The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) announced the election of 90 regular members and 10 international members during its annual meeting.
Background
Established originally as the Institute of Medicine in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences, NAM 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. With their election, NAM members make a commitment to volunteer their service in National Academies activities.
Overview of NAM Member Election
Election to NAM is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and 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 NAM’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 NAM’s total membership to more than 2,400, which includes nearly 200 international members.
Among the newly elected regular members of NAM were:
- Carlos L. Arteaga, MD, Professor and Associate Dean of Oncology Programs and Director of the Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Dr. Artega was selected for discovering the role of TGF-beta in breast cancer progression and of HER2 and PI3K mutations and FGFR1 amplification in drug resistance in breast cancer, laying the foundation for innovative neoadjuvant trials and the approval of PI3K inhibitors. He was the first Hispanic American President of the American Association for Cancer Research.
- Nina Bhardwaj, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology and Urology, Director of Immunotherapy, the Waldman Chair in Cancer Research, and Medical Director of the Vaccine and Cell Therapy Laboratory at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr. Bhardwaj was selected for pioneering the discovery and function of human dendritic cell subsets, identifying cross-presenting pathways of antigen presentation impacting cancer and viral immunity, and establishing their potent adjuvant activity in humans—pivotal discoveries that underlie the first approval of a cell-based vaccine in cancer.
- Bob S. Carter, MD, PhD, the William and Elizabeth Sweet Professor of Neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Carter was selected for contributions to neurosurgery, neuro-oncology, central nervous system gene/cell-based therapies—including the creation of chimeric antigen receptor T cells against human glioblastoma, the discovery of extracellular vesicles in human glioblastoma, and the “first in-man” use of induced pluripotent stem cell derived dopaminergic neurons for Parkinson’s disease.
- Stephen Jacob Chanock, MD, Director of the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics at the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Chanock was selected for being an international leader in cancer genetics, identifying susceptibility alleles in more than a dozen cancer types. He has awards for first describing clonal mosaicism and its relationship to cancer and aging. He has created and fostered international consortia on BRCA genetics and the COVID-19 virus.
- George Coukos, MD, PhD, Director of the Department of Oncology at the Lausanne University Hospital and Director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Lausanne Branch in Switzerland. Dr. Coukos was selected for discovering the correlation between T-cell infiltration and favorable prognosis in ovarian cancer, an observation later generalized to all human tumors. He also uncovered that tumor vasculature is a barrier to immunotherapy, leading to treatments with angiogenesis inhibitors and immune checkpoint blockade showing significant benefit in many tumors.
- Lisa M. Coussens, PhD, FAACR, FAIO, Professor and Chair of the Department of Cell, Developmental, and Cancer Biology as well as Deputy Director for Basic and Translational Research at the Knight Cancer Institute at the Oregon Health & Science University. Dr. Coussens was selected for paradigm-shifting mechanistic studies on inflammation and cancer that identified B-cell and myeloid cell significance in fostering solid tumor progression and hindering therapeutic responses. She subsequently conducted proof-of-concept clinical studies, successfully demonstrating that targeting B-cell– or myeloid-based molecular pathways yields systemic and tumor immune reprogramming that fosters antitumor immunity.
- Silvia C. Formenti, MD, FAACR, FACR, FASTRO, Professor of Radiation Oncology and Medicine and Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Weill Cornell Medicine as well as Radiation Oncologist-in-Chief at NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital. Dr. Formenti was selected for introducing a paradigm shift in the understanding of focal radiotherapy by demonstrating it can convert a tumor into an in situ, individualized vaccine, conferring systemic immunity. Her work has opened a new field in radiation biology.
- Joseph Heitman, MD, PhD, the James B. Duke Professor and Chair in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at the Duke University School of Medicine. Dr. Heitman was selected for pioneering yeast chemical genetics approaches to discover FKBP12 and TOR as targets of the immunosuppressive chemotherapeutic drug rapamycin (widely used in transplantation, cardiology, and oncology). He discovered unisexual reproduction and roles in evolution and pathogenesis of eukaryotic microbes illuminating the impact on diversity, outbreaks, and drug resistance.
- Nola M. Hylton, PhD, Professor of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Hylton was selected for the earliest development of breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology, the modern quantitative MRI techniques for breast cancer diagnosis and therapy guidance through development of MRI industrywide NIST-supported standards; leadership of multiple national network multicenter NCI trials; and development of globally commercialized (Hologic) software, improving the health of millions of women globally.
- Reshma Jagsi, MD, DPhil, the Lawrence W. Davis Professor and Chair in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. Jagsi was selected for pioneering empirical research that has identified targetable drivers of disparities in cancer outcomes and within the medical profession, particularly for women. Her work to develop and evaluate innovative interventions to promote equity has established new areas of investigation in oncology and prompted policy changes by institutions, funders, and professional societies.
- Peter Anthony Jones, PhD, DSc (hon), Professor in the Department of Epigenetics, President of the Graduate School, Chief Scientific Officer, and Co-Leader of the Stand Up To Cancer Epigenetics Dream Team at the Van Andel Institute. Dr. Jones was selected for mechanistically linking DNA methylation gene expression and differentiation. His seminal discovery that five azanucleosides could change immortalized embryonic cells into muscle cells opened the field of epigenetics, was an early example of cellular reprogramming, and led to U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of DNA methyltransferase inhibitors for the treatment of hematologic malignancies.
- Funda Meric-Bernstam, MD, Professor and Chair in the Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Meric-Bernstam was selected for leading practice-changing clinical oncology trials in HER2-targeted therapy, bringing novel biomarker-driven combination therapies from bench to bedside. She is currently leading large-scale national efforts in precision oncology such as NCI ComboMATCH and investigator-initiated antibody-drug conjugate–MATCH—and leads one of the most influential developmental therapeutics programs in the world.
- Deborah Schrag, MD, MPH, Chair in the Department of Medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. Schrag was selected for pioneering efforts to develop, validate, and disseminate methods for ascertaining patient-reported outcomes that have advanced the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of cancer research; for bridging the efficacy-effectiveness gap by developing strategies to improve equitable delivery of cancer care; and for leading practice-changing studies in colorectal cancer.
- Mitchell J. Weiss, MD, PhD, Chair in the Department of Hematology and the Arthur Nienhuis Endowed Chair in Hematology at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Dr. Weiss was selected for being a key leader in characterizing blood-cell development and the pathogenesis of red cell diseases, which has defined roles for noncoding RNAs in hematopoiesis and identified alpha-hemoglobin–stabilizing proteins. He applied embryonic stem and induced pluripotent stem cell technologies to study erythropoiesis and develop new approaches to therapy.
Conclusions
“This class of new members represents the most exceptional researchers and leaders in health and medicine, who have made significant breakthroughs, led the response to major public health challenges, and advanced health equity,” emphasized Victor J. Dzau, MD, President of the National Academy of Medicine. “Their expertise will be necessary to supporting NAM’s work to address the pressing health and scientific challenges we face today. It is my privilege to welcome these esteemed individuals to [NAM],” he concluded. For additional information, visit nam.edu.
