Yale School of Medicine Professors Elected to National Academy of Medicine

Two Yale School of Medicine professors – Erol Fikrig, MD, and Haifan Lin, PhD – are among 100 new members elected to the National Academy of Medicine. The Academy announced its new members at its annual meeting on October 21st.

Erol Fikrig, MD, is the Waldemar Von Zedtwitz Professor of Medicine and section chief for Infectious Diseases in the Department of Internal Medicine. His election to the Academy honors Fikrig’s research into arthropod-borne infectious diseases, which led to an FDA-approved Lyme disease vaccine, and new experimental vaccines to prevent tick-bites.

Haifain Lin, PhD, is the Eugene Higgins Professor of Cell Biology and Director of the Yale Stem Cell Center. Lin’s election recognizes key contributions to genetics and stem cell research, including the discovery of a gene family (argonaute/piwi genes) related to stem cell maintenance in both animals and plants and the discovery of millions of small, noncoding RNAs called piRNAs.

Originally established as the Institute of Medicine in 1970, the National Academy of Medicine encourages education, research, and public understanding of the Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM) fields. The complete list of new members is available on the Academy’s website.