Paula M. Lantz, professor and chair of the Department of Health Policy, and Sara Rosenbaum, Harold and Jane Hirsh Professor of Health Law and Policy, have been elected to the Institute of Medicine, marking the first time two George Washington faculty members have been elected simultaneously.
Election to the Institute of Medicine — established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences— is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine, and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service.
“With the election of Professors Lantz and Rosenbaum to the prestigious IOM, the Department of Health Policy at SPHHS now has five IOM members, Fitzhugh Mullan, MD Murdock Head Professor of Medicine and Health Policy; Robert Graham, MD Research Professor of Health Policy and Director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Aligning Forces for Quality Program (AF4Q); and Vanessa Northington Gamble, MD, PhD University Professor of Medical Humanities and Professor of Health Policy,” said SPHHS Dean Lynn R. Goldman. “This is an incredible honor and exemplifies the eminence of our faculty in the health policy arena. I sincerely congratulate Paula and Sara.”
Dr. Lantz joined SPHHS in 2011 from the University of Michigan, where she was the S.J. Axelrod Collegiate Professor of Health Management and Policy and chair of the Department of Health Management and Policy. Her areas of expertise include cancer prevention, protection of infant health and elimination of the vast inequities in health status and health care access in the United States.
Dr. Lantz has received research funding from major institutions, including the National Institutes of Health, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She recently received a project award from the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute to study communication strategies regarding evidenced-based guidelines for clinical preventive services, and her work has appeared, among other publications, in American Journal of Public Health, Journal of the American Medical Association and Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law.
Ms. Rosenbaum joined George Washington University in 1991 and served as the founding chair of the Department of Health Policy. A graduate of Wesleyan University and Boston University Law School, Ms. Rosenbaum has devoted her professional career to issues of health justice for populations who are medically underserved as a result of race, poverty, disability or cultural exclusion.
Ms. Rosenbaum has emphasized public engagement as a core element of her professional life, providing public service to six presidential administrations and 15 Congresses since 1977. She is best known for her work on the expansion of Medicaid, the expansion of community health centers, patients’ rights in managed care, civil rights and health care and national health reform.