Diana Bianchi, founding Executive Director of the Mother Infant Research Institute (MIRI) at Tufts Medical Center, was elected to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) on Oct. 21.
The IOM was founded in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences and is used as a national resource for independent scientific analysis, according to Bianchi. The non-profit organization provides guidance to government and private sector bodies making informed healthcare decisions.
Election to the IOM requires a long track record of focused academic accomplishments, generally in a specific research area, as well as evidence of service to one's community, Bianchi said.
According to Dean of Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM) Harris Berman, Bianchi's election speaks to both her accomplishments and the reputation of TUSM.
"She's a wonderful person, and we're proud to have her on our faculty," Berman said. "She certainly deserves this and will represent us well. She really does groundbreaking research there and does real service to patients as well."
According to the IOM website, 1,753 active members elect a maximum of 70 new members each year based on performance in their professional field. Ten of those members are currently affiliated with TUSM.
While Bianchi said that she is thrilled to have received such a tremendous honor, her foremost goal continues to be using her clinical experience to aid in her research with genetics and neonatology.
"The things that I've been able to achieve in my career are nice, but really the goal is always to improve patient care and then understanding of diseases so that we can help people in the long run," she said.
Bianchi explained that she was medically trained in pediatrics, medical genetics and newborn intensive care and has a particular interest in prenatal diagnosis and fetal treatment.
Through her research, Bianchi hopes to more effectively utilize prenatal diagnosis as a way to reduce consequences of genetic diseases.
"On a day-to-day basis I'm doing research that's generally directed towards better understanding of different conditions that affect fetuses: namely, genetic conditions," she said. "And then [I'm] working to develop treatment strategies so that when these babies are born, they are not as sick as they currently are."
Upon receiving notification of her election, Bianchi said that she received an outpouring of support from both personal and professional contacts.
"I got literally hundreds of congratulatory emails and letters from people that I have known and worked with throughout my career, and that was a wonderful feeling to know that they recognize that it was an honor as well," Bianchi said. "And many of the people are also members of the [IOM], so I was very humbled and heartened by their responses."
Despite the honor, Bianchi claims that her number one achievement is being the mother to two adult sons. She also takes pleasure in hearing about the professional accomplishments of those she has taught in the past.
"Nothing makes me happier than finding out someone whom I've trained, worked with or mentored has gotten grant funding or gotten a promotion or was invited to give a very prestigious lecture or had an important paper accepted," Bianchi said.
