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In This Issue:
Raju S. Kucherlapati, PhD, scientific director of Harvard Partners Center for Genetics and Genomics at BWH, last month was one of 65 new members elected to the Institute of Medicine—one of the highest honors awarded in the fields of health and medicine.
“It is a profound honor to be elected to the Institute of Medicine,” said Kucherlapati. “I look forward to participating in its discussions and deliberations.”
IOM President Harvey V. Fineberg noted that those elected to the IOM “have made major contributions to the advancement of the medical sciences, health care and public health.”
Over his career, Kucherlapati has advocated for advancing the cause of personalized medicine. As scientific director of the Harvard Medical School-Partners HealthCare Center for Genetics and Genomics, he launched initiatives that resulted in a large number of novel molecular diagnostics. He built new information technology programs that captured the results of clinical and basic genetic research in structured formats that could be applied meaningfully in clinical decision-making to benefit diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of patients.
Established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine has become recognized as a national resource for independent, scientifically informed analysis and recommendations on human health issues. With their election, members make a commitment to volunteer a significant amount of time on IOM committees, which engage in a broad range of studies on health policy issues.