Glazer and Omer Are New Members of National Academy of Medicine

Two Yale faculty members, Peter M. Glazer, MD, PhD; and Saad B. Omer, MBBS, MPH, PhD; have been elected to the prestigious National Academy of Medicine, the academy announced today. Founded in 1970 as the Institute of Medicine the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) is one of three academies that make up the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (the National Academies) in the United States. New members are elected by current members through a process that recognizes individuals who have made major contributions to the advancement of the medical sciences, health care, and public health.

NAM President Victor J. Dzau says of Glazer and Omer and the academy’s 98 other newly elected members, “Their expertise will be vital to informing the future of health and medicine for the benefit of us all. I am truly honored to welcome these esteemed individuals to the National Academy of Medicine.”

Peter M. Glazer is chair and Robert E. Hunter Professor of Therapeutic Radiology and professor of genetics. Glazer researches new strategies for treating cancer and the role of altered DNA repair in tumor progression. His research was recognized by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health with a prestigious Outstanding Investigator Award of $7 million that supports his efforts to exploit DNA repair for cancer therapy. He discovered that tumor hypoxia causes genetic instability and that mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase and related metabolic genes suppress DNA repair in cancers, conferring vulnerability to PARP inhibitors. His lab has developed novel DNA repair inhibitors for cancer therapy and has advanced triplex-forming oligonucleotides for gene editing. His work has led to multiple new clinical trials for cancer at Yale and elsewhere. Glazer also leads the radiation oncology program at Smilow Cancer Hospital and its network of care centers. He earned both his MD and PhD at Yale after obtaining his BA in chemistry from Harvard in 1979 and MSc in biochemistry from the University of Oxford in 1981. He joined the Yale School of Medicine faculty in the Department of Therapeutic Radiology in 1991.

Saad Omer is the inaugural director of the Yale Institute for Global Health, Harvey and Kate Cushing Professor of Medicine (Infectious Diseases) at Yale School of Medicine, professor of epidemiology of microbial diseases at Yale School of Public Health, and adjunct professor at Yale School of Nursing. Omer has conducted studies in the United States, Guatemala, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Africa, and Australia. Omer conducted seminal studies on maternal immunization as well as on interventions to reduce vaccine refusal and has conducted consequentialist research during the COVID-19 pandemic. His work has been cited in global and country-specific policy recommendations and has informed public health practice, clinical vaccine recommendations, and legislation in the United States and globally. He serves on the board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the World Health Organization’s working group on COVID-19 vaccine, for which he took the lead on drafting the prioritization roadmap for global vaccine allocation. Omer earned his MPH and PhD at Johns Hopkins University, after receiving his medical degree from the Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan, in 1998. He joined the Yale faculty in 2019.

Nancy J. Brown, MD, Jean and David W. Wallace Dean of Yale School of Medicine, says both Glazer and Omer richly deserve the honor of election to NAM. “These two extraordinary members of our faculty have distinguished themselves in cancer research and responses to global health crises respectively. They represent the breadth of talent at Yale that is having a wide-ranging impact on the health of people around the world.”

This year’s inductees have full membership in NAM immediately, and will be formally inducted at NAM’s 2023 annual meeting.