San Antonio physician selected to join prominent national institute

Carlos Jaén, M.D., Ph.D., was recently among 70 new members chosen to join the Institute of Medicine, a nonprofit organization of more than 1,900 members dedicated to providing impartial advice to government officials and the public. Jaén was asked to join the institute because of his research surrounding community health and patient-centered medical homes.

Jaén is currently a professor at and chair of the department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. His medical interests include improving preventive care, local wellness efforts to improve the public health of his community, and studying high-performance practices. He managed the first large-scale national PCMH demonstration and had results published in the Annals of Family Medicine in 2010. Jaén is also a former chair of the TAFP Commission on Public Health, Research, and Clinical Affairs and has been involved in publishing national smoking cessation guidelines since 1996.

“I am humbled by this election and filled with gratitude toward my mentors, colleagues, friends and family who support my passion for improving health and health care,” says Jaén. “It inspires me to continue working with the next generations of physician leaders and researchers in our journey toward building a more equitable health care system based on primary care.”

New members are elected by current active members for their accomplishments in a health field relevant to IOM’s mission and typically have contributed to the progression of the medical field and public health.