UMass Chan Medical School scientists Phillip D. Zamore, PhD, and Roger J. Davis, PhD, FRS, have been elected to the National Academy of Medicine for their distinguished contributions to medicine and health.
“It is my honor to welcome this truly exceptional class of new members to the National Academy of Medicine,” said NAM President Victor J. Dzau, who received an honorary degree from the Medical School in 2015. “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.”
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.
Dr. Zamore, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, the Gretchen Stone Cook Chair in Biomedical Sciences, and chair and professor of RNA therapeutics, is credited with identifying the biochemical machinery responsible for RNA silencing, the mechanism through which small pieces of genetic material can turn specific genes on or off. Among his many discoveries, he showed how short segments of RNA act as guides during the silencing process, ensuring that the targeted gene is silenced. His lab studies model and non-model bacteria, insects and mammals to understand the fundamental biology of RNA in hopes of applying this phenomenon to mammalian cells and, eventually, human disease.
Zamore joined UMass Chan in 1999 and was named a 2000 Pew Scholar in Biomedical Sciences by the Pew Charitable Trusts and, in 2002, appointed a grant recipient under the W. M. Keck Foundation’s Distinguished Young Scholars in Medical Research Program. In 2009, the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology awarded Zamore the Schering-Plough Research Institute Award for his outstanding achievements and contributions to science. He was awarded the Chancellor’s Medal for Excellence in Scholarship at UMass Chan in 2015 and is a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences.
The election of Dr. Davis, the H. Arthur Smith Chair in Cancer Research and chair and professor of molecular medicine, to the academy recognizes his research on stress signaling pathways that are connected to a range of diseases, such as arthritis, cancer, stroke, heart disease and diabetes. He is the author of more than 400 scientific papers and his studies have led to the discovery of new genes that contribute to the development of these devastating diseases. The impact of his work has been immeasurable, including years when his scientific publications have been the most often cited research papers in the world.
Davis joined UMass Chan in 1984 as a Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Cancer Fund fellow. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 2002; in 2012, he received the Chancellor’s Medal for Distinguished Scholarship. He is also a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization, a member of the National Academy of Inventors, and member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Medicine, formerly the Institute of Medicine, was established in 1970 under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences to advise the nation on medical and health issues.
The National Academy of Medicine works together with the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering to provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation and conduct other activities to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions. The academies also encourage education and research, recognize outstanding contributions to knowledge, and increase public understanding in matters of science, engineering and medicine.
Davis and Zamore join UMass Chan faculty members Katherine A. Fitzgerald, PhD, the Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research Chair III, professor of medicine, vice chair of research in the Department of Medicine and director of the Program in Innate Immunity; Job Dekker, PhD, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, the Joseph J. Byrne Chair in Biomedical Research, professor of biochemistry & molecular pharmacology and systems biology; and Robert H. Brown Jr., DPhil, MD, the Leo P. and Theresa M. LaChance Chair in Medical Research and professor of neurology, as members of the National Academy of Medicine.
