National Academy of Medicine Names Epidemiologist Dustin Duncan Emerging Leader in Health and Medicine
WASHINGTON — The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) today announced that Columbia Mailman School’s Dustin Duncan , ScD, associate professor of epidemiology, has been named a 2022 Emerging Leader in Health and Medicine Scholar. The new class of scholars, an essential part of a major NAM initiative, the Emerging Leaders in Health and Medicine Program, are early- to mid-career professionals from a wide range of health-related fields, from epidemiology and psychiatry to medical ethics and mechanical engineering The platform provides a new generation of leaders to collaborate with the NAM and its members across fields of expertise to advance science, combat persistent challenges in health and medicine, and spark transformative change to improve health for all.
Duncan is a social and spatial epidemiologist, studying how neighborhood characteristics and mobility across geographic contexts influence population health and health disparities. His research focuses on Black gay, bisexual and other sexual minority men and transgender women of color. His work has a strong domestic focus--including in New York City, Chicago and the Deep South but also spans the globe such as in West Africa, especially with Columbia's ICAP. In addition to HIV epidemiology, his current interests include characterizing the COVID-19 epidemic locally, nationally and globally, especially among marginalized populations. Working in collaborations with scholars across the world, he has over 200 high-impact scientific articles and book chapters, and his research has appeared in major media outlets including The Washington Post, The New York Times, CNN, and Politico.
Duncan has received several mentoring and leadership awards, and in 2020, was named Mentor of the Year from Columbia University Irving Medical Center's Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research. He has mentored early career faculty with particular emphasis on the underrepresented.
As a member of the 2022 class, Duncan, who is one of 10 emerging leaders, will engage in a variety of activities throughout the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine over a three-year term. Activities include meetings in Washington, D.C., with NAM leadership and members; planning an annual Emerging Leaders Forum; participating in National Academies convening activities; publishing NAM Perspectives; and attending the NAM’s annual meeting each October.
“These professionals possess outstanding leadership qualities and are poised to shape the future of science, medicine, and health equity,” said NAM President Victor J. Dzau. “I am delighted to welcome 10 extraordinary scholars into the National Academy of Medicine’s Emerging Leaders in Health and Medicine program, and I look forward to their contributions to accelerate innovative and cross-disciplinary activities to address pressing health and medicine challenges we face as a nation.”
The other nine Emerging Leaders are experts in genetics, medicine, psychiatry, and mechanical engineering from University of California, San Francisco; University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center; University of Alabama at Birmingham; Weill Cornell Medicine; Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania; University of Vermont; Washington University; Harvard Medical School and MIT.
The NAM Emerging Leaders Forum, to be held in Washington, D.C., April 18-19, 2023, will provide an opportunity for the new group of scholars and invited participants to share their activities and insights on cutting-edge developments through collaborative work and interdisciplinary discussions among the nation’s rising leaders in health and medicine.
Read more at the National Academy of Medicine.