American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), the leading not-for-profit organization that oversees the certification and assessment of physician specialists in the United States, has appointed Mira Irons, MD, as the organization’s senior vice president for academic affairs.

Irons, who currently oversees clinical operations of the Division of Genetics at Boston Children’s Hospital and serves as an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, in addition to running a busy clinical practice, will officially assume her ABMS role in October. She brings an impressive breadth and depth of experience in academic medicine, clinical practice, medical professional leadership and scientific research.

In addition to three decades of experience in academic medicine gained on the faculties of the Harvard Medical School and Tufts University School of Medicine, she is active in leadership positions with numerous professional societies. She is President of the Association of Professors of Human and Medical Genetics (APHMG), Member of the Board of Directors and CME Officer for the American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG) and is the ACMG representative to the Council of Medical Specialty Societies. Additionally, she is the immediate Past Chair of the Medical Genetics Residency Review Committee of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

As SVP for academic affairs, Irons will hold a critical ABMS post. She will oversee core ABMS programs and staff that serve to advance improved standards and methods for certification, continuing certification and lifelong assessment, expand ABMS International programs and develop ABMS research initiatives and collaborations.

Irons is active as an invited presenter at regional, national and international teaching and medical events, and is a widely published researcher, with articles published in medical journals including The Journal of Pediatrics, The New England Journal of Medicine, American Journal of Medical Genetics and Pediatrics International and numerous other publications.

She received her bachelor’s degree in medical science from Northwestern University and her medical degree from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. She is ABMS Member Board certified by the American Board of Pediatrics and the American Board of Medical Genetics, and is participating in the MOC programs of both Boards. She has garnered recognition as a Top Doctor from both U.S. News and World Report and Boston Magazine.

About ABMS 

For 80 years, the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) has been the leading not-forprofit organization overseeing physician certification in the United States. It assists its 24 Member Boards in their efforts to develop and implement educational and professional standards for the evaluation, assessment and certification of physician specialists. ABMS Member Boards provide physician certification information to ABMS for its certification verification service programs. The ABMS Maintenance of Certification® program (ABMS MOC®), currently engages more than 450,000 physicians in MOC activities, is an evolution of ABMS Member Board Certification. ABMS is recognized by the key health care credentialing accreditation entities as a primary equivalent source of Board Certification data for medical specialists. Patients can find out for free if their physician is ABMS Member Board Certified by visiting www.CertificationMatters.org or calling toll-free 1-866-ASK-ABMS. For more information about ABMS, visit www.abms.org or call (312) 436-2600.

The 24 Member Boards that comprise the ABMS Member Boards Community certify more than 800,000 physicians. These boards include the American Board of Allergy and Immunology, American Board of Anesthesiology, American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery, American Board of Dermatology, American Board of Emergency Medicine, American Board of Family Medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine, American Board of Medical Genetics, American Board of Neurological Surgery, American Board of Nuclear Medicine, American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, American Board of Ophthalmology, American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery, American Board of Otolaryngology, American Board of Pathology, American Board of Pediatrics, American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, American Board of Plastic Surgery, American Board of Preventive Medicine, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, American Board of Radiology, American Board of Surgery, American Board of Thoracic Surgery and American Board of Urology.