Two African-American Scholars Elected to the Institute of Medicine

The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970. Its mission is to serve as adviser to the nation to improve health. The institute provides unbiased, evidence-based, and authoritative information and advice concerning health and science to policymakers, professionals, leaders in every sector of society, and the public at large. Election to membership is an honor but carries with it a commitment to public service.

There is no official data on the race of the institute’s 1,649 active members. In both 2008 and 2009, JBHE research showed that each year five of the 65 new inductees were African Americans. This year only two of the 65 new members are black.

Benjamin S. Carson Sr. is professor of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore. In 1987 he performed a revolutionary surgery on Siamese twins who were joined at the head. He is a graduate of Yale University and the University of Michigan medical school.

Kevin B. Johnson is professor of pediatrics and vice chair of the department of biomedical informatics at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. Prior to coming to Vanderbilt in 2002 he served on the faculty at the Johns Hopkins University medical school. A graduate of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Dr. Johnson holds a master’s degree in medical informatics from Stanford University and his medical degree is from Johns Hopkins University.

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