Thomas Schwenk, Michael Savageau Elected to the Institute of Medicine

Thomas L. Schwenk (M.D. 1975), professor and chair of Family Medicine and professor of medical education, and Michael A. Savageau, Ph.D., professor emeritus and former chair of Microbiology and Immunology, were elected in October 2002 to the prestigious Institute of Medicine, the medical organization of the National Academy of Sciences. Election to the Institute is an honor reserved for those who have made distinctive contributions to health through biomedical or social sciences research or leadership in the health professions. Schwenk and Savageau’s elections bring the total number of U-M Medical School faculty members elected to the Institute over the years to 29, with 19 currently active members.

Schwenk joined the Medical School faculty in 1984, was appointed interim chair of the Department of Family Medicine in 1986 and named permanent chair in 1988. His research has focused on psychiatric epidemiology in primary care, with an emphasis on the diagnosis and treatment of depression. He is a member of the steering committee of the U-M Depression Center, a member of the National Advisory Committee of the Robert Wood Johnson Generalist Faculty Scholars Program, and a member of the board of directors of the American Board of Family Practice. Schwenk has published over 100 papers and books.

Michael Savageau became a member of the University of Michigan faculty in 1970; he chaired the Department of Microbiology and Immunology from 1993 until his retirement at the end of 2002. A pioneer in the field of biochemical systems analysis, he founded the U-M Bioinformatics Program in 1988 and served as its director until 2001. Savageau’s book, Biochemical Systems Analysis: A Study of Function and Design in Molecular Biology, is considered a classic and a forerunner to the field of functional genomics. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and, since 2000, has chaired the Special Study Section on Biochemical Modeling at the National Institutes of Health.

Institute of Medicine members serve on national committees studying a broad range of health policy issues. Currently, there are 1,358 active members in the Institute.

Also:

James Ferrara Receives Doris Duke Distinguished Clinical Scientist Award

U-M’s 2003 Golden Apple Award for Outstanding Teaching Goes to Medical School’s Tom Gest

Thomas Schwenk, Michael Savageau Elected to the Institute of Medicine

Former Allergy Chief Kenneth Mathews’U-M Career Spanned Four Decades

Medical School Inaugurates the Norman Thompson, M.D., Professorship in Surgery

Albert J. Silverman Pioneered Early Space Psychiatry and Neuroscience Research

U-M Mental Health Research Institute Founder James Miller Is Dead at 86

Friedhelm Hildebrandt Installed as the First Frederick G.L. Huetwell Professor of the Cure and Prevention of Birth Defects

Second Annual Faculty Awards Dinner