Institue of Medicine Names Six New Members from Penn

PHILADELPHIA – Four School of Medicine professors, a School of Nursing professor, and the Chief Executive Officer of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, have been elected as members of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), one of the nation’s highest honors in biomedicine. The new members bring Penn’s total to 68, out of over 1600 worldwide. Overall, the IOM named 65 new members this year.

“Having six of our Penn Medicine colleagues elected to this esteemed body is an extraordinarily significant honor,” said Dr. Arthur H. Rubenstein, Executive Vice President of the University of Pennsylvania for the Health System and Dean of the School of Medicine. “Indeed, Penn is privileged and proud that our most distinguished have been named to one of America’s premier institutions, which is synonymous with excellence in professional achievement and contribution.”

The new Penn IOM members are:

• Jean Bennett, M.D., Ph.D., F.M. Kirby Professor of Ophthalmology and Cell and Developmental Biology; Vice Chair for Research in Ophthalmology; Senior Investigator at the F.M. Kirby Center for Molecular Ophthalmology at Penn's Scheie Eye Institute
• Jonathan A. Epstein, M.D., William Wikoff Smith Professor of Medicine; Chair, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology; Scientific Director, Penn Cardiovascular Institute
• Gary A. Koretzky, MD, PhD, Leonard Jarett Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine; Vice Chair for Research and Chief Scientific Officer of the Department of Medicine; Director of the Signal Transduction Program and an Investigator with the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute.
• Ralph W. Muller, M.A., Chief Executive Officer of the University of Pennsylvania Health System
• Linda A. McCauley, Ph.D., F.A.A.N., F.A.A.O.H.N., R.N., Nightingale Professor in Nursing; Associate Dean for Nursing Research, School of Nursing
• J. Sanford Schwartz, M.D., Leon Hess Professor in Internal Medicine, School of Medicine; and Professor of Health Care Management in the Wharton School and Senior Fellow of the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics

Jean Bennett, MD, PhD Click on thumbnail to view full-size image

Jean Bennett, M.D., Ph.D., is the F.M. Kirby Professor of Ophthalmology and Cell and Developmental Biology; Vice Chair for Research in Ophthalmology, a Senior Investigator at the F.M. Kirby Center for Molecular Ophthalmology at Penn's Scheie Eye Institute, and a member of the Center for Cellular and Molecular Therapy at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Bennett studies the molecular genetics of inherited retinal degenerations to develop approaches for treating these diseases. Her laboratory reported the first gene therapy success in slowing the disease process in an animal model of inherited retinal degeneration in 1996. Her team’s successful preclinical studies on an inherited blinding disease, Leber congenital amaurosis, led to human clinical trials for this disease. She is a member of many scientific advisory boards (including Foundation Fighting Blindess and Hope for Vision), an NIH scientific review committee, and several journal editorial boards. Dr. Bennett has received many awards for her work, including the Alcon Research Institute Award, election to the Association of American Physicians, and the Sir William Osler Award for Patient Oriented Research.

Jonathan A. Epstein, MD Click on thumbnail to view full-size image

Jonathan A. Epstein, M.D. is the William Wikoff Smith Professor of Medicine, Chair of the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, and the Scientific Director of the Penn Cardiovascular Institute. He was a founding co-director of the Penn Institute for Regenerative Medicine. He studies the molecular mechanisms of cardiac development to apply to the understanding and therapy of adult and congenital cardiovascular disease. Dr. Epstein is known for his commitment to teaching, both in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, in medical school classes, and as a director and lecturer in graduate seminars in Genetics and Developmental Biology. He is the President Elect of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, an Established Investigator of the American Heart Association, and a recipient of the Outstanding Investigator Award from the American Federation for Clinical Research.

Gary A. Koretsky, MD, PhD

Gary A. Koretzky, MD, PhD, is the Leonard Jarett Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Vice Chair for Research and Chief Scientific Officer of the Department of Medicine, and Director of the Signal Transduction Program and an Investigator with the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute. His laboratory focuses on understanding the regulation of signaling events, which lead to hematopoietic cell development and function. Dr. Koretzky is an Associate Director of the Combined Degree (MD/PhD) Program and is on the Executive Committees of the Graduate Program in Immunology and the Graduate Program in Cellular and Molecular Biology. He serves as the Editor-in-Chief of Immunological Reviews, Associate Editor of The Journal of Clinical Investigation, is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, and is a past President of the American Society of Clinical Investigation. He is a recent recipient of the Lee C. Howley Sr. Award for Arthritis Research.   

