R. Daniel Beauchamp, M.D., chair of the Section of Surgical Sciences, and Sten Vermund, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health, have been elected to the Institute of Medicine (IOM), the organization announced this week.
With more than 1,900 members, the IOM is the health arm of the National Academies, serving as an adviser to the nation to improve health and promote health-related research.
The National Academies, which also includes the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and National Research Council, are private nonprofit institutions that provide advice on some of the most pressing challenges facing the nation and the world.
Vanderbilt University now has 25 current faculty members who have been elected by their peers to the National Academies in recognition of excellence in their fields. Eighteen are members of the IOM; seven others are members of the NAS or NAE.
“Election into the IOM serves as acknowledgment for those who demonstrate outstanding achievement in their disciplines while also exhibiting continued service to the advancement of medicine and science,” said Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D., vice chancellor for Health Affairs and dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. “The election of Drs. Beauchamp and Vermund reflects their sustained track record of contributions and steadfast commitment to their fields of endeavor.
“With their election, Vanderbilt continues to experience a steady annual increase in faculty becoming members of the National Academies, signaling our growing impact on the national stage,” Balser said.
Also among the 70 new IOM members announced this week is Wayne Riley, M.D., MPH, MBA, professor of Medicine in the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, secondary to his primary appointment as president and chief executive officer for Meharry Medical College.
Both an honorific membership organization and an advisory organization, the IOM was established in 1970 by the National Academies and is recognized as a national resource for independent, scientifically informed analysis, providing recommendations on a broad range of health issues.
“It is a distinct honor to join the group of outstanding Vanderbilt University colleagues who have been elected into the IOM and other National Academies,” said Beauchamp, the John Clinton Foshee Distinguished Professor of Surgery. “I am extremely grateful to my mentors and my many colleagues and collaborators here at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center for their support and for the opportunities that have culminated in this recognition.”
“It is always an honor to be recognized by one’s peers,” said Vermund, the Amos Christie Professor of Global Health. “That IOM members would elect a prevention scientist focusing on challenges of low income nations suggests a growing appreciation for quality improvement and implementation research.”
Beauchamp is professor of Surgery, Cancer Biology and Cell & Developmental Biology, Surgeon-in-Chief of Vanderbilt University Hospital, deputy director of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) and a project leader in Vanderbilt’s Gastrointestinal Cancer Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
In addition to an active clinical practice emphasizing the care of breast cancer patients, Beauchamp’s research interests include colorectal carcinogenesis, the biology of cancer cell invasion and metastasis, and identifying novel molecular biomarkers and therapeutic targets in colorectal and other alimentary tract malignancies.
After completing his medical degree and surgery residency at the University of Texas (UT), Beauchamp came to Vanderbilt in 1987 to work with internationally known cancer researcher Harold L. Moses, M.D.
He then spent several years on the faculty at the UT Medical Branch in Galveston, before returning in 1994 to Vanderbilt, where he was founding chief of the Division of Oncologic and Endocrine Surgery.
Beauchamp is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, a member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and a former president of the Society of University Surgeons. He has served on the editorial boards of several scientific journals.
Vermund is professor of Pediatrics, Preventive Medicine, Medicine and Obstetrics & Gynecology. He has led international HIV treatment and prevention projects in several countries, and has spearheaded efforts to ease the burden of tropical and childhood diseases.
His degrees include an M.D. from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, a master’s degree in tropical public health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and a Ph.D. in epidemiology from Columbia University.
Before coming to Vanderbilt in 2005, Vermund served as chief of the vaccine trials and epidemiology branch of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ AIDS Division, and as chairman of Epidemiology and director of the Sparkman Center for Global Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
He served as principal investigator (PI) of the international HIV Prevention Trials Network from 2006 to 2012, and is a PI of the NIH/Fogarty Global Health Program for Fellows and Scholars, which supports the training of health scientists throughout the world.
A fellow of the Infectious Disease Society of America and the American College of Preventive Medicine, Vermund received the Douglas K. Richardson Award from the Society for Pediatric Research earlier this year for his contributions to pediatric care and health services research.
Other IOM members from the current Vanderbilt faculty are: Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D.; James Blumstein, M.A., LLB; Peter Buerhaus, Ph.D., MPP, BSN; Larry Churchill, Ph.D., M.Div.; Ellen Wright Clayton, M.D., J.D.; Colleen Conway-Welch, Ph.D., MSN,; Michael DeBaun, M.D., MPH; Kathryn Edwards, M.D.; Walter Frontera, M.D., Ph.D., Kevin Johnson, M.D., M.S.; Randy Miller, M.D.; Harold Moses, M.D.; John Oates, M.D.; Mildred Stahlman, M.D.; and William Stead, M.D.
Larry Bartels, Ph.D. (on leave); Randolph Blake, Ph.D.; Roger Cone, Ph.D.; John Exton, M.D., Ph.D.; and Jon Kaas, Ph.D., are members of the NAS. John Gore, Ph.D., and George Hornberger, Ph.D., are members of the NAE.
