ANN ARBOR —  University of Michigan experts in anesthesiology and radiation oncology are among the new members of the National Academy of Medicine of the National Academies, one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine. The institute was formerly called the Institute of Medicine.

George Mashour, M.D., Ph.D., and Lori J. Pierce, M.D., were elected to the NAM in recognition of their major contributions to the advancement of the medical sciences, health care and public health.

With their election, the U-M now has 58 members of the NAM on its active and emeritus faculty.

George A. Mashour, M.D, Ph.D., was appointed associate dean for clinical and translational research and director of the Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research (MICHR) in October 2015. He also serves as executive director of translational research in the Office of Research. The Bert N. La Du Professor of Anesthesiology Research in the Medical School, he holds additional faculty appointments in the Department of Neurosurgery and the Neuroscience Graduate Program.

In his capacity as associate dean, Dr. Mashour guides the translational research efforts of the Medical School in close partnership with the senior associate dean for research and other departments to enhance the quality and quantity of externally sponsored research. As director of MICHR, he oversees a unit that enables and enhances clinical and translational research by educating, funding, connecting, and supporting research teams across the University of Michigan and beyond.

Dr. Mashour received his medical degree and doctorate in neuroscience from Georgetown University. He was a Fulbright Scholar in neuroscience at the Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin, Germany, from 1998-99. He completed his internship at Harvard Medical School, postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Bonn, Germany, and residency training at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. He was a fellow in neurosurgical anesthesiology at the U-M, and in 2007 was appointed assistant professor in the departments of Anesthesiology and Neurosurgery. He was promoted to tenured associate professor in 2013 and was named the Bert N. La Du Professor of Anesthesiology Research in 2014.

He is an internationally recognized expert on the topics of consciousness, anesthetic mechanisms, and sleep. His investigations include a range of approaches, from computational modeling to animal studies to clinical trials. He has been well funded throughout the years and currently serves as the principal investigator of two R01 grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and as lead principal investigator for a multi-centered James S. McDonnell Foundation grant.

Read the full article at Michigan Medicine.