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Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center researcher Alex Krist, M.P.H., M.D., a has been elected as a member of the National Academy of Medicine, considered one of the highest honors in the fields of medicine and health.

Krist, a member of Massey’s Cancer Prevention and Control research program and professor of family medicine in the VCU School of Medicine, teaches resident physicians at the VCU-Fairfax Family Medicine Residency and serves as vice chair of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an independent, volunteer panel of national experts in prevention and evidence-based medicine. He is also the co-director of community-engaged research at the VCU C. Kenneth and Dianne Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research, the only institution in Virginia to receive a Clinical and Translational Science Award from the National Institutes of Health.

“I blend being a practicing family physician, teaching new physicians, conducting research and evaluating evidence to inform policy,” Krist said. “Each activity informs the other. For example, being a busy family physician helps shape my research to address the problems real-world patients and physicians face. Likewise, most of my research helps guide the steps I need to take to be a better physician.”

Among Krist’s accomplishments is his role in developing MyPreventiveCare, an interactive online personal health record that empowers patients to better understand the factors that contribute to their health and take actions to improve them.

As a National Academy of Medicine member, Krist joins the ranks of five other VCU School of Medicine colleagues, including fellow Massey researcher and Wright Center community-engaged research co-director Steven Woolf, M.D., who is also a family medicine physician and member of Massey’s Cancer Prevention and Control research program.

“I have long looked to the National Academy of Medicine for guidance on helping my patients improve their health and well-being,” Krist said. “Its members are thought leaders who I greatly admire, and it is an honor to become a member of the community.” 

Re-purposed from an article by Anne Dreyfuss, C. Kenneth and Dianne Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research

Written by: Wright Center