BOSTON – Clifford B. Saper, MD, PhD, Chairman of the Department of Neurology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and James Jackson Putnam Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience at Harvard Medical School, has been elected to the Institute of Medicine (IOM).
Election to the IOM is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service. Established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute is one of four distinguished organizations that make up the National Academies, which provide scientific and technological advice to the nation.
Saper is one of the country's leading neuroscientists studying the brain circuitry that controls basic physiologic functions. His work has greatly extended the understanding of the body's wake-sleep cycles, brain responses to immune stimulation, and the brain's control of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, and has helped lead to advances in treating sleep disorders, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.
"BIDMC is extremely proud of Dr. Saper's work in the field of neurobiology and privileged to be the beneficiary of his leadership and vision in areas of clinical care, medical education and research," said Paul Levy, BIDMC President and CEO. "Our community is honored by his election to the Institute of Medicine."
Saper received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees and did his internship in internal medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis before completing a neurology residency at Cornell University Medical Center-New York Hospital. He then joined the faculty of Washington University School of Medicine where he served from 1981 to 1985 before joining the faculty of the University of Chicago where he was the William D. Mabie Professor of Physiology and Neurology. Saper has served in his current positions at BIDMC and Harvard Medical School since 1992.
He currently serves as president of the Sleep Research Society. Since 1994, he has served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Comparative Neurology, and also serves on the editorial board of the scientific journal Neurology. The recipient of a Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award from the National Institutes of Health, Saper has served as Vice President and Councilor of the American Neurological Association.
Saper is an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Royal College of Physicians (London).
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a patient care, teaching and research affiliate of Harvard Medical School and consistently ranks in the top four in National Institutes of Health funding among independent hospitals nationwide. BIDMC is a clinical partner of the Joslin Diabetes Center and a research partner of the Harvard/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. BIDMC is the official hospital of the Boston Red Sox. For more information, visit www.bidmc.org.