Two Mount Sinai Physicians Elected to the Institute of Medicine
Diane E. Meier, MD and Pamela Sklar, MD, PhD, recognized for Outstanding Professional Achievement and Commitment to Service.
Two Mount Sinai physicians have been elected to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine.
The two Mount Sinai honorees, recognized for outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service, are:
- Diane E. Meier, MD, MD, FACP, Catherine Gaisman Professor of Medical Ethics; Vice-Chair of Public Policy and Professor of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine in the Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; and, Director of the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC), a national organization devoted to increasing the number and quality of palliative care programs in the United States.
- Pamela Sklar, MD, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry, Neuroscience and Genetics and Genomic Sciences and Founding Chief of the Division of Psychiatric Genomics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She is a neuroscientist, human geneticist, and psychiatrist investigating the genetic causes of psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Drs. Meier and Sklar were among 70 new members and 10 foreign associates announced October 21 at the IOM’s 43rd annual meeting. Established in 1970 by the NAM, IOM is a national resource for independent, scientifically informed analysis and recommendations on health issues. With their election, members make a commitment to volunteer their service on IOM committees, boards, and other activities. IOM has 1,753 active members, including Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; President for Academic Affairs of the Mount Sinai Health System, and Kenneth L. Davis, MD, President and CEO of the Mount Sinai Health System.
Dr. Charney expressed gratitude to both Dr. Meier and Dr. Sklar for their contributions. "We are very proud of Dr. Meier, who is a model educator, researcher, physician and human being. She has improved outcomes and enhanced quality of life for patients, survivors and their families, at The Mount Sinai Medical Center and globally," said Dr. Charney. "I also congratulate Dr. Pamela Sklar for this outstanding honor from the Institute of Medicine," said Dr. Charney. "Her research has greatly enhanced our understanding of the role of genetic variants in mental illnesses, and supports Mount Sinai’s commitment to precision medicine, by developing therapies tailored to individual patient needs through the application of genomic information.”
“I am tremendously honored to be invited to join the Institute of Medicine,” said Dr. Meier. Under Dr. Meier’s leadership, the number of palliative care programs in US hospitals has more than tripled in the last 10 years. Dr. Meier served as founding director of the Lilian and Benjamin Hertzberg Palliative Care Institute at Mount Sinai from 1997-2011. She is currently Principal Investigator on a National Cancer Institute-funded five-year multisite study on the outcomes of hospital palliative care services in cancer patients. Dr. Meier is the recipient of numerous awards, including a 2008 MacArthur Fellowship for individuals who have shown exceptional creativity in their work and the promise to do more.
“The election is an honor, and I hope to contribute to the IOM on issues regarding the role of genetics in personalized medicine, ethical questions surrounding genetic testing for psychiatric diseases and translating research findings into clinical practice,” said Dr. Sklar. Dr. Sklar has an extraordinary track record of leadership in collaborative research settings, including the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium. Her research focuses on DNA and RNA variation, rare and common, trailblazing with studies effectively utilizing the newest high-throughput genomic technology in mental illness. Her work has made integral contributions to the understanding of gene variants and structural variants that increase the risk of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. In 2011, Sklar moved to Mount Sinai and established a Division of Psychiatric Genomics, hiring faculty in statistical genetics, stem cell biology, neurocognition, and imaging to pioneer applications of genetics to patient care.
Fourteen IOM members are from Mount Sinai. In addition to Drs. Charney, Davis, Meier and Sklar, they are: Robert J. Desnick, MD, Dean for Genetic and Genomic Medicine; Angela Diaz, MD, Director of Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center; Valentin Fuster, MD, Director of Mount Sinai Heart; Bruce D. Gelb, MD, Director of the Child Health and Development Institute; Kurt Hirschhorn, MD, Professorial Lecturer of Pediatrics and Human Genetics; Philip J. Landrigan, MD, Dean for Global Health; Eric J. Nestler, Director of the Friedman Brain Institute; Maria Iondolo New, MD, Professor of Pediatrics, Endocrinology - Adrenal Steroid Disorders; Peter Palese, PhD, Professor and Chair of Microbiology; and Hugh A. Sampson, MD, Dean for Translational Biomedical Research.
About the Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with more than 43,000 employees working across eight hospitals, over 400 outpatient practices, nearly 300 labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time — discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.
Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 7,300 primary and specialty care physicians; 13 joint-venture outpatient surgery centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and more than 30 affiliated community health centers. We are consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report's Best Hospitals, receiving high "Honor Roll" status, and are highly ranked: No. 1 in Geriatrics and top 20 in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Neurology/Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Pulmonology/Lung Surgery, Rehabilitation, and Urology. New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked No. 12 in Ophthalmology. U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Children’s Hospitals” ranks Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital among the country’s best in several pediatric specialties.
For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
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