Twin Tributes
Dean Henri R. Ford and Dr. Omaida Velazquez have been elected to the National Academy of Medicine
By Richard Westlund
Photography by Kiko Ricote
Dean Henri R. Ford and Dr. Omaida Velazquez
H
enri R. Ford, M.D., M.H.A., dean and chief academic officer of the Miller School, has been elected to the prestigious National Academy of Medicine (NAM), an honor that reflects his remarkable professional achievements and commitment to service in health and medicine.
Omaida C. Velazquez, M.D., professor and chair of the Miller School’s DeWitt Daughtry Family Department of Surgery, has also been elected to NAM. A renowned surgeon-scientist and the first Hispanic woman to lead a U.S. academic department of surgery, Dr. Velazquez was recognized for her groundbreaking contributions to peripheral vascular disease and wound healing.
Membership in NAM is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine, recognizing individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievements and commitment to service.
Since joining the Miller School in 2018, Dean Ford has focused on developing the next generation of transformative leaders who will shape the future of medicine, direct health systems to deliver value-based care, and champion discovery and its translation into clinical interventions to improve the health of humanity.
“I am humbled by this incredible honor, which reflects the Miller School’s commitment to excellence that characterizes our faculty, staff, students and trainees every day,” Dean Ford said. “We hold ourselves to the highest standard in medicine while advancing our mission of transforming lives through education, research, innovation and service.”
For more than a decade, Dr. Velazquez has focused her transformational research on restoring blood flow to dying or damaged tissues affected by peripheral artery disease, diabetes or other conditions. Her research has been continuously funded by major grants from the National Institutes of Health since 2002.
“It is truly a privilege to join the growing number of academy members from the Miller School,” said Dr. Velasquez, who is the David Kimmelman Endowed Chair in Vascular and Endovascular Surgery and surgeon-in-chief for the University of Miami Health System and Jackson Health Systems. She holds secondary appointments in the departments of radiology and biochemistry and molecular biology.
Seven other faculty have previously been named to NAM: University President and professor Julio Frenk; former UM President and professor Donna E. Shalala; Margaret Pericak-Vance, Ph.D., the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Professor of Human Genomics and director of the John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics; Diana D. Cardenas, M.D., M.H.A., professor emeritus; Mary Bartlett Bunge, Ph.D., professor emeritus; Guillermo J. Prado, Ph.D., vice provost for faculty affairs, dean of the Graduate School, and professor of nursing and health studies, public health sciences and psychology; and Ralph L. Sacco, M.D., M.S., professor and chair of neurology and the Olemberg Family Chair of Neurological Disorders. 
Read more about Dean Ford’s and Dr. Velazquez’s accomplishments.
