Four Penn Faculty Members Elected to National Academy of Medicine

PHILADELPHIA — Four faculty members from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have been elected to the National Academy of Medicine(NAM), one of the nation's highest honors in biomedicine. They are among 75 new U.S. and 10 international members elected by their peers for accomplishments and contributions to the advancement of the medical sciences, health care, and public health.

The newly elected members bring NAM’s total membership to 2,202 and the number of international members to 182. With four new members, Penn Medicine’s total membership in NAM is now 71.  

NAM, established in 1970 as the Institute of Medicine, is an independent organization of professionals from diverse fields, including health and medicine, and the natural, social, and behavioral sciences. Its mission is to improve health for all by advancing science, accelerating health equity, and providing independent, authoritative, and trusted advice nationally and globally.

The new Penn NAM members are:

Susan M. Domchek, MD, is the Basser Professor in Oncology, executive director of the Basser Center for BRCA at the Abramson Cancer Center, director of the MacDonald Women's Cancer Risk Evaluation Center, and a senior fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics. She is a nationally recognized breast and ovarian cancer expert whose research interests include further understanding cancer susceptibility genes and how to target such genetic mutations for improved risk assessment, screening, prevention, and treatment. She has served on the editorial board for the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the National Cancer Institute Physician Data Query in breast cancer genetics, the Scientific Advisory Board for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, as well as on several committees for the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Domchek has received numerous awards for her research, including the William Osler Patient Oriented Research Award, the Dupont Guerry Award for Outstanding Leadership, and the Potomkin Award for Excellence in Research.

Daniel E. Polsky, PhD, is a professor of Medicine, the executive director of the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, and the Robert D. Eilers Professor of Health Care Management in the Wharton School. He is a health economist nationally recognized for advancing the fundamental understanding of the tradeoffs between quality of care and health spending and the methodology for economic evaluations within randomized clinical trials. His recent scholarship on the access implications of narrow provider networks and physician fees for Marketplace and Medicaid beneficiaries has made him a leading national authority, currently serving on the Congressional Budget Office's Panel of Health Advisors and the Pennsylvania Governor's Advisory Board on Health. He is a former Senior Economist at the President's Council of Economic Advisers. He serves on the National Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s Health and Medicine Committee, as well as its Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice. He is an associate editor at Health Economics and serves on the editorial board of several journals including Health Services Research and Medical Care Research and Review. 

Marie Celeste Simon, PhD, is the Arthur H. Rubenstein, MBBCh Professor in the department of Cell and Developmental Biology, the scientific director of Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute, and the associate director of the Abramson Cancer Center Core Facilities. Her laboratory studies cancer cell metabolism, tumor immunology, metastasis, and cellular responses to oxygen deprivation. In 2017, she received a National Cancer Institute Outstanding Investigator Award, which funds her basic biomedical research on cancer metabolism, specifically renal cancer. She was also a Howard Hughes Medical Investigator from 1994–2014 and elected to serve on the board of directors of the American Association for Cancer Research for the 2014 - 2017 term. She also serves on the Wistar Institute External Advisory Board, a group of world-renowned scientists with broad scientific expertise. Simon has received numerous awards for her research, including the Cancer Research Foundation Young Investigator Award and the Stanley Cohen Biomedical Research Award.

Rachel M. Werner, MD, PhD, is a professor of Medicine, of Health Care Management in the Wharton School, director of Health Policy and Outcomes Research in the department of Medicine, and associate chief for research in the division of General Internal Medicine. She is a practicing general internist at the Philadelphia VA and a PhD-trained health economist. Her research has examined the use of financial incentives to improve health care quality, and the unintended consequences that often accompany them. She has received numerous awards for her work, including the Dissertation Award and the Alice Hersh New Investigator Award from AcademyHealth, the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, and the American Federation of Medical Research Outstanding Investigator Award. Werner has influenced policy as a member of the National Quality Forum's Expert Panel on Risk Adjustment and Socioeconomic Status and an advisor to the federal government on quality measurement and quality improvement incentives.