew and Peggy Cherng Department of Medical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. Dr. Wang was selected for pioneering the development, clinical translation, and commercialization of 3D photoacoustic tomography. This technology for high-resolution multiscale imaging advanced the study, diagnosis, and intraoperative detection of cancer, as well as other human conditions, thereby significantly impacting biomedical research and clinical practice.
Anthony J. Wynshaw-Boris, MD, PhD, James H. Jewell MD ’34 Professor of Genetics, Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, and Professor, Departments of Neurosciences, Pediatrics, and Pathology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland. Dr. Wynshaw-Boris was selected for characterizing the mechanisms of genes responsible for ataxia-telangiectasia, lissencephalies, and autism, resulting in significant insights into the pathophysiology of cancer and neurodevelopmental diseases. Having leveraged animal models and induced pluripotent stem cells, he also identified targets for potential mechanistic-based therapies.
Jie He, MD, PhD, Director, National Cancer Center of China; President, Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College; and Academician, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing. Dr. He was selected for his contributions to cancer research, public health, and clinical care, which have dramatically improved outcomes for one-quarter of the world’s population and established new standards in global oncology. Under his leadership, China’s 5-year cancer survival rate rose from 30.9% in the early 2000s to 43.7% in 2021, marking unprecedented progress in cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment during the most populous period in human history.
Charles Swanton, MBPhD, FRCP, FMedSci, FAACR, FRS, Professor, Francis Crick Institute and University College London Cancer Institute. Dr. Swanton was selected for demonstrating how evolutionary biology can be applied to cancer genomics, showing that cancer branched evolution is ubiquitous. He was also recognized for defining how evolutionary biology is shaped by genome instability, therapy, and immunity, and how these findings can advance our knowledge of cancer and its treatment.
Background
Established originally as the Institute of Medicine in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine addresses critical issues in health, science, medicine, and related policy. The Academy works to inspire positive actions across sectors and collaborates with the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering to provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation as well as conduct other activities to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine also encourage education and research, recognize outstanding contributions to knowledge, and increase public understanding of STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine). With their election, members of the National Academy of Medicine make a commitment to volunteer their service in National Academies activities.
For additional information, visit nam.edu.
