Victor J. Dzau is the President of the US National Academy of Medicine (NAM). In addition, he serves as Vice Chair of the US National Research Council. He is Chancellor Emeritus and James B. Duke Professor of Medicine at Duke University and the past President and CEO of the Duke University Health System. Previously, Dr. Dzau was Professor and Chair of Medicine at Harvard and Stanford Universities.
He is an internationally acclaimed leader and scientist has made a significant impact through his seminal research in cardiovascular medicine and genetics. His important work on the renin angiotensin system paved the way for the contemporary understanding of cardiovascular disease. He pioneered gene therapy for vascular disease.
He is a fellow of the Japan Academy and a member of the Program Committee of Japan WPI. In June 2022, he co-hosted the US Japan Bilateral Dialogues in Global Health. He has been appointed to the Hiroshima G7 Global Health Task Force.
At the National Academies, Professor Dzau has designed and led important initiatives such as the Commission on a Global Health Risk Framework for the Future; the Human Genome Editing Initiative and Climate Change and Human Health. Recognizing that global aging is one of the defining challenges of the 21st century, Professor Dzau launched the NAM Grand Challenge in Healthy Longevity which has two core components: 1) the Global Roadmap for Healthy Longevity which is an international commission recommending policy actions to achieve healthy longevity for societies and 2) the Healthy Longevity Global Competition which incentivizes innovation in healthy longevity research. Japan AMED is a key collaborator in this initiative. Together, the NAM and its global collaborators have created a worldwide movement.