Institute of Medicine Elects Six UCSF Faculty

Six UCSF faculty members were elected Monday, Oct. 18 to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, considered one of the highest honors in the fields of medicine and health. Election recognizes major contributions to medical sciences, health care and public health.

The new UCSF members are:

• Dr. Fred E. Cohen, professor of cellular and molecular pharmacology
• Dr. Shaun R. Coughlin, director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute and professor of medicine and of cellular and molecular pharmacology
• Dr. Philip D. Darney, professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at UCSF, chief of obstetrics and gynecology at San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center (SFGHMC) and director of the Center for Reproductive Health Research & Policy
• Dr. Talmadge E. King, Jr., Constance B. Wofsy Distinguished Professor and vice chairman of medicine, UCSF and chief of medical services at SFGHMC
• Nancy S. Padian, professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences, director of international research for the AIDS Research Institute and associate director of research for Global Health Sciences, UCSF
• Dr. Arthur Weiss, Ephraim P. Engleman Distinguished Professor of Medicine, chief of the division of rheumatology, director of the Medical Scientist Training Program and investigator in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, UCSF

Election of the six brings to 63 the number of UCSF faculty who are members of the IOM, according to the Institute. The IOM now has 1,416 active members.

This year, the IOM elected 65 new members, including ten others from California: four at Stanford, two at UCSD and one each at Caltech, the Salk Institute, Scripps Research Institute and UCLA.

Established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute is recognized as a national resource for independent, scientific analysis and recommendations on issues related to human health. With their election, members make a commitment to devote volunteer time as members of IOM committees, which participate in a range of studies on health policy issues.

In the past year the Institute completed studies aimed at preventing childhood obesity, improving breast cancer detection and diagnosis, determining the association between certain respiratory problems and exposure to damp or moldy indoor environments, and improving people's ability to understand and use health information. The Institute also issued the final report of a series dealing with "uninsurance," calling on the president and Congress to achieve universal health coverage in the United State by 2010.

UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Children's Hospital once again earned excellent ratings in a statewide survey sponsored by the California Healthcare Foundation and California Institute for Health Systems Performance.

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