Nadia Hansel, M.D., a pulmonary and critical care physician and expert in the environmental determinants of obstructive lung diseases, has been named director of the Department of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and physician-in-chief of The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Hansel is the William Osler Professor of Medicine. She is the first woman to lead the storied Department of Medicine in its 131-year history.

A world-renowned expert in obstructive airway diseases, Hansel focuses her research on defining the effects of indoor air quality on asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and in understanding how the environment and neighborhoods contribute to health disparities in lung disease. Her work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Environmental Protection Agency, and it has led to more than 300 peer-reviewed publications. 

Hansel, who has served in her role on an interim basis for the past two years, leads a department that has more than 650 full-time faculty members across 18 academic divisions, employs nearly 3,000 staff members and provided care in over 350,000 clinic visits last year. The department is home to the nation’s first medical residency program, which pioneered the use of bedside teaching and set the standard for modern medical education.

Throughout her 20 years at Johns Hopkins, Hansel has held key leadership positions. She previously served as director of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and associate dean of research at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center.

“Dr. Hansel is an exceptionally accomplished physician-scientist, with the proven ability to lead the department in providing outstanding patient care, bringing novel approaches to disease treatment and prevention, and training the next generation of medical leaders,” says Theodore L. DeWeese, M.D., dean of the medical faculty and chief executive officer of Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Among Hansel’s honors, she is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. She also serves on numerous editorial boards, on advisory boards and in professional organizations, and she is a frequently invited speaker nationally and internationally.

“With ample experience leading at the intersection of our three missions, Dr. Hansel appreciates the vision for academic medicine and our role in it,” says Kevin Sowers, M.S.N., R.N., F.A.A.N., president of the Johns Hopkins Health System and executive vice president of Johns Hopkins Medicine. “She is the right leader for the Department of Medicine at this pivotal time as we envision the academic medical centers of the future.”