2009 David E. Rogers Award

Jerome P. Kassirer, M.D.
Tufts University School of Medicine

Ten years ago, Jerome P. Kassirer decided to sign off as editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) rather than agree to an arrangement he believed would compromise the journal's integrity. Upon leaving, he promised readers, he would "find some way to continue to contribute." Fortunately for the health of the American public, Dr. Kassirer has made good on that promise by helping medical schools and teaching hospitals nationwide revise their conflict-of-interest (COI) policies. He wields the power of the pen for major medical journals and newspaper publications and lectures on COI extensively in the U.S. and abroad.

Dr. Kassirer is special assistant to the dean at Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM), where he has been a faculty member for 50 years (nearly half of which were spent as vice chair of the department of medicine). Additionally, he holds the titles of distinguished professor—an honor conferred upon only a handful of Tufts faculty in the history of the school—and visiting professor at Stanford University School of Medicine. He also has served on the board of directors of the National Committee for Quality Assurance since 2002.

As a "fearless" editor-in-chief of one of the most respected medical journals, Dr. Kassirer commented upon all aspects of American medicine, publishing, as a Harvard Medical School professor put it, "what readers needed, not necessarily what they wanted." He also gave NEJM its first redesign in over a quarter century, added several new clinical features, and ensured it was one of the first medical journals to be available online. Moreover, Dr. Kassirer developed a process for prepublishing articles that were likely to affect patient care, a mechanism that played a prominent role in saving lives when the toxicity of the then-popular drug Fen-phen was discovered, and which continues to improve the public health today.

In addition to the 70 opinion pieces he wrote during his NEJM tenure, in 2004 Dr. Kassirer authored On the Take: How Medicine's Complicity with Big Business Can Endanger Your Health. As the first major work about the various forms COI can take in clinical care and research, the widely acclaimed book made professional integrity a front-burner issue for academic medicine.

While gaining prominence at the national level, Dr. Kassirer also has left his mark on TUSM as a medical educator, mentor, and researcher. "Through his example, his teaching, and his writing," said Institute of Medicine President Harvey Fineberg, M.D., Ph.D., "Dr. Kassirer inspired a generation of young physicians on both the analytic and the humane aspects of clinical practice." Additionally, his research on the analytics of clinical practice helped pioneer the field by taking a systematic approach to clinical reasoning, helping to explain how and why decisions are made in clinical settings. The second edition of his coauthored book, Learning Clinical Reasoning, was published in September 2009.

The personification of professional integrity, Dr. Kassirer has held the medical profession to the highest possible standards, advanced medical journalism through his incisive writings, and rightfully earned the nickname, "the conscience of American medicine." Thanks to his unwavering commitment to practicing what he preaches, Dr. Kassirer has protected the health and safety of Americans, all of whom can be grateful he made good on his promise not to disappear.

Dr. Kassirer earned his M.D. degree from the University of Buffalo School of Medicine and completed his residency training at Buffalo General Hospital and New England Medical Center.

About the David E. Rogers Award

The David E. Rogers Award is sponsored by the AAMC and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The award honors David E. Rogers, M.D., a former president of the foundation and an exemplar of academic medicine's commitment to meeting the health care needs of our nation. The award recognizes a medical school faculty member who has made major contributions to improving the health and health care of the American people.

Find out more about the David E. Rogers Award.