Peterson elected to prestigious Institute of Medicine

Photograph of Dr. Herbert Peterson

Herbert B. Peterson, MD, professor and chair in the Department of Maternal and Child Health at the School of Public Health and professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the School of Medicine, has been elected to membership in The Institute of Medicine (IOM), the organization announced this week.

Sixty-five new members and four foreign associates were chosen, bringing the IOM’s total active membership to 1,538.

“It is a great pleasure to welcome these distinguished and influential individuals to the Institute of Medicine,” said IOM President Harvey V. Fineberg. “Members are elected through a highly selective process that recognizes people who have made major contributions to the advancement of the medical sciences, health care and public health.”

Established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute serves as a national resource for independent, scientifically informed analysis and recommendations on human health issues. Members from a variety of fields, including the health professions, the humanities, law, administration, engineering, and the natural, social and behavioral sciences, provide significant volunteer service to IOM committees, which engage in a wide range of studies about health policy issues.

“Recognition by the Institute of Medicine is one of the highest honors accorded to a scientist,” said Barbara K. Rimer, DrPH, dean of the School of Public Health. “We are so pleased that Dr. Peterson has been recognized in this way for his exemplary contributions.”

Peterson is known nationally and internationally for his work in women’s reproductive health, epidemiology, health policy, and evidence-based decision-making. Before he joined the School of Public Health faculty in 2004, he held various research and administrative positions with the World Health Organization, U.S. Public Health Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over the course of 20 years. He also held joint professorships in the Schools of Medicine at University of North Carolina (1994-2004) and Emory University in Atlanta, Ga. (1994-2002).

A Distinguished Service Medal he received in 1999 from the U.S. Public Health Service recognized his “exemplary service in providing visionary leadership and in conducting and translating reproductive health science to promote national and international health.”

In addition to joint appointments in the Schools of Public Health and Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Peterson is a fellow at the Cecil B. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at UNC.

“I really appreciate this [honor] and am even more grateful for the role that the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has played in making it possible,” said Peterson. “From my first days as an OB/GYN resident until today, Carolina has had a profound positive impact on my life.”

William L. Roper, MD, MPH, dean of the School of Medicine, CEO of UNC Health Care and fellow member of the IOM, said he is “delighted that the Institute of Medicine has recognized Dr. Peterson’s outstanding contributions to public health, women’s health and medicine.”

David Savitz, PhD, former professor and chair of the Department of Epidemiology in the School of Public Health, also was elected to membership this year. Savitz now directs the Center of Excellence in Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Disease Prevention at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.

Note: Dr. Peterson can be reached at (919)966-5981 or herbert_peterson@unc.edu.

Institute of Medicine contact: Christine Stencel, Media Relations Officer, (202) 334-2138 or news@nas.edu.

School of Public Health contact: Ramona DuBose, director of communications, (919) 966-7467 or ramona_dubose@unc.edu.