For immediate release
October 20, 2004
Contact: Bob Beard
(434) 982-4490
DOCTORS AT U.Va. HEALTH SYSTEM ELECTED TO INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE
Two physicians at the University of Virginia Health System have been chosen as new members of the prestigious Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. Elected to the Institute were:
Dr. Cato T. Laurencin, Lillian T. Pratt Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Dr. Edward R. Laws, Jr., W. Gayle Crutchfield Professor of Neurosurgery. The honor brings to 15 the number of University of Virginia faculty who currently serve as members of the Institute.
“Election to the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine is a great distinction in the field of medicine. I am deeply honored to have been chosen,” Laurencin said. Laurencin is a world-renowned expert in shoulder and knee surgery and international leader in biomaterials and tissue engineering research. He joined U.Va. as a University professor and chairman of orthopedic surgery in 2003. Laurencin is currently Speaker of the House of Delegates of the National Medical Association and a member of the National Science Board of the Food and Drug Administration. He earned his BSE in chemical engineering from Princeton University and his MD from Harvard Medical School, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude. Simultaneously he earned a PhD in biochemical engineering/biotechnology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“Being chosen to serve on the Institute is a great honor,” said Laws. “I am looking forward to participating in the important work of the Institute of Medicine, particularly the Patient Safety initiatives.” Laws is a world-renowned neurosurgeon and a pioneer in the field of pituitary surgery, most notably a procedure called transphenoidal surgery. Laws arrived at U.Va in 1992. He is the newly installed President of the American College of Surgeons and has held many leadership positions in surgical organizations, including the American Pituitary Association, the Brain Surgery Society, the International Society of Pituitary Surgeons, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, among others.Members of the Institute of Medicine elect new members from among candidates nominated for their professional achievement and commitment to service. An unusual diversity of talent is assured by the Institute's charter, which stipulates that at least one-quarter of the membership be selected from outside the health professions, from such fields as the natural, social, and behavioral sciences, as well as law, administration, engineering, and the humanities. Laurencin and Laws join 63 other new members of the IOM in 2004, bringing total active membership to 1,416.
“It is a great pleasure to welcome these distinguished and influential individuals to the Institute of Medicine,” said IOM President Harvey V. Fineberg. “Members are elected through a highly selective process that recognizes people who have made major contributions to the advancement of the medical sciences, health care, and public health. Election is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of medicine and health.”
The Institute of Medicine is unique for its structure as both an honorific membership organization and an advisory organization. Established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute has become recognized as a national resource for independent, scientifically informed analysis and recommendations on issues related to human health. With their election, members make a commitment to devote a significant amount of volunteer time as members of IOM committees, which engage in a broad range of studies on health policy issues.
In addition to Laws and Laurencin, members of the IOM from the University of Virginia are: Richard J. Bonnie, LLB, John S. Battle Professor of Law and Director of the Institute of Law, Psychiatry and Public Policy; Robert M. Carey, MD, David A. Harrison III Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Dean Emeritus of the U. Va. School of Medicine; James F. Childress, PhD, The John Allen Hollingsworth Professor of Ethics, Professor of Medical Education and Director of the Institute for Practical Ethics and Public Life in the Department of Religious Studies; Don E. Detmer, MD, Professor of Medical Education in the Department of Health Evaluation Sciences; Robert M. Epstein, MD, Harold Carron Professor of Anesthesiology Emeritus; Richard L. Guerrant, MD, Thomas Harrison Hunter Professor of International Medicine and Director of the Center for Global Health; Ada Jacox, PhD, RN, Professor of Nursing; William A. Knaus, MD., Evelyn Troup Hobson Professor of Health Sciences Policy and Chairman of the Department of Health Evaluation Sciences; Joseph Larner, MD, PhD, Alumni Professor of Pharmacology Emeritus; Gerald L. Mandell, MD, Professor of Medicine and Owen R. Cheatham Professor of the Sciences; Richard A. Merrill, JD, Daniel Caplin Professor of Law; John Monahan, PhD, Henry and Grace Doherty Charitable Foundation Professor of Law, Professor of Psychology and Legal Medicine; and Walter J. Wadlington, LLB, James Madison Professor of Law Emeritus.
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