Director of Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research Elected to Institute of Medicine

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Oct 15, 2012, 01:00 ET

OAKLAND, Calif., Oct. 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Tracy A. Lieu, MD, MPH, director of the Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, has been elected to the Institute of Medicine effective Oct. 1, 2012.

The IOM, the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences, works outside of government to provide unbiased and authoritative advice to decision-makers and the public. Many of the studies that the IOM undertakes begin as specific mandates from Congress; others are requested by federal agencies and independent organizations. The IOM also convenes forums, roundtables and standing committees to advance the nation's health through discussion, discovery and cross-disciplinary thinking.

Dr. Lieu's research "has illuminated the field of vaccine policy through the creative use of decision sciences and information technology," according to the IOM nomination. Her breadth of experience in policy-relevant research was cited as a key factor in her nomination.

Dr. Lieu's use of modern economic methods in vaccine analyses has transformed the way policymakers appraise new vaccines. Her economic evaluation of pneumococcal vaccination for children in developing countries was a key factor in decisions by philanthropic and governmental organizations to commit more than a billion dollars to establish the global market for this vaccine.

In vaccine safety, Dr. Lieu has collaborated with other Kaiser Permanente researchers to lead the most renowned vaccine safety monitoring systems in the world. She was a key contributor to the development of rapid cycle analysis for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Vaccine Safety Datalink project. Her team's approaches led to the establishment of the Food and Drug Administration's new Post-Licensure Rapid Immunization Safety Monitoring system, which she co-founded. Her work has enabled these active monitoring systems to detect potential vaccine safety problems soon after new vaccines are introduced.

Prior to her appointment as director of the Division of Research in July, Dr. Lieu was a professor and center director with the Department of Population Medicine at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute and Harvard Medical School. She earned her MD at the University of California, San Francisco, and her master of public health degree at the University of California, Berkeley.

About the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research

The Kaiser Permanente Division of Research conducts, publishes, and disseminates epidemiologic and health services research to improve the health and medical care of Kaiser Permanente members and the society at large. It seeks to understand the determinants of illness and well-being and to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of health care. Currently, DOR's 600-plus staff is working on more than 250 epidemiological and health services research projects. For more information, visit www.dor.kaiser.org/.

About Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve more than 9 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to:

kp.org/newscenter.

For more information, contact:
Vincent Staupe, [email protected], 415.318.4386
Ann Wallace, [email protected], 510.891.3653

SOURCE Kaiser Permanente