Two Johns Hopkins Medicine faculty members have been elected to the National Academy of Medicine, considered one of the highest honors in health and medicine.

Charlotte Sumner, a professor in the departments of Neurology, Neuroscience and Genetic Medicine, cares for patients with genetically mediated neuromuscular diseases. Her research focuses on developing gene-targeting therapeutics for individuals with motor neuron and peripheral nerve disorders, including spinal muscular atrophy and Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. The colleagues who sponsored her for nomination to NAM noted in their proposal statement that Sumner is a world leader in advancing the care and treatment of these diseases.

Victor Velculescu, a professor of oncology and co-director of the Cancer Genetics and Epigenetics Program at Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, led the first genome-wide sequence analysis in human cancers, identifying key genes and pathways in tumorigenesis. He developed methods for global gene expression analyses and coined the word “transcriptome” to describe the patterns that could now be obtained in cancer and other cells. This research has revealed the genomic landscape of human cancers. Velculescu’s work has provided new paradigms for understanding human cancer that have paved the way for precision medicine and benefited patients worldwide.