Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg

Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine. He served as provost of Harvard University from 1997 to 2001, following 13 years as dean of the Harvard School of Public Health. He has devoted most of his academic career to the fields of health policy and meds of health policy and medical decision making. His past research has focused on the process of policy development and implementation, assessment of medical technology, evaluation and use of vaccines, and dissemination of medical innovations.

Fineberg helped found and served as president of the Society for Medical Decision Making and has been a consultant to the World Health Organization. He also served as a member of the Public Health Council of Massachusetts, as chairman of the Health Care Technology Study Section of the National Center for Health Services Research and as president of the Association of Schools of Public Health.

Fineberg is co-author of the books Clinical Decision Analysis, Innovators in Physician Education and The Epidemic that Never Was, an analysis of the controversial federal immunization program against swine flu in 1976. A recipient of the Stephen Smith Medal for Distinguished Contributions in Public Health from the New York Academy of Medicine, he earned his bachelor's and doctoral degrees from Harvard University.