Michael R. DeBaun, M.D., has been elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest honors medical scientists in the United States can receive.
DeBaun was recognized for his major contributions to the advancement of the medical sciences, health care and public health.
DeBaun
DeBaun holds the Ferring Family Chair in Pediatric Cancer and Related Disorders and is a professor of pediatrics, of biostatistics and of neurology at the School of Medicine.
He has established an internationally renowned program for treatment, education and research into sickle cell disease.
Under his leadership, a team of investigators received funding for the first National Institutes of Health (NIH)-sponsored international clinical trial in sickle cell disease. As the principal investigator for NIH-funded grants, DeBaun has received more than $25 million.
DeBaun, along with the Pediatric Sickle Cell Disease Clinical and Research Team, has initiated multiple community-based activities to improve the quality of life of individuals with sickle cell disease. In 1999, the team started and still conducts the only camp for children with sickle cell disease in the area. DeBaun also initiated The Charles Drew Program in partnership with the American Red Cross, designed to increase African-American blood donors in St. Louis, and the Sickle Cell Sabbath is a faith-based effort to educate African-Americans about the disease and blood donation.
In 2002, DeBaun established the Ferring Scholar Program to attract talented students into the sciences.
DeBaun also is a national advocate for children with sickle cell disease. He co-authored a bill that was sponsored by former Sen. Jim Talent from Missouri and Sen. Charles Schumer from New York. The Sickle Cell Treatment Act, signed into law in 2004, allows states to receive federal funding for patient counseling, educational initiatives and community outreach programs; allows patients to receive federal matching funds for disease-related services under Medicaid; and created new treatment centers nationwide.
DeBaun has authored more than 120 peer-reviewed publications. The School of Medicine presented him with the Pediatrics Clinical Teacher of the Year Award twice. Other honors include the Burroughs Wellcome Translational Research Award, the Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship Program and induction to the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the American Association of Physicians.
He was one of 65 new members and five foreign associates elected to the Institute of Medicine. As a member, DeBaun makes a commitment to devote a significant amount of volunteer time on committees engaged in a broad range of health-policy issues.