ABIM Announces New Board and Council Members

Philadelphia, PA, July 6, 2017 – Today, the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) announced new appointments to its governance structure, including new members of the Board of Directors and Council.

Patricia M. Conolly, MD, is now Chair of the ABIM Board of Directors and Marianne M. Green, MD, is now Chair-Elect of the Board. Anand Lal, MD, and C. Seth Landefeld, MD, are new members of the Board.

Jeffrey Berns, MD, is now Chair-Elect of ABIM Council. Jane E. Onken, MD; Olakunle Akinboboye, MD; and Mark Udden, MD, are new members of ABM Council.

Both ABIM's Board of Directors and Council are comprised of physicians with academic and clinical practice experience, interprofessional health care team members and public members. ABIM's governance members collaborate across the medical community to set strategy, lead innovation in assessment methods and ensure that Certification and Maintenance of Certification (MOC) recognize physicians who demonstrate current clinical knowledge needed to treat patients.

"ABIM Board and Council members work in and represent communities of physicians and patients from across the country and from a variety of clinical settings. We'll rely on these relationships to help us align our programs with how physicians practice today while maintaining standards patients can trust," said Richard J. Baron, MD, President and CEO of ABIM. "Our focus is offering physicians more flexibility in how their pursuit of new knowledge across the field of internal medicine can be effortlessly recognized through ongoing certification. I look forward to all we will accomplish together with leadership from our new officers and with insights from our new members."

The Board of Directors sets the future direction, strategy and goals for the organization to ensure the relevance and value of ABIM Certification and develops and maintains important partnerships in the healthcare community.

Board officers beginning their terms today:

Chair, Patricia M. Conolly, MD, is an Associate Executive Director of The Permanente Medical Group (TPMG) in Oakland, California, and the Executive Vice President for IT for the Permanente Federation. In her current role, she practices internal medicine at Kaiser Permanente Oakland and leads TPMG's technology group, with oversight of the EMR and technology tools to optimize care delivery. In addition, she oversees health education and health promotion in Kaiser Permanente Northern California.

Chair-Elect, Marianne M. Green, MD, is the Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Green is an inaugural member of the Feinberg Academy of Medical Educators. In addition to her academic roles, she directs patient care at the outpatient General Internal Medicine Clinic. She is also a member of ABIM's Council.

New Board members announced today:

Anand Lal, MD, is a practicing rheumatologist and is the Chief of Rheumatology and the Chief of Specialty Documentation and Coding for The Permanente Medical Group (TPMG) in Roseville and Sacramento, California. He is also the Assistant Chief of Rheumatology for TPMG, Northern California, and an associate professor (volunteer faculty) at University of California, Davis School of Medicine.

C. Seth Landefeld, MD, is a practicing internist and is Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). He serves on the Boards of Directors of the UAB Health System and the University of Alabama Health Services Foundation and is a member of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.

The ABIM Council designs policies and procedures for Certification and MOC with peers across all the specialties of internal medicine to ensure the quality, relevance and effectiveness of ABIM's programs.

"Physicians have seen major changes to ABIM processes, including the ability to more seamlessly earn both CME credit and MOC points for more of the important activities they do every day to update their medical knowledge and practice," said Jeanne M. Marrazzo, MD, MPH, Chair of the ABIM Council. "Our new Council members will join a community dedicated to exploring scientific innovations and changes in the medical field that make a difference for doctors and the patients they serve."

New Specialty Board Chairs and Council Members:

Chair-Elect of ABIM Council, Jeffrey Berns, MD, is Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education, Associate Chief of the Renal, Electrolyte, and Hypertension Division, and Director of the Nephrology Fellowship Training Program. Dr. Berns maintains a general nephrology practice at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He also is the Chair of the ABIM Nephrology Board.

Chair of the ABIM Cardiovascular Board, Olakunle Akinboboye, MD, is an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York. He is also the Medical Director of Queens Heart Institute/Laurelton Heart Specialist P.C. in Rosedale, Queens, New York.

Chair of the ABIM Gastroenterology Board, Jane E. Onken, MD, is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology at Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina. She is Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease clinic at Duke and on faculty at the Duke Clinical Research Institute.

Chair of the ABIM Hematology Board, Mark Udden, MD, is Chief of Benign Hematology and Professor of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) in Houston, Texas, and is Chief of Hematology at the Ben Taub General Hospital and Harris Health Smith Clinic. He is also an Attending Physician in the Baylor Clinic and consults at Baylor Saint Luke's Medical Center and the Texas Children's Hospital Pavilion for Women. He is also Chair of ABIM's Hematology Board Exam Committee.

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ABIM Board Certified Doctors Make a Difference
Internists and subspecialists who earn and maintain board certification from the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) differentiate themselves every day through their specialized knowledge and commitment to continual learning in service of their patients. Established as an independent nonprofit more than 80 years ago, ABIM continues to be driven by doctors who want to achieve higher standards for better care in a rapidly changing world. Visit ABIM's blog to learn more and follow ABIM on Facebook and Twitter. ABIM is a member of the American Board of Medical Specialties.