PHILADELPHIA —Scott Halpern MD, PhD, MBE, assistant professor of Medicine, Epidemiology, and Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, has been named an Anniversary Fellow at the Institute of Medicine (IOM), the arm of the National Academy of Sciences that advises the nation’s leading decision-makers on health and medicine.
The fellowship is a two-year term during which Dr. Halpern will serve on an expert study committee and participate in other health and science policy work. He is among four fellows chosen based on their professional qualifications, reputations as scholars, professional accomplishments, and relevance of current field expertise to the work of the IOM.
Dr. Halpern’s research combines empirical approaches from the fields of epidemiology, health services research, and the decision-making sciences with conceptual work grounded in moral philosophy. His research is supported by the National Cancer Institute, National Institute on Aging, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, American Heart Association, and by a Greenwall Foundation Faculty Scholar Award in Bioethics.
Beginning in October, the fellows will work with eminent researchers, policy experts, and clinicians from across the country to collaborate on initiatives convened by the IOM to provide nonpartisan, evidence-based guidance to national, state, and local policymakers, academic leaders, health care administrators, and the public.
The appointment comes with a $25,000 award to support Dr. Halpern’s research.
Dr. Halpern is also the Deputy Director of the LDI Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics (CHIBE) and Director of the Fostering Improvement in End-of-Life Decision Science (FIELDS) program.
“We are delighted to have these exceptional professionals work with the IOM to carry out our programs to help those in government and the private sector make informed health decisions," said Institute of Medicine President Harvey V. Fineberg.
For the IOM release, please visit here.
Penn Medicine is one of the world’s leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, excellence in patient care, and community service. The organization consists of the University of Pennsylvania Health System and Penn’s Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine, founded in 1765 as the nation’s first medical school.
The Perelman School of Medicine is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $550 million awarded in the 2022 fiscal year. Home to a proud history of “firsts” in medicine, Penn Medicine teams have pioneered discoveries and innovations that have shaped modern medicine, including recent breakthroughs such as CAR T cell therapy for cancer and the mRNA technology used in COVID-19 vaccines.
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