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In This Issue:
BWH’s Antonio Chiocca, MD, PhD, and Paula Johnson, MD, MPH, are among the 70 newly elected members of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) this year. They join 29 former and current BWH faculty already part of the IOM.
Established in 1970, the IOM is the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences, asking and answering the nation’s most pressing questions about health and health care, and helping those in the government and the private sector make informed health decisions by providing evidence upon which they can rely. Each year, more than 2,000 individuals, members and nonmembers volunteer their time, knowledge and expertise to advance the nation’s health through the work of the IOM.
Joining the organization is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health, research and medicine. Election is decided by active members of the IOM and is based upon major contributions to the medical sciences, health care and public health.
Chiocca, a neurosurgeon, is chair of BWH’s Department of Neurosurgery, co-director for the Institute of the Neurosciences and the Harvey W. Cushing Professor of Neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School. He has had continuous NIH peer-reviewed funding for more than 20 years, with his research focusing on the biology of malignant gliomas, one of the deadliest cancers in humans, and exploring the use of biological agents as novel glioma therapeutics. Chiocca holds several patents on gene transfer techniques and has authored or co-authored more than 250 peer-reviewed publications.
Johnson, a cardiologist, is the executive director of the Connors Center for Women’s Health & Gender Biology, chief of the Division of Women’s Health, professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and professor of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health. The Connors Center’s interdisciplinary approach to women’s health advances the discovery, dissemination and integration of knowledge on women’s health and sex- and gender-based differences; applies this knowledge to care delivery; and trains the next generation of women’s health researchers and clinicians. In March, Johnson co-hosted the first-ever National Summit on Women’s Health and co-authored the report Sex-Specific Medical Research: Why Women’s Health Can’t Wait.
“I want to extend my personal thanks to Drs. Chiocca and Johnson for all they do to transform care for patients at the Brigham, across the country and around the world,” said BWH President Betsy Nabel, MD.