UCSF faculty member Sandy Feng, MD, PhD, a transplant surgeon who is trying to lessen the need for patients to take immunosuppressant drugs, has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) this year, one of the most prestigious organizations in health and medicine.
By studying the immune profiles of transplant patients who have been successfully weaned off of these drugs, Feng’s research aims to identify other patients who could safely go off them.
Feng is the vice chair for research in the UCSF Department of Surgery, and she has overseen half a dozen clinical trials at UCSF and other academic centers across the country. She is active in the clinic, performing liver, kidney and pancreas transplants. Over her decades at UCSF, she has mentored many medical students, residents, fellows and junior attending physicians.
Feng serves on the editorial board of the New England Journal of Medicine, and she is the editor-in-chief for the American Journal of Transplantation.
The NAM, established in 1970 as the Institute of Medicine, is an independent organization of eminent professionals from diverse fields, including health and medicine; the natural, social, and behavioral sciences; and beyond.
It serves alongside the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering as an adviser to the national and the international community.
New members to the NAM are elected by current active members. This year’s elections bring UCSF’s membership to 122.