Three faculty from the School of Medicine are among the 60 new members who have been elected to the Institute of Medicine (IOM). They raise the total active membership to 558.
New members from Yale are:
Dr. Mark R. Cullen, professor of medicine (occupational and environmental medicine) and of public health and director of the Yale Occupational and Environmental Medicine Program. A Yale faculty member since 1980, Dr. Cullen's work has centered on strategies for investigation of toxic agents causing health effects in humans. Specifically, he has studied how exposure to metals, solvents, mineral fibers, and organic chemicals can affect the health of the respiratory, endocrine, hematologic and neurologic systems. Two of his current research areas focus on occupational asthma, particularly due to disocyanates, and host factors in relation to asbestos-related pulmonary fibrosis and lung cancer.
Dr. Ralph I. Horwitz, the Harold H. Hines Jr. Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology and chair of the department of internal medicine. A Yale faculty member since 1978, Dr. Horwitz has conducted clinical research on a wide range of topics, including the link between Reye's syndrome and aspirin, heart attacks, asthma and the use of inhalers, the prostate gland and surgical treatment. Much of his work has focused on the epidemiologic aspects of disease.
Dr. George Miller Jr., the John F. Enders Professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, and professor of epidemiology and of molecular biophysics and biochemistry. A Yale faculty member since1969, Dr. Miller concentrates his research on tumor viruses, including Epstein-Barr and Kaposi sarcoma virus.
Current active IOM members elect new members from among candidates chosen for their major contributions to health and medicine or to related fields, such as social and behavioral sciences, law, administration and economics.
Election to the institute is both an honor and obligation to work on behalf of the organization, its governance and its studies. With their election, members make a commitment to devote a significant amount of volunteer time on committees engaged in a broad range of studies on health policy issues. Current IOM projects include a continuing series of reports on dietary reference intakes, which will replace the 1989 Recommended Dietary Allowances, and studies on community-based drug treatment, control of cardiovascular diseases in developing countries, and the medical use of marijuana.