AUSTIN, Texas — Dean Clay Johnston, M.D., Ph.D., of Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin has been elected to the prestigious National Academy of Medicine (NAM) — one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine. The academy recognizes leaders noted for extraordinary professional achievement and commitment to serving others.
The NAM announced Johnston’s election along with 99 other new members at its annual meeting today in Washington, D.C.
“When Clay started at UT, we had just begun construction on our new medical school. Over the last five years, he has transformed Dell Med and UT Health Austin into one of the most dynamic and innovative centers for health and health care in the nation,” said Gregory L. Fenves, president of The University of Texas at Austin. “He has shown remarkable leadership, innovation and creativity throughout his career in medicine, and his election to the National Academy is very well deserved.”
Johnston joined Dell Med as its inaugural dean in 2014. Since then, his vision for
building the medical school and academic health system of the future has taken shape through innovative models of care, collaboration within a complex health ecosystem of partners and initiatives focused on high-value health care and community impact.
“Clay’s election reflects his important contributions to understanding strokes, his leadership as founding dean of Dell Med and his contributions to patient care. All of these have been accomplished with the energy, enthusiasm and creativity for which he is so admired,” said Kenneth Shine, M.D., a Dell Med professor of internal medicine and former president of the Institute of Medicine, now the National Academy of Medicine.
A neurologist specializing in stroke care and research, Johnston was associate vice chancellor for research at the University of California, San Francisco before coming to Austin. He also directed UCSF’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute and founded its Center for Healthcare Value, where he led efforts to improve the quality of care while also lowering costs.
Johnston graduated from Amherst College and Harvard Medical School. He performed his residency and training in vascular neurology at UCSF, where he eventually directed the stroke service and was a professor of neurology and epidemiology.
In 2016, Johnston was named Austinite of the Year by the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce for leading health transformation in Austin and beyond.
Other Dell Med faculty members who are members of the National Academy of Medicine are Karen DeSalvo, M.D., MPH; George Macones, M.D., MSCE; Mark McClellan, M.D., Ph.D.; Charles Nemeroff, M.D., Ph.D.; William Sage, M.D., J.D.; Kenneth Shine, M.D. (professor emeritus); and William Tierney, M.D.; as well as University of Texas at Austin faculty members George Georgiou, Ph.D., and Nicholas Peppas, Sc.D.
