Physicians for Social Responsibility honors CISAC's Abrams

Herbert L. Abrams, a member-in-residence at CISAC, received the Physicians for Social Responsibility Distinguished Leadership Award on Feb. 24. Abrams, an emeritus professor of radiology at the Stanford School of Medicine and former chair of radiology at Harvard University, was honored for his leadership in PSR's advocacy of the prevention of nuclear proliferation and nuclear war, and the reversal of global warming and other environmental threats to human health.

The award recognizes Abrams' "long service to PSR and his service to the cause of world peace," PSR executive director Mike McCally said. Abrams "has been a respected academic voice for the importance of the work that PSR does," McCally added. The executive director presented the award to Abrams at Stanford, during the annual meeting of the Student Physicians for Social Responsibility.

Abrams served on PSR's national board of directors for more than 20 years and co-chaired the organization in the 1980s. He was founding vice-president of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, a federation including PSR and similar medical and health professionals' groups worldwide, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985 for its public campaign to halt the nuclear arms race.

An international authority on cardiovascular radiology, Abrams has also researched human reliability in the nuclear forces, the effects of ionizing radiation and of nuclear weapons, and accidental nuclear war. He was one of two physicians selected to serve on the National Academy of Sciences' committee of 16 international experts to study the ionizing effects of radiation and issue a landmark 700-page advisory report to the U.S. government in 2004. His current research focuses on presidential disability and its potential impact on public decision-making.