
Shlomo Melmed, MB, ChB, executive vice president of Medicine and Health Sciences and dean of the Medical Faculty at Cedars-Sinai, has been elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) — one of the world’s largest and most prestigious scientific societies and publisher of the Science journals.
The lifetime honor recognizes Melmed, the Helene A. and Philip E. Hixon Distinguished Chair in Investigative Medicine, for his decades of significant contributions to the field of endocrinology, particularly for revealing biological processes involved in pituitary tumorigenesis and control of hormone production and action.
“Over the course of decades, Dr. Melmed has been an outstanding physician-scientist and a true leader in the field of endocrine biology as evidenced by research from his laboratory that has led to fundamental and translational advances, a commitment to educating the next generation of investigators, and leadership of numerous professional societies,” said Peter L. Slavin, MD, president and CEO of Cedars-Sinai. “He is truly deserving of this honor and recognition.”
Melmed will be welcomed into the association during the annual Fellows Forum in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, June 7.
“I am both humbled by and grateful for this peer-recognized honor, which reflects the longstanding dedication of my laboratory team, including students, postdocs, fellows and colleagues, all engaged in the pursuit of new knowledge underpinning normal and disordered function of the pituitary gland and its hormones,” Melmed said. “The pituitary is indeed the master homeostatic conductor for maintaining cell communication, as well as developmental, metabolic, growth and reproductive homeostasis. I am proud of our contributions to furthering therapeutic advances for our patients with pituitary disorders.”
Melmed’s National Institutes of Health-funded laboratory and pituitary clinic have contributed to alleviating adverse impacts of pituitary failure and pituitary tumors, including prolactinomas, acromegaly, Cushing’s disease, and non-secreting adenomas.
Melmed has been a leader at Cedars Sinai for more than 40 years and has been the health system’s chief academic officer since 1998. He has trained more than 80 physicians, scientists, and graduate students who hold leading positions in academic endocrinology worldwide. He is an editor of Williams Textbook of Endocrinology, edits The Pituitary and was editor-in-chief of Endocrinology and of Pituitary.
Melmed is an elected member of the Association of American Physicians and American Society for Clinical Investigation. He served on the Endocrine Society Council, as president of the International Society of Endocrinology and as president and a founding member of the Pituitary Society. Additionally, he is a member of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine’s Independent Citizens’ Oversight Committee.
Melmed is a master of the American College of Physicians and has been honored with the Pituitary Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the Transatlantic Medal and Dale Medal from the Society for Endocrinology, the Endocrine Society’s Clinical Investigator Award and Outstanding Scholarly Physician Award, and the Royal Society of Medicine’s Clinical Endocrinology Trust Medal.
He earned his medical degree with distinction from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and is a diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine, certified in endocrinology and metabolism.