WASHINGTON — The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) has selected three outstanding health professionals for the class of 2020 NAM Fellowships.  The fellows were chosen based on their professional qualifications, reputations as scholars, professional accomplishments, and relevance of current field expertise to the work of the NAM and the Health and Medicine Division of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (the National Academies).  The fellows will collaborate with eminent researchers, policy experts, and clinicians from across the country during their two-year fellowship.  They will help facilitate initiatives convened by the National Academies to provide nonpartisan, scientific, and evidence-based guidance to national, state, and local policymakers, academic leaders, health care administrators, and the public.

The class of 2020 NAM Fellows is:

• James C. Puffer, M.D./American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) Fellow: 
  Rita Hamad, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor in residence; director, Social Policies for Health Equity Research (SPHERE) program, department of family and community medicine, Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco

• NAM Fellow in Osteopathic Medicine: 
  Julieanne P. Sees, D.O., FAAOS, FAOAO, FAOA, associate professor, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia; orthopedic surgeon, division of orthopedics, department of orthopedics, Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, Del.

• NAM Fellow in Pharmacy: 
  Adam Bress, Pharm.D., M.S., associate professor of population health sciences, division of health system innovation and research, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City

“I am pleased to welcome these exceptional health science scholars into the NAM Fellowship program,” said National Academy of Medicine President Victor J. Dzau.  “Through this experience, they will study health care challenges across a range of disciplines and viewpoints to develop sound health care strategies and policies, in contribution to our process of providing advice to the nation.  The fellows will be able to build a network of mentors whom the fellows can call upon throughout their careers.”

Each fellow will continue in his or her primary academic post while engaging part time over a two-year period in the National Academies’ health and science policy work.  Each fellow will also work with an expert study committee or roundtable related to his or her professional interests, including contributing to its reports or other products.  A flexible research stipend will be awarded to every fellow.

The overall purpose of the NAM Fellowship program is to enable talented, early-career health science scholars to participate actively in the work of the National Academies and to further their careers as future leaders in their fields. 

The National Academy of Medicine, established in 1970 as the Institute of Medicine, is an independent organization of eminent professionals from diverse fields including health and medicine; the natural, social, and behavioral sciences; and beyond.  It serves alongside the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering as an adviser to the nation and the international community.  Through its domestic and global initiatives, the NAM works to address critical issues in health, medicine, and related policy and inspire positive action across sectors.  The NAM collaborates closely with its peer academies and other divisions within the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Contact:
Dana Korsen, Media Relations Manager
Office of News and Public Information
202-334-2138; e-mail news@nas.edu

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