Ted Abel elected to the National Academy of Medicine

Ted Abel, PhD, professor and chair of the Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology at the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, and director of the Iowa Neuroscience Institute at the UI, has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine.

Election to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) 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. This year, the NAM elected 90 national and 10 international members. 

Abel, who also is the Roy J. Carver Chair in Neuroscience, is recognized for his work on the interplay of sleep and memory formation and storage, and the molecular basis of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders, including autism.

“We are thrilled for Ted and extremely proud of his accomplishment,” says Brooks Jackson, MD, MBA, University of Iowa vice president for medical affairs and the Tyrone D. Artz Dean of the UI Carver College of Medicine. “Ted is a distinguished scientist and an exceptional leader with a rare talent for mentoring young investigators and creating a collaborative environment in which exciting and innovative ‘team science’ thrives.”

New members of the NAM are elected by current members through a process that recognizes individuals who have made major contributions to the advancement of the medical sciences, health care, and public health.

“These newly elected members represent the most exceptional scholars and leaders whose remarkable work has advanced science, medicine, and health in the U.S. and around the globe,” said National Academy of Medicine President Victor J. Dzau. “Their expertise will be vital to addressing today’s most pressing health and scientific challenges and informing the future of health and medicine for the benefit of us all. I am honored to welcome these esteemed individuals to the National Academy of Medicine.”

Abel joined the UI in 2017 as director of the Iowa Neuroscience Institute. He also holds faculty appointments in the UI Carver College of Medicine Departments of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Psychiatry, and Biochemistry, and in the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.

He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, and the Association for Psychological Science. He is currently president of the Molecular and Cellular Cognition Society and past chair of the Section on Neuroscience of AAAS. Abel has co-authored over 200 scientific papers, and his research has been supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency of the U.S. Department of Defense, the Simons Foundation, the Department of the Army, the National Science Foundation, the Human Frontiers Science Program, the Whitehall Foundation, the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

Abel received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Swarthmore College, a master of philosophy degree in biochemistry from the University of Cambridge, a doctoral degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from Harvard University, and was a postdoctoral fellow in neurobiology at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University. Prior to moving to Iowa, Abel was the Brush Family Professor of Biology and co-director of the Biological Basis of Behavior Program at the University of Pennsylvania.

Abel joins the following UI faculty and administrators who have been elected members of the NAM: 

• François Abboud
• E. Dale Abel
• Nancy Andreasen
• Joseph (Jody) Buckwalter
• Kathleen Buckwalter
• Kevin Campbell
• John Colloton
• Susan Curry
• Bruce Gantz
• James Merchant
• Jeff Murray
• Jennifer Niebyl
• Debra Schwinn
• Val Sheffield
• Richard Smith
• Robert Wallace
• Michael Welsh
• Ronald Weigel