Two from UCSD School of Medicine Named Members of the Institute of Medicine

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David A. Brenner, MD

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) today announced the names of 70 new members and 10 foreign associates during its 42nd annual meeting.  Included are two new members from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine: David A. Brenner, MD, vice chancellor for Health Sciences and dean of the UCSD School of Medicine, and Don W. Cleveland, PhD, chair of the UCSD Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, and professor of medicine, neurosciences, and cellular and molecular medicine at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. 

Election to the IOM is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service.

"The Institute of Medicine is greatly enriched by the addition of our newly elected colleagues, each of whom has significantly advanced health and medicine," said IOM President Harvey V. Fineberg. "Through their research, teaching, clinical work, and other contributions, these distinguished individuals have inspired and served as role models to others. We look forward to drawing on their knowledge and skills to improve health through the work of the IOM."

As vice chancellor for Health Sciences, Brenner has oversight of more than 900 faculty physicians, pharmacists and scientists; 7,500 staff; more than 600 medical and pharmacy students, and the UC San Diego Health System, which cares for more than 125,000 patients annually.  Brenner is a leader in the field of gastroenterological research, specializing in diseases of the liver. He has focused on understanding the molecular pathogenesis of fibrotic liver disease and the genetic basis of liver disorders as the foundation for improving prevention and treatment of liver disease. For five years, Brenner was editor-in-chief of Gastroenterology, the premier journal in the field.  He is also a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, the American College of Physicians; the American Gastroenterological Association and the American Clinical and Climatological Association.

Don W. Cleveland, PhD

Cleveland heads the Laboratory of Cell Biology at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, based at UC San Diego.  He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2006 for his pioneering discoveries of the mechanisms of chromosome movement and cell-cycle control during normal cellular division, as well as of the principles of neuronal cell growth during mammalian development – defects that lead to inherited human neurodegenerative disease.   He won the “Spirit of Lou Gehrig” award from the ALS Association in 2010 for his research on ALS (commonly called Lou Gehrig’s disease), a disease of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement.

New members to IOM are elected by current active members through a selective process that recognizes individuals who have made major contributions to the advancement of the medical sciences, health care, and public health. The newly elected members raise IOM's total active membership to 1,732 and the number of foreign associates to 112. With an additional 84 members holding emeritus status, IOM's total membership is 1,928.

Established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences, IOM has become recognized as a national resource for independent, scientifically informed analysis and recommendations on health issues.