VCU professor elected to the Institute of Medicine

Kenneth S. Kendler, M.D., a Rachel Brown Banks Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry at Virginia Commonwealth University, was elected to the prestigious Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 1.

Kendler is one of 55 new members elected to the IOM this year, which now has a total international membership of 1,332. Members are elected by the incumbent membership and are chosen on the basis of their major contributions to health and medicine or to related fields, such as social and behavioral sciences, law and economics.

"This is an outstanding honor for Dr. Kendler and VCU," said Joel Silverman, M.D., chair of the department of psychiatry at VCU. "It underscores the critical importance of research in psychiatry and the major contribution such research will make to the health of our community."

The IOM is concerned with the advancement and dissemination of scientific knowledge to improve human health. Members commit to spend a significant amount of volunteer time engaged in a range of studies on health policy issues. Through such efforts, the IOM provides authoritative information and advice on health and science policy to government, various professions, the corporate sector and the public.

Projects undertaken by the IOM have domestic and international scope, ranging from current studies on improving birth outcomes in developing countries to reducing exposure to harmful substances in tobacco.

Among his numerous awards, Kendler received an Honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of Birmingham in Birmingham, England this year. He was the recipient of the prestigious Lieber Prize for Outstanding Research on Schizophrenia in 1995. Kendler also is a professor of human genetics at VCU and co-director of the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics on the Medical College of Virginia Campus. He has authored nearly 300 published scientific studies.