Nabel Begins as BWH President in January
Elizabeth Nabel, MD. |
Elizabeth G. Nabel, MD, the director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), was named the next president of Brigham and Women's/Faulkner hospitals. A board certified cardiologist who completed her internship, residency and fellowship at BWH, she begins as president Jan. 1.
"We are extremely pleased that Dr. Nabel, an extraordinarily talented and accomplished physician, scientist and educator, is joining the Brigham and Women's/Faulkner community," said BWH President Gary Gottlieb, MD, MBA, who becomes president and CEO of Partners HealthCare in the new year when James Mongan, MD, retires.
"Her vision to build on the hospitals' legacy of excellence in care, research and teaching will strengthen further a steadfast commitment to our patients, their families and all the communities we serve," Gottlieb said.
"The opening of this door is a tremendous opportunity to share a personal passion with world-class clinicians and scientists to link excellent patient care to internationally-respected research and then carry our collective wisdom forward to our students, the future leaders of medicine," Nabel said. "All of this will be done with a keen focus on how we can make a difference in the lives of the people who depend on us, whether they live half way around the world or across the street from our front doors."
Nabel is a graduate of Cornell University Medical College. She trained at BWH and completed a clinical and research fellowship in cardiovascular medicine at BWH and Harvard University. At University of Michigan, she served as assistant professor of Medicine then went on to become director of the Cardiovascular Research Center, professor of Internal Medicine and Physiology, and then chief of the Division of Cardiology.
She is well respected for her research in vascular biology and molecular cardiology and for her gene transfer studies of the cardiovascular system. In 1999, she joined the NHLBI as scientific director for Clinical Research and, in 2005, became director, overseeing an extensive national research portfolio and an annual budget of approximately $3 billion.
"With her commitment to research and translation medicine, Dr. Nabel makes an absolutely wonderful addition to our community and will be a valued leader to us all," said Barbara Bierer, MD, senior vice president for Research and director of the Center for Faculty Development and Diversity.
Nabel is active in community outreach programs, believing strongly in the need to bring attention to research that can touch and improve lives, with a particular focus on women and heart disease, such as the Red Dress campaign and through the childhood obesity program known as WE CAN.
Nabel is a nationally recognized scholar and author of 250 publications. She is also a mentor and teacher who has inspired her students as evidenced by her selection for the Eugene Braunwald Academic Mentorship Award. Her colleagues have recognized her leadership by selecting her to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Association of American Physicians (Council), the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences (Council) and as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Nabel serves on editorial boards of the New England Journal of Medicine and Science Translational Medicine.
She is a native of St. Paul, Minnesota, but her ties to Boston run deep. She and her husband, Gary J. Nabel, MD, PhD, met during their residencies at the hospital. They have three children, Christopher, 23, Elisa, 21, and Katherine, 17.
"The board enthusiastically welcomes Dr. Nabel and her family to the BW/F community and to the Partners HealthCare system," said George Marshall Moriarty, Esq., chairman of the BW/F Board of Trustees. "Her leadership, passion and collaborative spirit will allow our clinicians, scientists and the next generation of providers to continue to grow and build on the foundation of excellence that is a hallmark of the BW/F hospitals."