Two UCSF Faculty Elected to the National Academy of Medicine
Their work advances the scientific understanding of language and literacy barriers, and breast MRI techniques.
Two UC San Francisco faculty members have been elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) this year, one of the highest honors in the field of health and medicine.
NAM recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievements and commitment to service in the medical sciences, health care and public health. The academy elects no more than 100 members a year.
Alicia Fernandez, MD, professor of medicine, was recognized for her work on how language and literacy barriers impact patient care and outcomes; and Nola M. Hylton, PhD, a professor of radiology and biomedical imaging was recognized for developing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for breast cancer.
Fernandez, a general internist at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, is being honored for her work on challenges that face millions of patients with limited English proficiency.
A champion of workforce diversity and health equity, Fernandez serves as the associate dean of Population Health and Health Equity for UCSF’s School of Medicine, and she is the founding director of the UCSF Latinx Center of Excellence, which is funded by UCSF and the Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to increase academic diversity.
She also directs the Latinx and Immigrant Health Research Program at the UCSF Action Research Center for Health Equity (ARC). which generates actionable research to increase health equity and reduce healthcare disparities.
Hylton, director of UCSF’s Breast Imaging Research Group, is an internationally known leader in the field of breast MRI. NAM credited her work in the early development of MRI imaging for the detection, diagnosis and staging of breast cancer, and for improving the health of millions of women globally.
Her research focuses on the development and clinical evaluation of MRI techniques for characterizing breast cancers and assessing their response to treatment. Her laboratory collaborates closely with radiologists, surgeons, oncologists and science researchers around the country to optimize MRI techniques for breast cancer patients.
NAM also elected Lindsey Criswell, MD, MPH, an emeritus professor of medicine at UCSF, and David Rowitch, MD, PHD, is an adjunct professor of pediatrics at UCSF. Criswell, an expert in the genetics of autoimmune disease and particularly rheumatoid arthritis, directs the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.
Rowitch, whose primary affiliations are with the University of Cambridge (UK) and Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children’s in Los Angeles, established the fundamental genetic mechanisms that determine glial cell development in the brain, providing insight into the causes of leukodystrophy, multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy.
New members are elected by current active members. This year’s elections bring UCSF’s membership to 124.
Established in 1970 as the Institute of Medicine, NAM is an independent organization of eminent professionals from diverse fields, including health and medicine; the natural, social and behavioral sciences, and beyond. It serves alongside the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering as an adviser to the national and the international community.