Eleven University of California faculty are among the 65 new members elected to the National Academies' Institutes of Medicine, it has been announced.

No other university or college had more than four new members in the election, which also included five foreign associates from three countries.

With this latest election, there are a total of 1,051 current institute members, 159 of them affiliated with the University of California.

Membership in the Institute of Medicine is considered one of the highest honors bestowed to professionals in the fields of medicine and health. Chosen by current active members, candidates undergo a highly selective process and are nominated based on their professional achievements and commitment to service.

The  Institute of Medicine includes a diversity of talent, as its charter requires that at least one quarter of the membership selected be from outside the health professions, in fields such as the social sciences, administration, engineering and the humanities.

The 11 new UC members include researchers, department chairs, distinguished professors and a vice chancellor, and their backgrounds vary from law to medicine to psychiatry.

"These new members should be applauded for their accomplishments and thanked for their public service," said UC Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic and Health Affairs Rory Hume. "The election of such an accomplished and diverse group from UC once again confirms the strength and commitment of our faculty in a broad range of academic areas. 

"The university's strong membership in the Institute of Medicine underscores UC's position as a leading contributor to the improvement of medicine and human health in California and all over the world."

The newly elected University of California members are:

UC Berkeley

- R. Alta Charo, visiting professor, School of Law-Boalt Hall; and Warren P. Knowles Professor of Law and Bioethics, Law School and School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

UCLA

- Emmett B. Keeler, professor, department of health services, School of Public Health; professor, Pardee RAND Graduate School; and senior mathematician, RAND Corp., Santa Monica;

- John C. Mazziotta, chair, department of neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine;

- Thomas H. Rice, vice chancellor, academic personnel.

UC San Diego

- Theodore G. Ganiats, professor and interim chair, department of family and preventive medicine;

- Dilip V. Jeste, Estelle and Edgar Levi Chair in Aging; director, Sam Rose Stein Institute for Research on Aging; and distinguished professor of psychiatry and neurosciences;

- Ajit P. Varki, distinguished professor of medicine and cellular and molecular medicine, department of medicine;

- Charles S. Zuker, investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and professor of biology.

UC San Francisco

- Kathleen M. Giacomini, professor and chair, department of biopharmaceutical sciences;

- James D. Marks, professor of anesthesia and pharmaceutical chemistry, and chief of anesthesia, San Francisco General Hospital; and vice chair, department of anesthesia and preoperative medicine;

- John L. R. Rubenstein, Nina Ireland distinguished professor in child psychiatry, department of psychiatry.

The Institute of Medicine was chartered in 1970 as a component of the National Academy of Sciences to be both an honorific membership organization and a nonprofit advisory organization.

Its purpose is to work outside the framework of government to ensure scientifically informed analysis and independent recommendations to the nation's policy-makers, professionals and leaders in the areas of health and science.  

For more information about the Institute of Medicine, please visit:
www.iom.edu

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