Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2001
RICHMOND, Va – Dr. Steven H. Woolf, professor and director of research in
the Department of Family Practice in the School of Medicine at Virginia
Commonwealth University, has become VCU's fourth professor elected to the highly
prestigious National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine.
Woolf, whose work focuses on health-services research and evidence-based
medicine (medicine based on extensive scientific review), was one of 60 new
members announced Monday by the Institute of Medicine, bringing its total active
membership to 632. He is the author of 60 articles and two books and consults
with government agencies and professional organizations on methods for reviewing
scientific facts and on matters related to preventive medicine. Woolf also is a
member of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, is active nationally in
health services research and public policy and has consulted in Europe as a
visiting scholar. He received his M.D. from Emory University and underwent
residency training in family practice at VCU (Fairfax campus) and in preventive
medicine and public health at Johns Hopkins University, where he received his
M.P.H. He is board certified in family practice and in preventive medicine and
public health.
"Dr. Woolf is an intellectual giant in medicine," said VCU
President Eugene P. Trani, Ph.D. "This is a great honor for Dr. Woolf to be
elected to the Institute of Medicine and reflects well, once again, on the
quality of researchers at VCU."
Added Dr. David Marsland, chair of VCU’s Department of Family Practice,
"Dr. Woolf is among the most gifted in family practice in our nation and
internationally. He has made major contributions to clinical guidelines for
preventive services in primary care practice and to clinical evidence for
primary care practice. "
The Institute of Medicine’s mission is to enhance health care by providing
objective scientific information about health policy to the public, government
and corporations.
Current active members of the institute elect new members from among
candidates chosen for their major contributions to health and medicine or
related fields, such as social and behavioral sciences, law, administration and
economics. Members volunteer for committees engaged in a broad range of studies
on health policy issues. Recent reports by the institute have dealt with new
technologies for breast-cancer screening, how biochemical differences affect men’s
and women’s health and ways to confront mental illness in developing
countries. Current projects include a study of the consequences of a large
medical population without health insurance, the protection of public health in
the 21st century and the safety and effectiveness of the anthrax
vaccine for the U.S. military.
In 1982, Dr. Morris Wood, professor emeritus in the department of family
practice became VCU's first professor to become a member of the Institute of
Medicine. Dr. Harold J. Fallon, former chair of internal medicine was selected
in 1989 and Dr. Kenneth S. Kendler, professor of psychiatry and human genetics
and co-director of VCU’s Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral
Genetics, became a member in 1999.
About VCU and VCU Medical Center
Virginia Commonwealth University is a major, urban public research university with national and international rankings in sponsored research. Located in downtown Richmond, VCU enrolls more than 31,000 students in 226 degree and certificate programs in the arts, sciences and humanities. Sixty-seven of the programs are unique in Virginia, many of them crossing the disciplines of VCU’s 13 schools and one college. MCV Hospitals and the health sciences schools of Virginia Commonwealth University comprise VCU Medical Center, one of the nation’s leading academic medical centers. For more, see www.vcu.edu.