Academia Sinica Academician Victor J. Dzau will be the next president of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) announced February 20. Academician Dzau's six-year term as president will begin July 1, 2014.

         Dr. Dzau, who was elected an Academia Sinica Academician in 2000, is the current Chancellor for Health Affairs at Duke University, President and CEO for Duke University Health System, and James B. Duke Professor of Medicine. Dr. Dzau was born in Shanghai and grew up in Hong Kong. He received MDs from both McGill University, and King's College, London, before going on to specialize in cardiovascular and molecular medicine, and become a leader in translational research.

         Dr. Dzau’s appointment was recommended by the IOM Council following the efforts of the IOM Presidential Search Committee. The IOM Charter stipulates that the president of the IOM is appointed by the president of the National Academy of Sciences with the approval of the NAS Council. On announcing the appointment the IOM wrote: Dzau is highly regarded as a trailblazer in translational research, health innovation, and global health care strategy and delivery. He was the guiding force in establishing the Duke Translational Medicine Institute, Duke Global Health Institute, Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore, and Duke Institute for Health Innovation. Dzau’s own seminal research laid the foundation for the development of angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, which are used globally for the treatment of high blood pressure and congestive heart failure. He pioneered gene therapy for vascular disease, being the first to introduce DNA decoy molecules to block transcriptions as gene therapy in humans.

         The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences. It is a nonprofit organization that works outside the US government. It is the health arm of the US National Academies whose bodies include the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the National Research Council. The Institute of Medicine provides advice to government policymakers, health professionals, and the public on issues such as health care delivery and quality, the obesity epidemic, vaccine safety, nutrition, cancer prevention and management, and military and veterans’ health. Dzau was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 1998 and has served on several leadership committees.

         Dr. Dzau is a member of the board of directors of the Singapore Health Services, and a former member of the Advisory Committee to the Director of U.S. National Institutes of Health and the International Review Board of the Canadian Institute for Health Research. He chaired NIH’s Cardiovascular Disease Advisory Committee and is a past chair of the Association of Academic Health Centers. In 2011, Dzau led a partnership among Duke Medicine, the World Economic Forum, and McKinsey & Co. to establish the International Partnership for Innovative Healthcare Delivery. He chairs its board of directors.

         Dr. Dzau has received numerous awards and recognitions including the Max Delbruck Medal from Humboldt University, Charite, and Max Planck Institute; Gustav Nylin Medal from the Swedish Royal College of Medicine; the Polzer Prize from the European Academy of Sciences & Arts; the Ellis Island Medal of Honor; and the Distinguished Scientist Award of the American Heart Association, among many others.

         The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit institution that was established under a congressional charter signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, and with the National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council, it provides science, technology, and health policy advice to the federal government and other organizations.

         Related website: http://www.iom.edu/Global/News%20Announcements/IOM-Announces-Next-President.aspx