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WSU’s Blaine White Elected to Prestigious Institute of Medicine

Dr. White’s contributions to emergency medicine have earned him membership in the Institute of Medicine.

Blaine White, MD, has been elected to membership in the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. White, professor of emergency medicine and physiology at the Wayne State University School of Medicine, is one of 60 new members elected to the institute this year. In addition to Dr. Charles Schuster of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences and Dr. Ada Jacox of the College of Nursing, Dr. White is one of only three members of the WSU faculty to be granted this honorary position.

Dr. White joins a prestigious group of only 632 people in the entire country who belong to the Institute of Medicine. Membership is both an honor and an obligation to work on a broad range of studies related to health policy issues. Members contribute their knowledge and professional judgment to the formulation of public policy recommendations.

Throughout his career, Dr. White has been at the forefront of basic science research related to post-ischemic reperfusion injuries in the brain. His research is critically important in emergency medicine since only 3 percent of the 70,000 patients who are resuscitated from cardiac arrest each year regain full cognitive capabilities. His well-funded research team, that currently includes four other emergency medicine faculty, has provided a better understanding of many processes and mechanisms associated with neurological injury including: oxygen radical formation, identification and tissue mapping of lipid peroxidation, identification and tissue mapping of protein modifications causing loss of protein synthesis in injured neurons, and recovery of protein synthesis induced by growth factors such as insulin.

Dr. White is an academic physician who has served on the Wayne State faculty since 1976 and was a practicing emergency physician from 1974 to 1995. He spent 17 years on staff at Detroit Receiving Hospital, treating critically ill and injured patients and providing urgent care.

In 1999, Dr. White participated on an Institute of Medicine committee that issued a report about methods and protocols for resuscitating wounded military soldiers in the field, until they could be transported for professional medical attention. The report, called Fluid Resuscitation: State of the Science for Treating Combat Casualties and Civilian Injuries, offered guidelines for field medics who must rescue and resuscitate fellow soldiers in difficult terrain with limited medical gear and unruly conditions. The information contained in this report is also relevant to civilian populations because it addresses technology and medical needs in the first line of emergency trauma care.

“I am pleased to congratulate Dr. White on this distinctive honor in being named to the Institute of Medicine,” said Dr. John Crissman, dean of the WSU School of Medicine. “Dr. White is an accomplished researcher, physician and teacher who has made his mark on the field of emergency medicine. He is a Wayne State graduate, a founding member of the Department of Emergency Medicine, and a committed teacher and mentor. He has trained many junior researchers and medical students who have gone on to serve scientific discovery and patients alike. He is a dynamic academic physician and the consummate professional.”

Established in 1970 as a unit of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine is concerned with the protection and advancement of the health professions and sciences, the promotion of research and development pertinent to health, and the improvement of health care. The National Academies are comprised of: the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Med-icine, and National Research Council.

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