Academy President, Professor Dame Anne Johnson DBE PMedSci, was today awarded international membership of the US National Academy of Medicine (NAM) in recognition of her major contributions to the advancement of the medical sciences, health care and public health.
With only ten international members elected each year, Dame Anne has received one of the highest honours in the fields of health and medicine and joins the NAM’s fellowship of 2,400 individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service.
In addition to international members, 90 regular members were also elected during the NAM’s annual meeting today. At least one-quarter of the membership is selected from fields outside the health professions — for example, from such fields as law, engineering, social sciences, and the humanities.
Dame Anne was elected, her citation said, “for being a leading clinical epidemiologist on transmission dynamics and prevention of HIV, sexually transmitted infections, and more recently Covid-19”. The citation noted that she had led the British National Surveys of Sexual Lifestyles and that her work had “focused on understanding behavioral epidemiology and contributed broadly to public health policy”.
Professor Dame Anne Johnson DBE PMedSci, said:
“I am delighted and honoured to be elected and for my work, and that of the teams I have been privileged to work with, to be recognised by my peers in the US. The pandemic has highlighted the critical role of international collaboration across a wide range of disciplines in limiting harm and helping to build resilience to threats to public health. This is as critical now as ever. I look forward to sharing my expertise and working with my academy colleagues for the benefit of global health.”
US National Academy of Medicine President, Victor J. Dzau FMedSci, said:
“It is my honour to welcome this truly exceptional class of new members to the National Academy of Medicine. Their contributions to health and medicine are unparalleled, and their leadership and expertise will be essential to helping the NAM tackle today’s urgent health challenges, inform the future of health care, and ensure health equity for the benefit of all around the globe.”
Established originally as the Institute of Medicine in 1970 by the US National Academy of Sciences, the US National Academy of Medicine addresses critical issues in health, science, medicine, and related policy and inspires positive actions across sectors.
The Academy and the NAM have a long-standing relationship and in 2022, we renewed our memorandum of understanding, committing to explore opportunities to work together on joint priority activities over the next half decade.
As part of this, we co-hosted the 2022 Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Symposium on climate change and global public health, which brought together experts to highlight health as a rationale for addressing climate change and identify solutions for the future.
Our Presidents also released a joint statement that noted the role that the research sector and our Academies could play in ensuring that the response to the climate crisis has a transformative impact on the health of all people.
A full press release and list of new US National Academy of Medicine members is available from their website.