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nat-acad-of-medicine-inductees-photos-from-penn-almanac
Kurt Barnhart (bottom right), Christopher Forrest (top right), Susan Furth (top left), Desmond Upton Patton (bottom left), and Robert Vonderheide (center) were recently inducted into the National Academy of Medicine (Photos from Penn Almanac).

Five faculty members from the University of Pennsylvania are among the 100 new members elected this year to the National Academy of Medicine.

The Academy elects individuals who have made major contributions to the field of medical science, health care, and public health. Kurt Barnhart, Christopher Forrest, Susan Furth, Desmond Upton Patton, and Robert Vonderheide will join 83 other Penn affiliates in NAM.

Barnhart, the William Shippen Jr. professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Perelman School of Medicine, specializes in the epidemiological aspects of ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage, and infertility. Barnhart’s research on biomarkers as a diagnostic aid and clinical care, which focused on evidence-based medicine, established the global standard for OB-GYN and fertility care.  

Forrest is a professor of pediatrics and director of the Applied Clinical Research Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Forrest also serves as the principal investigator of PEDSnet, where he helped set up the PROMIS Pediatric Global Health measure, a database in which more than 13 million children have contributed via self-reporting on their health. 

Furth is the principal investigator of The Chronic Kidney Disease in Children study, the largest project of its kind ever conducted in North America. Furth is also the chief scientific officer and an executive vice president of CHOP, and a professor of pediatrics and epidemiology at the Medical School.

Upton Patton is a professor at the School of Social Policy & Practice and the Annenberg School for Communication. Patton is also the founding director of SAFELAB,  a research project that is exploring how best to support youth of color in dealing with grief and violence in social media environments.

Vonderheide is the Director of the Abramson Cancer Center and the John H. Glick Abramson Cancer Center professor at the Medical School. Vonderheide is well known in the field of cancer research for his various studies and successes with cancer immunotherapies, particularly in the treatment of pancreatic and breast cancer.