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Clifford Jack Jr., M.D., Elected to Institute of Medicine
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ROCHESTER, Minn. — Clifford Jack Jr., M.D., radiologist and noted Alzheimer's disease researcher at Mayo Clinic, has been elected to the Institute of Medicine, part of the national academies. Election is considered one of the top honors in medicine.
"This is a great recognition for Dr. Cliff Jack and an honor that is well deserved," says John Noseworthy, M.D., president and CEO of Mayo Clinic. "Dr. Jack is internationally known for his discoveries in radiology and imaging and for his impact on Alzheimer's disease analysis. Much of what we know about how Alzheimer's develops is because Cliff Jack found a way to visualize it."
Dr. Jack is a pioneer in developing medical imaging methods that identify biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease. He has introduced imaging methods to help identify aspects of Alzheimer's in the brain, determine its severity, measure disease progression, and predict its progression. His approaches and imaging techniques have been widely adopted by others. His early achievements focused on a type of brain imaging known as anatomic magnetic resonance imaging, but he has also made pioneering contributions in magnetic resonance spectroscopy, diffusion imaging, functional MRI, high field microimaging, and amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) analyses of amyloid burden. The criteria described for presymptomatic Alzheimer's by the National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer's Association are based largely on his model.
Ronald Petersen, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging, has said of Dr. Jack, "I cannot think of another person who has had a greater long-term impact on the field of neuroimaging in aging and dementia."
Dr. Jack is the Alexander Family Professor of Alzheimer's Disease Research at Mayo Clinic, where he completed a fellowship in neuroradiology. He earned his medical degree at Wayne State University and completed his residency in diagnostic radiology at Henry Ford Hospital. Dr. Jack joined Mayo Clinic in Rochester in 1985. He has been awarded the Potamkin Prize for Alzheimer's and Related Diseases from the American Academy of Neurology and also the MetLife Foundation Award for Medical Research in Alzheimer's disease. Both are the highest honors given in the field of Alzheimer's research. He has also received the Gold Medal from the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, the American Society of Neuroradiology Award for Outstanding Contributions in Research, and was elected to the inaugural Council of Distinguished Investigators of the Academy of Radiology Research.
Dr. Jack has mentored a number of promising young scientists, three of whom now have their own programs nested within his lab.
Dr. Jack's research has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health since 1991. His research group develops and validates magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), amyloid and fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography analysis methods for diagnosing and measuring progression of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders. A major effort is directed at modeling interrelationships among cognitive performance, imaging, and biofluid biomarkers over time. Dr. Jack's research group serves as the magnetic resonance imaging center for several large national multisite studies including the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer's Network, and Atherosclerotic Risk in Communities.
The Institute of Medicine is both an honor membership organization and an expert advisory group that serves as a national resource for independent analysis and recommendations on health issues. New members are elected by current active members through a selective process that recognizes individuals who have made major contributions to the advancement of the medical sciences, health care and public health. With their election, members commit to volunteer their service on Institute of Medicine committees, boards and other activities.
Mayo physician-researchers Richard Ehman, M.D., also a radiologist, and Andrew Engel, M.D., a neurologist, have also been elected to the Institute of Medicine.
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