Bethesda, Maryland — Three scientists in leadership positions at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have been elected to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest honors in the fields of medicine and health, it was announced today.

NIH Principal Deputy Director Raynard S. Kington, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., H. Clifford (Cliff) Lane, M.D., clinical director at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and Paul A. Sieving, M.D., Ph.D., director of the National Eye Institute (NEI), are among the 65 new members of the IOM, which is a national resource for independently informed analysis and recommendations on issues related to human health. With their election, members make a commitment to devote a significant amount of time as volunteers for IOM committees, which conduct a broad range of studies on health policy issues.

"We are delighted that the Institute of Medicine has recognized Drs. Kington, Lane, and Sieving for their superb professional achievements and their commitment to public service and the advancement of biomedical research. These outstanding physician/scientists have consistently contributed in important, transforming ways to advance medicine, public health, and research. They represent the high caliber of scientific professionals at NIH," said Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., NIH director.

Raynard Kington

As principal deputy director of NIH since February 2003, Dr. Kington shares in the overall leadership, policy direction, and coordination of NIH biomedical research and research training programs of NIH’s 27 Institutes and Centers. “Raynard has been invaluable in helping to lead NIH during a time of great scientific opportunity and formidable management challenges,” said Dr. Zerhouni. “It is gratifying to know that the IOM has recognized his important contributions to science and medicine.”

As deputy director, Kington has helped implement a new governance system at NIH and the Office of Portfolio Analysis and Strategic Initiatives (OPASI). Prior to this appointment, he had been Associate Director of NIH for Behavioral and Social Sciences Research since September 2000. In addition to this role, from January 2002 to November 2002, he served as Acting Director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Prior to coming to NIH, Dr. Kington was Director of the Division of Health Examination Statistics at the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As Division Director, he also served as Director of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), one of the nation's largest studies to assess the health of the American people. Prior to coming to NCHS, he was a Senior Scientist in the Health Program at the RAND Corporation. While at RAND, Dr. Kington was a Co-Director of the Drew/RAND Center on Health and Aging, a National Institute on Aging Exploratory Minority Aging Center.

Dr. Kington attended the University of Michigan, where he received his B.S. with distinction and his M.D. He subsequently completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Michael Reese Medical Center in Chicago. He was then appointed a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania. While at the University of Pennsylvania, he completed his M.B.A. with distinction and his Ph.D. with a concentration in Health Policy and Economics at the Wharton School and was awarded a Fontaine Fellowship. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Public Health and Preventive Medicine.

Dr. Kington’s research has focused on the role of social factors as determinants of health; the health and socioeconomic status of black immigrants; differences in populations in willingness to participate in genetic research; racial and ethnic differences in infectious disease rates; the health status of U.S. Hispanic populations; the economic impact of health care expenditures among the elderly; and racial and ethnic differences in the use of long-term care.

Cliff Lane

Dr. Lane is a pioneer in the study of the pathogenesis and treatment of HIV infection, including his groundbreaking work using interleukin-2 (IL-2) to reconstitute the immune systems of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-infected individuals. He has been a principal investigator on more than 30 studies in the United States and abroad and was the first to conduct a clinical trial of an AIDS vaccine in the U.S. As Clinical Director of NIAID, he has demonstrated a tireless commitment to advancing research and developing treatment strategies in the areas of HIV and biodefense.

Dr. Lane is one of the world’s leaders in the study of the immunopathogenesis of HIV infection and in the design and conduct of innovative clinical trials in therapeutics and immune reconstitution. In 1987, Dr. Lane and colleagues at the NIH Clinical Center began the first U.S. clinical trial of an experimental HIV vaccine in humans. Dr. Lane was the first to attempt the therapeutic strategy of bone marrow and lymphocyte transfers from twins to their identical siblings with HIV/AIDS. He also explored alpha interferon and interleukin-2 as possible AIDS treatments. Dr. Lane’s work increased understanding of the nature of critical immune system abnormalities in patients with HIV/AIDS. His IL-2 work continues to the present day in two large-scale international clinical efficacy trials, ESPRIT and SILCAAT. As Clinical Director of NIAID, the second largest NIH institute, he has established and directed a world-renowned intramural clinical research program. Dr. Lane is also the Deputy Director of NIAID for Clinical Research and Special Projects and Director of the NIAID Division of Clinical Research.

Dr. Lane received his B.S. in Chemistry and M.D. from the University of Michigan. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases, and Diagnostic and Clinical Laboratory Immunology. He has received the Commendation Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, Outstanding Service Medal, and the Distinguished Service Medal, from the U.S. Public Health Service, as well as the Chevalier du’ Mali from the President of Mali.

"Dr. Lane's selection for membership in the Institute of Medicine is richly deserved," said NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. "In a career at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) spanning 25 years, Dr. Lane's scientific and clinical leadership has been extraordinary, especially with regard to research into the pathogenesis and treatment of human immunodeficiency virus infection and his stewardship of NIAID's clinical research program."

Paul Sieving

Dr. Sieving is director of the National Eye Institute, NIH. He is an ophthalmologist who has made seminal contributions to understanding hereditary retinal neurodegenerations and has explored therapy strategies to rescue rodent models and human blinding degenerative retinopathies known as retinitis pigmentosa. Building on his laboratory studies of genetic and pharmacological approaches to slowing degeneration and vision loss in transgenic animal models of these conditions, he led the first human clinical therapy trial of a neurotrophic factor for retinitis pigmentosa, which was reported in 2006. He has also successfully applied gene transfer therapy to restore retinal function in a mouse model of X-linked retinoschisis, which mimics a genetic form of human macular degeneration. He maintains a clinical practice for patients with these and other genetic forms of retinal diseases, including Stargardt juvenile macular degeneration. At the NIH he leads the NIH Roadmap Nanomedicine Initiative, to explore fundamental applications of nanotechnology to possibilities for medical therapeutics.

Prior to joining the NIH in 2001, Dr. Sieving was the Paul R. Lichter Professor of Ophthalmic Genetics at the University of Michigan Medical School where he founded the Center for Retinal and Macular Degeneration in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. “Paul has demonstrated outstanding scientific leadership at NEI, as he helps apply what we have learned in genomics and molecular biology to studying and treating eye diseases and conditions that affect millions around the world,” Dr. Zerhouni said. “It is fitting that the IOM has recognized his important contributions to science and improving people’s health.”

After undergraduate work in history and physics at Valparaiso University, Dr. Sieving studied nuclear physics at Yale Graduate School under D. Allan Bromley from 1970-73 and attended Yale Law School from 1973-74. He received his M.D. in 1978 and a Ph.D. in bioengineering in 1981, both from the University of Illinois, Chicago. Dr. Sieving completed his ophthalmology residency at the University of Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary in Chicago. After post-doctoral study of retinal physiology in 1982-84 at the University of California, San Francisco, he completed a clinical fellowship in genetic retinal degenerations at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. He is board certified in ophthalmology.

He has been elected to memberships in the American Ophthalmological Society and the Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis. He was named as one of The Best Doctors in America in 1998, 2001 and 2005. Dr. Sieving has received a number of awards, including the RPB Senior Scientific Investigator Award, the Alcon Research Institute Award, and the 2005 Pisart Vision Award from the New York Lighthouse International for the Blind.

The Office of the Director, the central office at NIH, is responsible for setting policy for NIH, which includes 27 Institutes and Centers. This involves planning, managing, and coordinating the programs and activities of all NIH components. The Office of the Director also includes program offices which are responsible for stimulating specific areas of research throughout NIH. Additional information is available at http://www.nih.gov/icd/od/.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The Nation's Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.