Dr. James Economou has been elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine. He was one of 70 new members and 10 foreign associates elected this year.
Economou is UCLA’s Beaumont Professor of Surgery and vice chancellor for research. He holds joint appointments in the department of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics, and the department of medical and molecular pharmacology. A member of the UCLA faculty since 1986, he earned his undergraduate, medical and doctoral degrees at Johns Hopkins University, and completed his surgical training at UC, San Francisco. Prior to becoming the senior research officer at UCLA, he founded the UCLA Human Gene Medicine Program and served as deputy director of UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Economou is past president of the Society of Surgical Oncology and president-elect of the American Surgical Association, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious surgical society.
A tumor immunologist, Economou is one of the pioneers in complex cell- and gene-based therapies for cancer. He has an active surgical oncology practice and is a member of a large team science program in engineered immunity.
The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research oversees UCLA’s $1 billion research enterprise and promotes initiatives in entrepreneurship, transdisciplinary scholarship and diversity.
