Genevieve Melton-Meaux, MD, PhD, a colon and rectal surgeon with University of Minnesota Physicians (M Physicians) and professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of Minnesota Medical School, was elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM, formerly the Institute of Medicine). NAM is one part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (the National Academies).
Membership in NAM is a prestigious honor that recognizes an individual’s professional achievement and commitment to service. The election of Dr. Melton-Meaux to NAM reflects her exceptional contributions to the fields of health and medicine.
NAM recognized Dr. Melton-Meaux’s research in integrating AI with healthcare, bridging surgery with informatics and fueling learning health systems as key impacts of her work. “Melton-Meaux explores complex health dynamics, from optimizing clinical note usage in electronic health records to large-scale detection of social/behavioral health determinants with clinical data. Her work has significantly advanced biomedical informatics, clinical practice, and policy,” said NAM in their announcement of new members.
What does becoming a member of the NAM mean to you personally and professionally?
Dr. Melton-Meaux: As a recognition from leaders and distinguished peers, election to NAM is particularly meaningful. Personally, it is a tremendous honor and career milestone. The NAM is also well known for its policy and position publications, which I hope to contribute to across a range of topic areas in informatics, surgery, and learning health systems.
What sparked your interest in health and medicine?
Dr. Melton-Meaux: My undergraduate degrees were in electrical engineering, math, and computer science. I went into medicine to pivot away from what I perceived at the time as less intrinsically mission-oriented fields. I found medicine to be incredibly inspiring and the field of surgery particularly interesting. It is filled with problem-solving, systems thinking, technically challenging procedures, and impactful patient interactions. Informatics brings together my original technical interests with healthcare and clinical practice to be able to improve and have a positive impact on clinical teams and patient care through innovative technology and data solutions. I continue to be incredibly inspired by my patients and colleagues, including many who go above and beyond in service of others.
What advice would you give young medical professionals who hope to achieve significant accomplishments like becoming members of the NAM?
Dr. Melton-Meaux: Have a learning and growth mindset. I have been most inspired when I am able to work with teams across disciplines and approaches. Remember that medicine and health need a wide range of skills and perspectives.
Also, it is important to be patient when forging your own path, which might be different than others and nonlinear at times. Some of the best things I have learned have been from challenging situations, including ones where I have not succeeded.
Personally, I find ways to decompress, have time for self-care, and give myself time to think and be creative.
I also believe that having strong mentors and giving back by being a mentor is really important. Mentors have helped me with career advice, talking through scientific or clinical questions, and often connect me to others.
What are you working on now?
Dr. Melton-Meaux: My work is increasingly focused on learning health systems — which takes the science of healthcare delivery, including areas like implementation science and informatics to improve and innovate directly in patient care. Learning health systems changes how healthcare delivery occurs and evolves clinical research to be in more direct service to healthcare delivery — directly improving patient outcomes, eliminating waste, increasing healthcare accessibility, and scaling learnings across sites and populations.
Three years ago, the U of M founded the Center for Learning Health System Sciences (CLHSS) as a partnership between the Medical School and the School of Public Health. The center was inspired by the promise of a learning health system and key leaders, particularly Dr. Timothy Beebe (Deputy Director) and Dr. Brad Benson (M Health Fairview Chief Academic Officer), as well as the Deans of the Medical School and School of Public Health.
Example Center projects and larger initiatives include:
- A patient safety learning laboratory focused on solutions to improve postoperative recovery at home following surgery.
- Implementing an evidence-based practice guideline for patients with traumatic brain injury delivered using clinical decision support with interoperable technology.
- Several pragmatic trials such as evaluations that (1) test messaging around patient appointment reminders, (2) use of nudges and a navigator to increase rates of advanced care planning completion, and (3) extend life-saving neurology services through a virtual stroke program to rural hospitals.
- Developing, implementing, and disseminating clinical guidelines for pain management in patients with abdominal surgery, working with the FDA.
- Projects in clinical data science and AI best practices, including projects developing, implementing, evaluating, and governing AI solutions.
- A statewide learning health system training program partnering with Essentia, Fairview Health Services, HealthPartners, Hennepin Healthcare, and the Minneapolis VA for individuals wishing to gain skills in learning health system sciences.
I am incredibly inspired by this work, our partnerships across Minnesota and beyond, and the impact that this work has on patients and healthcare.