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Chinese-American doctor and academic From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Victor Joseph Dzau PBM (Chinese: 曹文凱; pinyin: Cáo Wénkǎi;[1] born 23 October 1945) is a Chinese-American doctor and academic. He serves as the President of the United States National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine[2]) of the United States National Academy of Sciences and Vice Chair of its National Research Council. He is Chancellor Emeritus and James B. Duke Professor of Medicine at Duke University and former president and chief executive officer of Duke University Medical Center.
Victor J. Dzau | |
---|---|
Born | Victor Joseph Dzau October 23, 1945 |
Education | McGill University (BS, MD) |
Known for | Development of angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitors Pioneer in gene therapy for vascular disease |
Spouse | Ruth Cooper |
Children | 2 |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Cardiovascular medicine and genetics |
Institutions | Duke University |
Dzau received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and an M.D. (in 1972) from McGill University in Montreal, Canada.[3][4] He was the Hersey Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and served as Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Harvard Medical School's Brigham and Women's Hospital (1996-2004), as well as Chief of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine and later Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Stanford University (1990-1996).[5][6] He then became the Chancellor for Health Affairs at Duke University and president and chief executive officer of the Duke University Medical Center.[7] Dzau is currently the James B. Duke Professor of Medicine at Duke University.
Dzau is known for his work on the renin–angiotensin system (RAS) and his investigations into gene therapy for vascular disease. His research laid the foundation for the development of ACE inhibitors, a class of drugs used to treat high blood pressure and congestive heart failure. Dzau was the first to introduce DNA decoy molecules to block transcription as gene therapy in humans.[8] His research in cardiovascular regeneration led to the Paracrine Hypothesis[9] of stem cell action and the therapeutic strategy of direct cardiac reprogramming.[10] He was the previously the Chairman of the National Institutes of Health Cardiovascular Disease Advisory Committee, and he served on the Advisory Committee to the Director of the National Institutes of Health.
He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the European Academy of Sciences and Arts.
Dzau created Duke University's Institute of Health Innovation and Translational Medicine Institute.[11] In 2011, he co-founded the non-governmental organization Innovations in Healthcare[12] in partnership with the World Economic Forum (WEF) and McKinsey & Company.
Dzau has published and spoken extensively on reimagining the future of academic medicine and medical training. In 2010, he proposed an evolution from “bench to bedside” to a “bench to bedside to population” model, which would encompass the entirety of the discovery to care continuum.[13] This model is an approach to closing the gaps in traditional medicine and increasing integration from research to care to population: first, minimizing the gap between scientific discovery and clinical translation (bench to bedside), and second, closing the gap between clinical best practices and community dissemination and adoption (bedside to population). In 2021, Dzau revised the model to reflect a “bench to bedside to population to society” approach.[14] The updated version speaks to the current need for convergence of care delivery with public health, as well as the importance of data science, the significant contributions of social determinants of health, and the impact of health and social inequities.
In July 2014, Dzau was appointed for a six-year term as President of the then Institute of Medicine (now the National Academy of Medicine).[15] He oversaw the reconstitution in 2015 of the Institute of Medicine as the National Academy of Medicine, establishing a novel operational and programmatic infrastructure for the organization. In 2020, he was elected to a second six-year term by members of the National Academy of Medicine, becoming the organization's first president to be elected rather than appointed by the president of the National Academy of Sciences.[16]
Dzau launched numerous programs and initiatives at the National Academy of Medicine, including:
Dzau created Duke University's Institute of Global Health and the Duke NUS Graduate Medical School in Singapore.[20] He also founded the Division of Global Health Equity at Harvard Brigham and Women’s Hospital[21] and chairs the International Advisory Board of McGill University's School of Population and Global Health. Dzau served on the Board of Health Governors for the World Economic Forum[22] and chaired its Global Futures Council on Healthy Longevity and Human Enhancement.[23] Dzau is co-chair of the Healthy Brains Global Initiative,[24] which aims to improve the lives of people living with mental and neurological health conditions worldwide.
Three Global Health Lectureships have been established in Dzau's name:
Dzau was born in Shanghai, Republic of China. His father owned a chemical manufacturing company. He and his family fled to Hong Kong to escape from the Chinese Civil War.[27]
Dzau's wife, Ruth Cooper-Dzau, is the president of The Second Step, a nonprofit charitable organization that provides housing and transnational programs for domestic violence victims. They have two daughters, Jacqueline and Merissa.[28] Dzau is on the honor roll of the Jewish Federation of Durham Chapel Hill and has been a speaker at the Federation's Ignite talks.[29][30]
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