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Two scientists from the University of Utah have been named to the prestigious National Academy of Medicine: geneticist Mario R. Capecchi and Vivian S. Lee, dean of the medical school.

Capecchi and Lee are among 70 new U.S. members and 10 non-U.S. members elected in the class of 2015, the academy announced this week.

They join 21 others associated with the U. who are members of the academy.

U. President David W. Pershing, said both have made "significant impacts on the lives of people everywhere," according to a news release.

"Whether it's through research in the lab, or in the clinic and classroom, or by tackling health care reform through containing costs, they are truly among the leaders of modern medicine," he said.

Capecchi, a native of Italy and professor at the U. since 1973, shared the 2007 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for his research into knocking out — or silencing — genes to study their functions in mice.

Lee, a Rhodes scholar, came to the U. in 2011 as senior vice president for health sciences, dean of the medical school, and CEO of the University of Utah Health Care system.

Under her leadership, the system has been recognized nationally for transparency. It was the first major health care system to identify its true costs for providing services, the news release said.

Kristen Moulton