Elkin Receives Prestigious Honors From CDC, NLM
Published October 14, 2022
By Bill Bruton
Peter L. Elkin, MD, UB Distinguished Professor and chair of biomedical informatics at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, has received two prestigious honors.
Will Have Opportunity to Teach at CDC
Peter L. Elkin, MD
He recently was granted an appointment at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in its preventive medicine program.
“This is prestigious for UB to have this kind of federal appointment,” Elkin says. “The more our faculty are recognized nationally, the better it is for our reputation and our rankings.”
He will have the opportunity to teach at the CDC headquarters in Atlanta. Specific dates are yet to be finalized.
“The appointment gets me access to key people and interesting work that is going on there,” says Elkin, who has been at the forefront of the Jacobs School’s COVID-19 data research. “At the end of the day, I’m hoping it leads to some of their students becoming aware of and then will enroll in our courses.”
The Jacobs School’s Department of Biomedical Informatics is ranked in the top 10 percent of all medical schools, according to Elkin, a recipient of the Homer R. Warner award for outstanding contribution to the field of medical informatics, among other prestigious awards.
Schwartz Also Elected to Library Board
Diane G. Schwartz, MLS
Elkin and Diane G. Schwartz, MLS, research associate professor of biomedical informatics, have also been elected to the board of the Friends of the National Library of Medicine (NLM).
“It’s a prestigious group that helps to support and advise the NLM on priorities and on issues of science nationally,” Elkin says.
A colleague proposed Elkin for the board. Once he was on the board, he proposed Schwartz for the honor as well.
“It was a pleasure to elect her,” Elkin says of Schwartz, who has created many educational programs to ensure that patients and families have access to quality health information that is understandable and reliable.