The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) has elected three Stanford Cancer Institute (SCI) members to its membership. They are among the 100 new members elected this year. Election to the Academy is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service. New members are elected by current members through a process that recognizes individuals who have made major contributions to the advancement of the medical sciences, health care, and public health.
“This extraordinary class of new members is comprised of exceptional scholars and leaders who have been at the forefront of responding to serious public health challenges, combatting social inequities, and achieving innovative discoveries,” said National Academy of Medicine President Victor J. Dzau. “Their expertise will be vital to informing the future of health and medicine for the benefit of us all. I am truly honored to welcome these esteemed individuals to the National Academy of Medicine.”
Newly elected SCI members include:
Crystal L. Mackall, MD, founding director, Stanford Center for Cancer Cell Therapy, and Ernest and Amelia Gallo Family Professor and professor of pediatrics and medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, Calif. For pioneering immune therapies for children’s cancers, and for discovering fundamental principles of human immunology and translating these insights into cutting-edge engineered cell therapies for cancer.
Paul Salomon Mischel, MD, professor and vice chair for research, department of pathology, and professor, by courtesy, department of neurosurgery, Stanford University School of Medicine; Institute Scholar, Sarafan ChEM-H, Stanford University, Stanford, Calif. For his paradigm-shifting research on extrachromosomal DNA, which has opened a new field in cancer biology with profound implications for non-Mendelian disease genetics and the impact of altered genome architecture. His pioneering research has provided seminal insight into the molecular pathogenesis of brain cancer, revealing a landscape of actionable drug targets.
Anthony E. Oro, MD, PhD, Eugene and Gloria Bauer Professor of Dermatology and co-director, Stanford Center for Definitive and Curative Medicine and Stanford Maternal and Child Health Research Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, Calif. For solidifying the first link between Hedgehog signaling and human cancer and building chromatin maps identifying how environmental factors drive tumor epigenetic plasticity and drug-resistance. He built developmental chromatin maps to uncover disease mechanisms and enable clinical manufacturing of pluripotent cell-derived tissues for incurable skin diseases.