Association of American Physicians inducts two Feinstein Institute researchers

April 9, 2019 |

4 min read

The Association of American Physicians, a 134-year-old society of the nation’s leading physician-scientists, has elected two Feinstein Institute for Medical Research physician-scientists Lance Becker, MD, and David Eidelberg, MD.

MANHASSET, N.Y., April 9, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Association of American Physicians (AAP), a 134-year-old society of the nation’s leading physician-scientists, has elected two Feinstein Institute for Medical Research physician-scientists Lance Becker, MD, and David Eidelberg, MD. Each year, clinicians are recognized by nomination for membership by the AAP’s Council of the Association. Their election gives them the opportunity to share their scientific discoveries and contributions with their colleagues at the society’s annual meeting, where Drs. Becker and Eidelberg were formally recognized on April 6. In 2018, 60 physicians across the country were elected.

Lance Becker, MD (left), and David Eidelberg, MD (right), professors at Northwell Health's Feinstein Institute for Medical Research

Dr. Becker is a professor at the Feinstein Institute, and chair of the emergency medicine for the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, and the departments at North Shore University Hospital and Long Island Jewish Medical Center. As a member of the National Academy of Medicine, he is internationally recognized for his leadership in emergency resuscitation, cardiac arrest and critical care. His early research described important disparities in cardiac arrest survival and poor survival rates in urban areas, developed the Utstein international nomenclature for resuscitation, promoted the installation of automated external defibrillators in public settings, and pioneered the use of human cooling for cardiac arrest victims.

At Northwell Health, Dr. Becker has promoted the new use of emergency cardiopulmonary bypass to save lives when standard treatment fails, developed a new brain protective cocktail to reduce hypoxic brain injury, and is investigating the role of mitochondrial dysfunction in critical illness.

Dr. Eidelberg, a professor at the Feinstein Institute, is globally renowned for his work using functional brain networks as biomarkers of neurological disease. Using functional brain imaging, he and his research group have identified and characterized network biomarkers for degenerative brain disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. His work led to algorithms to aid in the diagnosis and management of patients with these disorders. In November 2018, Dr. Eidelberg and his co-investigators uncovered an emerging gene therapy for Parkinson’s disease creates new circuits in the brain associated with improved motor movement, which appeared in Science Translational Medicine.

Dr. Eidelberg was also recognized in 2018 with the fourth annual Bachmann-Strauss Prize for Excellence in Dystonia Research, and received an unrestricted $100,000 grant for his use of innovative brain imaging techniques and computational algorithms to better understand the pathophysiology of this disorder and its treatment.

“Honorific election into AAP is the most recent of numerous accolades for Drs. Becker and Eidelberg,” said Kevin J. Tracey, MD, president and CEO of the Feinstein Institute. “It recognizes their outstanding contributions to the science of medicine in cardiovascular physiology and neuroscience, and it recognizes that their discoveries have saved and bettered lives.”

As newly nominated members, Drs. Becker and Eidelberg will join their previously elected Feinstein Institute colleagues, including Dr. Tracey, and Feinstein Institute professors Nicholas Chiorazzi, MD, Betty Diamond, MD, Peter K. Gregersen, MD, John M. Kane, MD, and Jesse Roth, MD.

The AAP is a nonprofit, professional organization founded in 1885 by seven physicians, including Dr. William Osler and Dr. William Henry Welch, for “the advancement of scientific and practical medicine.” The Association is composed of members who are leading senior physician scientists and are competitively selected. Currently, AAP has over 1700 active members and approximately 600 emeritus and honorary members from the United States, Canada and other countries.

About the Feinstein Institute
The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research is the research arm of Northwell Health, the largest health care provider in New York. Home to 50 research laboratories and to clinical research throughout dozens of hospitals and outpatient facilities, the Feinstein Institute includes 4,000 researchers and staff who are making breakthroughs in molecular medicine, genetics, oncology, brain research, mental health, autoimmunity, and bioelectronic medicine – a new field of science that has the potential to revolutionize medicine. For more information about how we empower imagination and pioneer discovery, visit FeinsteinInstitute.org.