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Get the most interesting and important stories from the University of Pittsburgh.Three University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine faculty members have been elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), among the highest honors in health and medicine. They join 18 other Pitt faculty members who have been elected to the academy.
John C. Byrd will begin leading UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, one of the nation’s premier National Cancer Institute-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers, effective Nov. 3. He will also serve as Pitt’s associate vice chancellor for cancer affairs and be recommended for appointment as the Hillman Professor of Oncology in the School of Medicine’s Department of Medicine.
Byrd comes to Pitt from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, where he was the Gordon and Helen Hughes Taylor Professor and chair of the Department of Internal Medicine. His research has focused on the biology and treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia and acute myeloid leukemia.
NAM said he was chosen for his work in “effectively demonstrating non-oncogene addiction as an effective cancer strategy … that changed chronic lymphocytic leukemia from a fatal disease to one that now has a natural life expectancy.”
Terence S. Dermody, Pitt Medicine’s Vira I. Heinz Distinguished Professor and chair of pediatrics, is physician-in-chief and scientific director at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. He studies how RNA viruses replicate and cause disease. A professor of microbiology and molecular genetics, most of his research focuses on reovirus, an important experimental model for studies of viral encephalitis in the young. His scientific contributions have enhanced an understanding of how these viruses enter the host, disseminate and target specific cells in the nervous system.
He was selected “for being an internationally recognized physician-scientist, field-leading virologist, award-winning educator and mentor, and academic leader,” according to NAM. “He has made transformative discoveries in viral replication and pathogenesis, developed innovative programs for physician-scientist education, and spearheaded the community-engaged Pittsburgh Study to foster the well-being of children.”
Kate Rubins, who will soon join the University as a professor of computational and systems biology, has led transformative research across the fields of genomics, infectious disease and human spaceflight as a microbiologist and former NASA astronaut. At Stanford University School of Medicine, she developed the first smallpox animal model and genomic tools to study host responses to viral infection.
She has completed two long-duration missions totaling 300 days aboard the International Space Station, contributing to numerous scientific experiments, including the first long-duration cell culture in space and 3D tissue studies examining cellular adaptation to microgravity.
She was selected “for leading the development of modern molecular and cellular biology methods for use in low-Earth orbit and low-resource environments, including the first successful DNA sequencing in space,” per NAM.
NAM elected 90 regular members and 10 international members during its annual meeting on Oct. 20. The newly elected members bring NAM’s total membership to more than 2,500, which includes more than 200 international members.