Three leaders in health policy, informatics and cancer research from Vanderbilt University Medical Center have been elected this year to membership in the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), a preeminent advisory body on critical matters of health care, medicine and public health.
They are:
- Stacie Dusetzina, PhD, professor of Health Policy and Ingram Professor of Cancer Research at VUMC, and co-leader of the Cancer Health Outcomes and Control Research Program in the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center
- Michael Matheny, MD, MS, MPH, professor of Biomedical Informatics, Medicine and Biostatistics, and director of VUMC’s Center for Improving the Publics’ Health Through Informatics
- Eben Rosenthal, MD, professor and chair of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, holder of the Barry and Amy Baker Chair in Laryngeal, Head and Neck Research, and primary investigator of Vanderbilt Ingram’s Barry and Amy Baker Research Laboratory
“Congratulations to Drs. Dusetzina, Matheny and Rosenthal on their election into the National Academy of Medicine. This prestigious recognition by peers honors the tremendous impact of their work, and its importance to the health of the nation,” said Jeff Balser, MD, PhD, President and CEO of VUMC and Dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.
With more than 2,400 members, the NAM (formerly the Institute of Medicine) collaborates closely with its peer academies, the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering, to provide independent and authoritative advice on matters of science, technology and health nationally and globally.
Dusetzina, Matheny and Rosenthal are among 100 new NAM members announced Oct. 20. They bring to 17 the number of current, full-time Vanderbilt University faculty members who have been elected to membership in the Academy by their peers in recognition of their professional achievement and commitment to service.
Dusetzina earned her PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and joined the VUSM faculty in 2018. She is an internationally recognized expert in prescription drug economics whose research and translational work have had a significant impact on the nation’s drug pricing policies.
As a member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine Committee on Ensuring Patient Access to Affordable Drug Therapies, she co-authored the 2017 report, “Making Medicines Affordable.”
In 2021, Dusetzina was appointed to a six-year term on the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission. Her work on the commission, which advises Congress, “has shaped access to essential high-priced medicines for (Medicare) patients,” according to the NAM.
Matheny earned his MD from the University of Kentucky, a master’s degree in informatics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and his MPH from Harvard University. He joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 2007.
The NAM cited his work for the Department of Veterans Affairs as associate director of Health Services Research & Development in the VA Informatics and Computing Infrastructure of the Tennessee Valley Healthcare System’s Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center.
According to the Academy, Matheny has done “groundbreaking research in the use of informatics in veteran health care and automated medical product safety surveillance” by developing and adapting signal detection, machine learning and artificial intelligence methods to create novel post-marketing surveillance algorithms.
Rosenthal, who specializes in the treatment and reconstruction of head and neck cancer, earned his MD from the University of Michigan.
The NAM noted his “many ‘firsts’” in clinical trials using novel imaging agents and methods to further define surgical imaging in head and neck and other cancers. Among them: optical imaging techniques to improve cancer detection during surgery and molecular imaging of tumors with fluorescently labeled therapeutic antibodies.
Prior to his appointment at VUMC as chair of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery in 2021, Rosenthal held faculty and administrative positions at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the Stanford Cancer Center. He is also professor of Biomedical Engineering, Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, and Radiology and Radiological Sciences.
Other current Vanderbilt faculty in the National Academy of Medicine by year of election:
1990 – James Blumstein, LLB, MA, University Distinguished Professor of Law and Medicine
2000 – William Stead, MD, McKesson Foundation Professor of Biomedical Informatics
2006 – Ellen Wright Clayton, JD, MD, Craig-Weaver Professor of Pediatrics and professor of Law
2008 –Jeff Balser, MD, PhD, President and CEO of Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
2009 – Michael DeBaun, MD, MPH, J.C. Peterson, MD, Professor of Pediatrics and director of the Vanderbilt-Meharry Sickle Cell Disease Center of Excellence
2014 – James Crowe Jr., MD, University Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics and Chemistry, holder of the Ann Scott Carrell Chair, and director of the Vanderbilt Center for Antibody Therapeutics
2018 – Bradley Malin, PhD, MPhil, MS, professor of Biomedical Informatics, Biostatistics and Computer Science, and holder of the Accenture Chair
2018 – John Kuriyan, PhD, University Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry and Chemistry, holder of the Mary Geddes Stahlman Chair, and Dean of the School of Medicine Basic Sciences
2020 – Nancy Carrasco, MD, MS, University Distinguished Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics and chair of the department, and holder of the Joe C. Davis Chair in Biomedical Science
2020 – Velma McBride Murry, PhD, University Distinguished Professor of Human & Organizational Development and holder of the Lois Autry Betts Chair in Education and Human Development
2020 – Consuelo Wilkins, MD, MSCI, professor of Medicine, holder of the Mildred Thornton Stahlman Chair in Rural Health, and Senior Vice President and Senior Associate Dean of Community Health and Engagement at VUMC
2022 – Christopher Carpenter, PhD, E. Bronson Ingram Professor of Economics, University Distinguished Professor of Health Policy, and professor of Law
2022 – Lisa Monteggia, PhD, Lee E. Limbird Professor of Pharmacology and Barlow Family Director of the Vanderbilt Brain Institute
2024 – Peter Embi, MD, MS, professor of Biomedical Informatics and Medicine, co-director (with Malin) of the department’s artificial intelligence center, ADVANCE
