UCL academic elected to US National Academy of Medicine

Dame Anne is one of 10 international members elected this year during the academy’s annual meeting, alongside 90 regular members. Election to the academy is considered one of the highest honours in the fields of health and medicine.

She was elected, her citation said, “for being a leading clinical epidemiologist on transmission dynamics and prevention of HIV, sexually transmitted infections, and more recently Covid-19”. The citation noted that she had led the British National Surveys of Sexual Lifestyles and that her work had “focused on understanding behavioral epidemiology and contributed broadly to public health policy”.

Dame Anne said: “I am delighted and honoured to be elected and for my work, and that of the teams I have been privileged to work with, to be recognized by my peers in the US. The pandemic has highlighted the critical role of international collaboration across a wide range of disciplines in limiting harm and helping to build resilience to threats to public health. This is as critical now as ever.  I look forward to sharing my expertise and working with my academy colleagues for the benefit of global health.”

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.

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

Dame Anne is Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at UCL, co-director of UCL Health of the Public and President of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences. Her career has focussed on research into the epidemiology and prevention of HIV and sexually transmitted infections as well as other infections such as influenza and Covid-19.

She co-directed the Medical Research Council’s UK Centre for Co-ordinating Epidemiological Studies of HIV from 1985 until 1999, undertaking a range of epidemiological studies and trials, and was principal investigator of National Surveys of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal) over three decades.

She co-founded UCL’s Institute for Global Health and has advised many national and international science organisations. She was awarded DBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list in 2013.

NAM President Victor Dzau said: “It is my honour to welcome this truly exceptional class of new members to the National Academy of Medicine.

“Their contributions to health and medicine are unparalleled, and their leadership and expertise will be essential to helping the NAM tackle today’s urgent health challenges, inform the future of health care, and ensure health equity for the benefit of all around the globe.”

Last year Professor Bart De Strooper (UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL & KU Leuven) and Professor Jan Deprest (UCL EGA Institute for Women’s Health, UCLH & KU Leuven) were both elected to the academy.

Links

• US National Academy of Medicine announcement
• UCL Institute for Global Health
• UCL Health of the Public
• UCL Population Health Sciences

Image

• Professor Dame Anne Johnson. Credit: John Watson

Media contact

Mark Greaves

E: m.greaves [at] ucl.ac.uk