ResourcesPress Release

Dr. Catherine D. DeAngelis to Join PHR Board of Directors

For Immediate Release

Physicians for Human Rights(PHR) today announced that Dr. Catherine (Cathy) D. DeAngelis will join the organization’s Board of Directors inJune.

DeAngelis brings almost 50years of experience in the medical profession to PHR and an extensivebackground in medical education and publishing. From 2000 to 2011, DeAngelisserved as editor-in-chief of the Journalof the American Medical Association and nine archives specialty journals, where she was both the first woman and the first pediatrician toserve as editor. She has also edited several other medical journals, includingthe Archives of Pediatrics and AdolescentMedicine. Her publications include 11 books on pediatrics and medical educationand more than 200 original articles, chapters, editorials and abstracts.

“Cathy is a respected memberof the medical community and we are thrilled to have her join PHR’s Board ofDirectors,” said Robert Lawrence, Chairman of PHR’s Board of Directors. “Her  commitment to women’s health issues andadvancing the medical community’s knowledge of important and timely issuesmakes her a perfect addition to PHR.”

Prior to herappointment at JAMA, DeAngelis was Vice Dean for Academic Affairs and Facultyat Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. While in this role, she helpedto expand medical opportunities for women and introduced a new curriculumemphasizing direct contact with patients. 

“PHR has a long history of success infighting to protect human rights, and it gives medical professionals a uniqueopportunity to use our skills, authority, and passion to improve lives  around the globe,” said DeAngelis. “I amhonored to be chosen as a member of the board.”

DeAngelis hasserved as an officer of numerous national academic societies, government bodies,and medical organizations, including the American Board of Pediatrics, theAmerican Council on Graduate Medical Education, the National Academy ofScience, the Institute of Medicine, the Advisory Committee to the Director ofthe National Institutes of Health, and the Advisory Board of the U.S.Government Accountability Office. She is also a Fellow of the AmericanAssociation for the Advancement of Science and a Fellow of the Royal College ofMedicine.

In 2008, DeAngelis won the Medical Award of Excellence from the Ronald McDonald House Charities. She used the $100,000 award toestablish the Cathy DeAngelis Endowment Fund at Johns Hopkins’ Child Life Program. She was also the 2008recipient of the American Academyof Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) Catcher in the Rye Humanitarian ofthe Year Award for her work leading discussions about conflicts of interest inmedicine.

DeAngelis holds an MD fromthe University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and an MPH from the HarvardSchool of Public Health. In addition she has been awarded seven honorarydegrees.

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) is a New York-based advocacy organization that uses science and medicine to prevent mass atrocities and severe human rights violations. Learn more here.

Media Contact

Kevin Short

Deputy Director, Media & Communications1.917.679.0110

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