Jeffrey Drazen, MD

Dr. Jeffrey M. Drazen was born and raised in Clayton, Missouri. He majored in applied physics at Tufts University and graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1972. He currently holds the positions of senior physician at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Distinguished Parker B. Francis Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, professor of physiology at the Harvard School of Public Health and adjunct professor of medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine. He is the recipient of honorary degrees from the University of Ferrara, the University of Athens, the University of Modena and the University of Paris-Sud.

Dr. Drazen is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, the Interurban Clinical Club and the National Academy of Medicine. He serves on the National Academy of Medicine’s Forum on Drug Discovery, Development and Translation.

An active researcher in the field of pulmonary medicine, Dr. Drazen defined the role of novel endogenous chemical agents in asthma, leading to four licensed pharmaceuticals for asthma, now used by tens of millions of people worldwide.

He has published over 600 papers, editorials and review articles and has edited 12 books, including six editions of Goldman-Cecil Medicine and two of Asthma and COPD.

From 2000 to 2019, Dr. Drazen was editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine. During his tenure, the Journal published major papers advancing the science of medicine, including the first descriptions of SARS, timely coverage of the Ebola and Zika virus epidemics and advances in the treatment of cancer, heart disease and lung disease. Ithas been at the forefront of worldwide efforts to register all clinical trials and to share clinical trial data.  The Journal now has over two million unique visitors every week and the highest impact factor of any medical journal publishing original research. He now serves as Editor of NEJM Group.