The Francis C. Wood Professorship of Medicine
The Professorship was established in 1978 by the Department of Medicine to honor Francis C. Wood, MD (1901–1990), for his many contributions to the advancement of medicine and to the Perelman School of Medicine.
Dr. Wood was a distinguished graduate of the School of Medicine Class of 1926 and, in 1928, joined the then newly organized Cardiovascular Section as a teacher, clinician, and scientist. He won acclaim for his collaborative efforts in the development of chest leads for electrocardiograms. During World War II, he served with distinction as Chief of Medicine at the 20th General Hospital, the major military hospital organized and run by Penn Medicine to provide medical care for the American, British, and Chinese forces in northeastern India. The Hospital won acclaim for achieving an overall mortality rate of only 0.4 percent for its 73,000 patients despite primitive conditions and the constant threat of malaria and other infectious diseases.
Upon his return to Penn, Dr. Wood was named Chair of the Department of Medicine, a position he held for 17 years. He assumed emeritus status in 1970, yet continued to teach and maintain an active practice until 1984. He served as President of the Association of American Physicians and of the American Clinical and Climatological Society.
Current Chairholder
Charles S. Abrams, MD
Charles S. Abrams, MD is the Francis C. Wood Professor of Medicine in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine and Director of the Blood Center for Patient Care and Discovery at Penn Medicine and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He is Vice Chair for Research and Chief Scientific Officer in the Department of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine.
Dr. Abrams received his medical degree from Yale and completed a residency and hematology-oncology fellowship at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. His clinical and research interests have focused on inappropriate platelet activation, which contributes to vascular diseases including stroke and myocardial ischemia. Among his many leadership roles in the profession, he is the current President of the American Society of Hematology and has been elected to the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians.
Previous Chairholders
- Stephen G. Emerson, MD 1997–2007
- Gary Koretzky, MD, PhD 2010–2013
- Michael S. Parmacek, MD 2014–2015