October 19, 1998
Dr. Steven Gabbe elected to Institute of Medicine
Dr. Steven G. Gabbe, professor and chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Washington School of Medicine and an international authority on high-risk pregnancy, has been elected to the Institute of Medicine. The announcement was made Oct. 12 in Washington, D.C.
Gabbe is one of 55 new members elected this year, bringing the total active membership to 574.
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) was chartered in 1970 as a component of the National Academy of Sciences to enlist distinguished members of the appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. Its mission is to advance and disseminate scientific knowledge to improve human health.
Gabbe joined the UW faculty in July 1996. A maternal-fetal medicine specialist, he is a leading expert on diabetes during pregnancy. He also has done research on prenatal diagnosis using ultrasound, the assessment of fetal well-being, premature labor, and other complications of childbirth. He is known among his clinical staff for his skill and compassion in caring for patients planning or carrying potentially difficult pregnancies.
“We are gratified by this richly deserved recognition of Dr. Gabbe by the Institute of Medicine,” said Dr. Paul G. Ramsey, vice president for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine. “In the two years since he joined our faculty, he has more than lived up to his reputation as an outstanding educator, scientist and clinician.”
Gabbe was previously professor and chair of obstetrics and gynecology at The Ohio State University College of Medicine, where he was the only department chair to receive the Professor of the Year Award from graduating medical students. He is the senior editor of Obstetrics: Normal and Problem Pregnancies, a major textbook now in its third edition. He is immediate past president of the Council of University Chairs of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Born in Newark, N.J., in 1944, Gabbe is a graduate of Princeton University and Cornell University Medical College. He was a resident and fellow at the Boston Hospital for Women, a research and clinical fellow at Harvard University, and has served on the faculties of the University of Southern California, the University of Colorado, and the University of Pennsylvania. He and his wife, Dr. Patricia C. Temple, are the parents of four grown children.
“Dr. Gabbe is without a doubt the most outstanding academic perinatologist in the United States today,” wrote Dr. Carlos Pellegrini, professor and chair of surgery, and chair of the search committee, in a letter to the dean recommending that the UW invite Gabbe to join the medical faculty. “He is an accomplished scholar, having devoted his entire life to the issue of high risk pregnancy and to the influence of diabetes (on pregnancy).”
Institute of Medicine members elect new members from among candidates chosen for their major contributions to health and medicine. Members devote significant volunteer time to committees studying a broad range of health policy issues, making recommendations to the government, corporate sector, the health professions and the public.
Gabbe joins 38 UW faculty members previously elected to the Institute of Medicine.
Current IOM projects include studies of cancer research among minorities and the medically underserved, improving civilian medical response to chemical or biological terrorism, prevention of perinatal transmission of HIV, medical use of marijuana, and a continuing series of reports on recommended dietary allowances.
