How important is Dr. Kalil's chair at the National Academy of Medicine
Cardiologist Roberto Kalil Filho takes office this Friday (12) at the National Academy of Medicine (ANM), one of the most traditional and prestigious scientific institutions in the country.
With the election, Kalil joins the entity's Medicine Section, occupying Chair No. 01, whose patron is the doctor Joaquim Cândido Soares de Meirelles. Until 2025, the chair was occupied by pulmonologist Dr. José Manoel Jansen, who passed away in August of that year.
Kalil's entry into the Academy represents the recognition of a consolidated trajectory in Brazilian medicine, especially in the area of cardiology. Currently, he is Full Professor of the Discipline of Cardiology at the Department of Cardiopneumology at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of São Paulo (FMUSP).
He also exercises strategic roles in important health institutions in the country, such as the presidency of the Board of Directors of the Heart Institute (InCor) of the Hospital das Clínicas of FMUSP, the director of the Division of Clinical Cardiology of the same institution and the vice-coordination of the Postgraduate Program in Cardiology of FMUSP. In addition, he is general director of the Cardiology Center at Hospital Sírio-Libanês.
How important is chair number 1?
Occupying a chair at the National Academy of Medicine is considered one of the highest distinctions in a medical career in Brazil. The full members are chosen by vote among the academics themselves and become part of a group responsible for contributing to the scientific, academic and institutional debate on national medicine.
The selection process occurs when a chair is vacated, either due to the death of a full member or when an academic becomes an emeritus member.
After this, the position is open for application. Chairs may belong to the Sections of Medicine, Surgery or Sciences Applied to Medicine, and there is no fixed calendar for new elections, as vacancies depend on these circumstances.
Chair nº 01 has historical significance within the Academy. Its patron, Joaquim Cândido Soares de Meirelles, was an important Brazilian doctor of the 19th century, recognized for his work in imperial medicine and for his contribution to the development of medical practice in the country.
Meirelles also had a relevant participation in the institutional organization of Brazilian medicine in a period of scientific and academic consolidation in Brazil.
Upon assuming the chair, Kalil becomes part of the restricted group of 100 full members of the institution, sharing space with important names in medicine in Brazil, including neurosurgeon Paulo Niemeyer Filho, recognized for his work in the treatment of tumors and aneurysms; José de Jesus Camargo, responsible for the first lung transplant carried out in Latin America; and academic Pietro Novellino, highlighted for his contribution to teaching and institutional leadership.
Do people with bipolar disorder live less?
Source: CNN