UPMC Names Chief Medical and Scientific Officer
PITTSBURGH, Sept. 17, 2010 – UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) announced today the appointment of Steven Shapiro, M.D., to the newly created role of chief medical and scientific officer.
As a member of UPMC’s executive team, Dr. Shapiro will provide medical leadership for a wide range of quality improvement, patient safety and care management initiatives that further the development of innovative, high-quality and cost-effective treatments across UPMC.
Dr. Shapiro also will spearhead scientific investigations into new models for understanding and addressing aggressive disease while minimizing over-diagnosis and over-treatment. This research will ultimately lead to diagnostic and treatment models that position UPMC to address the highest expectations of consumers and subscribers, reduce cost of care and prepare for challenges that will result from health reform legislation and economic uncertainty.
Initiatives under his leadership will bridge UPMC’s hospital division, led by Elizabeth Concordia; physician division, led by Marshall Webster, M.D.; and insurance division, led by Diane Holder, and guide UPMC in driving the future of medicine and patient care.
“UPMC is uniquely positioned to help change the way that the medical profession cares for patients,” said Dr. Shapiro. “Our goal is to continually improve patient-centered medical care. We will blend the science of medicine with the art of medicine to determine for each patient his or her unique pathway to treatment. We’ll learn the intricacies that distinguish those who do well from those who do poorly. We’ll also learn, with strong scientific proof, when less aggressive treatment is optimal for certain patients.”
One initiative just under way, led by Dr. Shapiro, is a UPMC-funded program to identify genetic alterations in patients with prostate, breast, ovarian and lung cancers and to examine why different patients may have different outcomes.
Dr. Shapiro currently is Jack D. Myers Professor of Medicine and chair, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Prior to joining UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh, he was the Parker B. Francis Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and chief, Pulmonary and Critical Care, Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Dr. Shapiro will remain as chair of Pitt’s Department of Medicine while the search for his successor proceeds.
About UPMC
UPMC is an $8 billion integrated global health enterprise headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and is one of the leading nonprofit health systems in the United States. As western Pennsylvania‘s largest employer, with almost 50,000 employees, UPMC is transforming the economy of the region into one based on medicine, research, and technology. By integrating 20 hospitals, 400 doctors’ offices and outpatient sites, long-term care facilities, and a major health insurance services division, and in collaboration with its academic partner, the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences, UPMC has advanced the quality and efficiency of health care and developed internationally renowned programs in transplantation, cancer, neurosurgery, psychiatry, orthopaedics, and sports medicine, among others. UPMC is commercializing its medical and technological expertise by nurturing new companies, developing strategic business relationships with some of the world‘s leading multinational corporations, and expanding into international markets, including Italy, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Japan. For more information about UPMC, visit our website at www.UPMC.com.