UCLH doctor 1 of 10 international members elected to National Academy of Medicine

The prestigious USA National Academy of Medicine (NAM) announced the election of 90 regular members and 10 international members during its annual meeting.  

Election to the Academy is considered one of the highest honours in the fields of health and medicine and recognises individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service.

New members are elected by current members for major contributions to the advancement of the medical sciences, health care, and public health.

UCLH’s Jan Deprest, MD, PhD, FRCOG, professor in obstetrics and gynaecology at UCL and KU Leuven (Belgium), was elected for his landmark translational studies through the Eurofoetus consortium, which led to the development of a percutaneous method for fetoscopic occlusion of the fetal trachea. His work has changed the standard of care worldwide for fetal diseases such as twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome and congenital diaphragmatic hernia.

Jan said: “It is an incredible honour join the National Academy of Medicine and I am humbled to have been elected. It is a real opportunity to share learning in the field fetal disease.”

Established originally as the Institute of Medicine in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine addresses critical issues in health, science, medicine, and related policy and inspires positive actions across sectors.

In addition our colleague at UCL, Bart De Strooper, MD, PhD, director, UK Dementia Research Institute; and professor, KU Leuven, Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie was also elected for his work on Alzheimer’s disease searching for therapies that can help patients. He has discovered gamma-secretase and shown how presenilin regulates Notch signaling. He has developed a cellular theory and novel humanized disease models to explore polygenetic risk of Alzheimer’s disease.