Two Johns Hopkins Medicine faculty members have joined the ranks of the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine, a prestigious body that brings together national leaders in the fields of health and medicine, social and behavioral sciences, law, administration and economics to develop solutions to a broad range of health policy issues. The institute currently has 632 active members.

Elected this year are Linda P. Fried, a professor of medicine, epidemiology and health policy and the director of the Center on Aging and Health; and Bert Vogelstein, an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and professor of oncology and pathology.

New members from Hopkins elected last year and inducted this year are Dean/CEO Edward D. Miller; Elias A. Zerhouni, chair of the Department of Radiology and executive vice dean of the School of Medicine; Myron L. Weisfeldt, William Osler Professor and recently appointed chairman of the Department of Medicine; Jacquelyn C. Campbell, professor and associate dean for doctoral education and research in the School of Nursing; Thomas J. Kelly, chair of the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics; Lawrence O. Gostin, professor of health policy and management at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, a professor of law at Georgetown University and co-director of the Georgetown/Johns Hopkins Program on Law and Public Health at Georgetown University Law Center; and Catherine D. De Angelis, on leave from Hopkins and former vice dean for academic affairs and faculty, editor of The Journal of the American Medical Association and editor in chief of scientific publications, information and multimedia at the American Medical Association.

In addition, Solomon H. Snyder, University Distinguished Service Professor of Neuroscience, Pharmacology and Psychiatry, was honored at the group's annual meeting Oct. 16 with IOM's Rhoda and Bernard Sarnat International Prize in Mental Health.

Snyder has been at the forefront of molecular neuroscience as it pertains to mental illness. His efforts have transformed scientific understanding of neurotransmitters with the discovery of endogenous opiates and the finding that gases such as nitric oxide can modulate brain activity. His identification of protein receptors for several neurotransmitters has provided insights into the mechanisms of psychoactive drugs such as Valium, caffeine and morphine. Through these advances, his discoveries have led to improved understanding and treatment of many psychiatric disorders.
--Karen Blum