NCMS member Victor J. Dzau, MD, has been named to be the next president of the Institute of Medicine, the National Academy of Sciences announced Wednesday. Currently chancellor for health affairs at Duke University, president and CEO for Duke University Health System, and James B. Duke Professor of Medicine, Dzau will succeed Harvey V. Fineberg, who has served as IOM’s president for 12 years. Dzau’s six-year term as president will begin July 1, 2014.

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. 

Robert W. Seligson, EVP and CEO of the North Carolina Medical Society congratulates Dr. Dzau on his new position.

“The IOM is getting an exceptional leader and inspired  mind to guide it into the future,” Seligson said. “Congratulations to Dr. Dzau and the IOM!”

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 and has become recognized as a valuable resource for independent, scientifically informed analysis and recommendations on health issues. Under the Academy’s 1863 congressional charter, IOM 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 IOM in 1998 and has served on several leadership committees.

“I am humbled and honored to be selected to lead the IOM at a time of unprecedented opportunities and challenges in health, health care, and biomedical sciences,” Dzau said. “Harvey Fineberg has been an exceptional leader of the IOM, and I am committed to building on his outstanding work and advancing the impact of the IOM on the nation and globally.”

Read more about Dr. Dzau and his new appointment here.