Three UW School of Medicine professors at the UW School of Medicine have been elected to the National Academy of Medicine. UW Medicine’s Tumaini Rucker Coker, MD, MBA; Ali Rowhani-Rahbar, MD, MPH, PhD; and Hongkui Zeng, PhD, were among 100 newly elected members.
Election to the Academy 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.
Newly elected academy members
Tumaini Rucker Coker
Tumaini Rucker-Coker
Coker is a professor of Pediatrics at the UW School of Medicine and was elected for her research on eliminating health and healthcare disparities for Black and Latinx children as well as families in low-income communities. The academy cited her leadership in advancing child health equity and work that has “transformed our understanding of how to deliver child preventive healthcare during the critical early childhood period to achieve equitable health outcomes and reduce disparities.”
Ali Rowhani-Rahbar
Ali Rowhani-Rahbar
Rowhani-Rahbar is the Bartley Dobb Endowed Professor for the Study and Prevention of Violence in the Department of Epidemiology at the UW School of Medicine and was elected for his research on gun violence, which the academy said has “deepened our understanding of the risk and consequences of firearm-related harm.” His work integrates data from healthcare and criminal justice systems to better understand risk factors related to gun violence and injury. That research has informed policies and programs aimed at reducing the risk of firearm-related harm, particularly in underserved and overlooked communities.
Hongkui Zeng
Hongkui Zeng (photo courtesy of the the Allen Institute for Brain Science)
Zeng is an affiliate professor of Biochemistry at the UW School of Medicine and was elected for her leadership of a team whose work has led to a “transformative understanding of cell type diversity” by generating large-scale, open-access datasets and tools for use in neuroscience research.
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