The Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine is pleased to announce that Polly E. Parsons, MD, MACP, FCCP, ATSF, will serve as AAIM President and CEO, beginning July 11, 2022. The second president in the Alliance’s history, Dr. Parsons brings her commitment to the tripartite mission to lead AAIM into the next phase of the future.
She currently serves as the EL Amidon Chair and Professor of Medicine at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont as well as Chair of Medicine of the University of Vermont Health Network, positions she has held since 2006. She will step down from the chair role as of October 1 to dedicate her enthusiasm and energy to continue strengthening and advancing AAIM.
A long time supporter of the Alliance, Dr. Parsons is a former APM Councilor, ASP Councilor, Chair of the AAIM Accreditation Committee, and member of numerous task forces and committees to support education, fellowship requirements, milestones, and program planning.
She is the author of more than 170 articles, chapters, and reviews as well as the editor of 10 textbooks. Her research focused on biomarkers in acute lung injury has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, and she has served on several research review and advisory committees, including the National Heart Lung and Blood Scientific Advisory Council and the Scientific Council of the Francis Families Foundation. She is currently the Scientific Director for the Parker B. Francis Fellowship Program, which provides support to scientists pursuing research careers in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine.
Dr. Parsons is a past president of both the American Thoracic Society and the Association of Pulmonary and Critical Care Programs Directors. In recognition of her myriad contributions at the national level, she is a recipient of the American Thoracic Society Distinguished Achievement Award, the ATS Assembly on Critical Care Annual Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Edward Livingston Trudeau Medal. She is a fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians and the American Thoracic Society as well as a Master of the American College of Physicians.
Dr. Parsons earned her undergraduate degree at Radcliffe College and her MD at University of Arizona College of Medicine. She completed her residency in internal medicine and her fellowship in pulmonary medicine at University of Colorado School of Medicine.
The Alliance members, leaders, and staff look forward to Dr. Parsons’s leadership as AAIM continues to grow, evolve, and serve the needs of more than 11,000 faculty and administrator members in departments of internal medicine in medical schools and teaching hospitals.