Vanderbilt’s Gitlin elected to the Institute of Medicine
Jonathan Gitlin, M.D., the Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Pediatrics and former chair of the department, has been elected to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies, the organization announced this week.
Jonathan Gitlin, M.D.
The IOM is the health arm of the National Academies and is comprised of 1,870 experts in medicine and the life sciences.
The IOM serves as an adviser to the nation to improve health and promote health-related research.
The National Academies are private nonprofit institutions that provide advice on some of the most pressing challenges facing the nation and the world.
With Gitlin’s election, Vanderbilt now has 21 current faculty who are members of the National Academies – 16 members of the IOM, and five others are members of other arms of the National Academies — the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) or the National Academy of Engineering (NAE).
“Election into the IOM is recognition of those individuals who demonstrate outstanding achievement in their respective disciplines and sustained service to the advancement of medicine and science,” said Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D., vice chancellor for Health Affairs and dean of the School of Medicine.
“Jonathan’s well-deserved inclusion is reflective of his many contributions to pediatric medicine and his commitment to the health and well-being of our nation’s children.
“Having 21 current faculty now members of the National Academies speaks strongly to Vanderbilt’s increasing impact on scientific discovery and solutions to the complex problems facing humanity,” Balser said.
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.
“I am both humbled and surprised, and I am glad this happened at this stage in my career while I am here at Vanderbilt. This is a terrific university,” said Gitlin. “And while I’m happy for myself, I think this reflects all of the effort, contributions and greatness that is the University.
“These achievements are never simply the result of one faculty member’s efforts. It is the whole community,” Gitlin said.
Gitlin is an expert in human genetic disease. His research focuses on the inorganic chemistry of living organisms, using zebrafish as an experimental system to explore the role of genetics and nutrition in early human development.
He earned his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh and completed a pediatric residency and fellowship in Neonatology at Children's Hospital Medical Center in Boston.
Before joining Vanderbilt in 2008 he served on the faculties of Washington University in St. Louis and Harvard University.
A member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, the Society for Pediatric Research and the American Pediatric Society, Gitlin is the recipient of numerous awards, including the E. Mead Johnson Award for Excellence in Research from the Society for Pediatric Research, the Samuel Rosenthal Foundation Award for Excellence in Academic Pediatrics, the Chancellor's Hartwell Prize for Innovative Research from Washington University and a MERIT Award for research from the National Institutes of Health.
Current Vanderbilt faculty who are members of the IOM — Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D.; James Blumstein, M.A., L.L.B.; Peter Buerhaus, Ph.D., R.N.; Larry Churchill, Ph.D.; Ellen Wright Clayton, M.D., J.D.; Colleen Conway-Welch, Ph.D.; Michael Debaun, M.D.; Katherine Edwards, M.D.; George Hill, 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.
Current Faculty who are members of the National Academy of Engineering — John Gore, Ph.D., and George Hornberger, Ph.D.
Current faculty who are members of the National Academy of Sciences — Roger Cone, Ph.D.; John Exton, M.D., Ph.D.; and Jon Kaas, Ph.D.