Ralph Muller Click on thumbnail to view full-size image

Ralph Muller is Chief Executive Officer of the University of Pennsylvania Health System. Prior to joining UPHS, he was, from 1985 to 2001, the President and CEO of the University of Chicago Hospitals and Health System. In 2001-2002, he was a Visiting Fellow at the Kings Fund in London, U.K. Muller  is a Director of the National Committee for Quality Assurance and a Commissioner of The Joint Commission.  He has served as Commissioner on the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, Chairman of the Association of American Medical Colleges, Chairman of the Council of Teaching Hospitals and Health Systems, and Vice Chairman of the University Healthsystems Consortium. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Linda A. McCauley, PhD, FAAN, FAAOHN, RN Click on thumbnail to view full-size image

Linda A. McCauley, Ph.D., F.A.A.N., F.A.A.O.H.N., R.N., is the Nightingale Professor in Nursing and Associate Dean for Nursing Research in the School of Nursing. She has conducted large community-based participatory research projects targeted at reducing pesticide exposures among minority farm workers. Her research uses epidemiological methods, including survey questionnaires on exposure, biomarkers of exposure to organophosphate pesticides and assessment of neurobehavioral function. Dr. McCauley is course director of the undergraduate community health nursing course and is Program Director of the Occupational Health Option for both masters and doctoral students. She is a member of the Master's in Public Health Program faculty and an Associate Scholar in the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and the American Association of Occupational Health Nursing. Dr. McCauley currently serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and the National Biosurveillance Advisory Subcommittee to the Director of the CDC. She is a charter member of the National Institute of Health Community-Level Health Promotion study section.

J. Sanford Schwartz, MD Click on thumbnail to view full-size image

J. Sanford Schwartz, M.D., is the Leon Hess Professor in Internal Medicine in the School of Medicine; Professor of Health Care Systems, Health Management, and Economics in the Wharton School; and Senior Fellow and former Executive Director of the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics. His research focuses on assessment of medical technologies and practices (including cost-quality tradeoffs); adoption and diffusion of medical innovation; and medical decision making. His current research includes studying the diffusion and adoption of cardiovascular innovations, assessing optimal management strategies for breast cancer screening using innovative imaging modalities, disparities and risk communication in cancer care, and enhancing patient adherence. An elected member of the Association of American Physicians, American Society for Clinical Research and the American Clinical and Climatological Society, Dr. Schwartz is past president of the Society for Medical Decision Making and of the American Federation for Clinical Research. He is also a member of several public and private sector advisory committees, including the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Medical Coverage Advisory Committee and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association's Medical Advisory Panel.  

The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to honor professional achievement in the health sciences and to serve as a national resource for independent analysis and recommendations on issues related to medicine, biomedical sciences, and health.

A public directory of current IOM members is available on the Web at http://www.iom.edu/CMS/2951.aspx.

###

PENN Medicine is a $3.6 billion enterprise dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. PENN Medicine consists of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System.

Penn's School of Medicine is currently ranked #4 in the nation in U.S.News & World Report's survey of top research-oriented medical schools; and, according to most recent data from the National Institutes of Health, received over $379 million in NIH research funds in the 2006 fiscal year. Supporting 1,700 fulltime faculty and 700 students, the School of Medicine is recognized worldwide for its superior education and training of the next generation of physician-scientists and leaders of academic medicine.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS) includes its flagship hospital, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, rated one of the nation’s top ten “Honor Roll” hospitals by U.S.News & World Report; Pennsylvania Hospital, the nation's first hospital; and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. In addition UPHS includes a primary-care provider network; a faculty practice plan; home care, hospice, and nursing home; three multispecialty satellite facilities; as well as the Penn Medicine Rittenhouse campus, which offers comprehensive inpatient rehabilitation facilities and outpatient services in multiple specialties.