NASEM Health and Medicine Division Information

The Health and Medicine Division (HMD) is one of seven divisions within the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Our mission is to harness diverse expertise to inform evidence-based policy, advance research, generate solutions, and accelerate equity in health and medicine. Many of HMD’s consensus studies are formally requested by federal agencies and independent organizations; others begin as mandates from Congress. While expert study committees are vital to our advisory role, we also convene more informal roundtables, forums, and standing committees that address specific topics and hold workshops and webinars to facilitate critical, cross-disciplinary thinking. HMD is aided in its work by more than 2,000 volunteer experts who offer their insights into some of the most complex health and medicine issues facing the nation and the world. Our volunteers are assisted by a team of approximately 100 HMD staff, many of whom are highly credentialed and recognized as experts in their own right. Working synergistically, volunteers and staff uphold rigorous standards for accuracy, objectivity, and excellence. HMD organizes its work around six distinct boards: Board on Global Health Board on Health Care Services Board on Health Sciences Policy Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice Food and Nutrition Board Board on Children, Youth, and Families (shared with the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education)