Dr. Rose Marie Robertson, professor of Medicine and director of the Vanderbilt Women’s Heart Institute, has been named one of six finalists for the Marion Spencer Fay Award.
The national award honors distinguished female physicians and scientists. The National Board for Women in Medicine will announce the winner of the prestigious award in April.
The finalists are among some of America’s most notable practitioners, educators, administrators and research scientists in medicine or a related field. Finalists are selected after passing a rigorous application screening and peer review of the nominations made by deans of medical schools, research institutes and medical societies.
Robertson is a clinician/scientist who has made noteworthy contributions in the prevention of heart disease and stroke. She has also played a prominent role in setting public policy and serving as an advocate for public health.
“Dr. Robertson is a distinguished physician/scientist of international stature who has contributed enormously to the field of cardiovascular disease, its prevention, diagnosis and treatment,” said Dr. Steven Gabbe, dean of the School of Medicine at Vanderbilt. “Her work in the science of autonomic dysfunction in cardiovascular disease and her international prominence as a spokeswoman for women’s health in cardiovascular illness make her one of the leading academic investigators in cardiovascular medicine in America today.”
Robertson joined Vanderbilt in 1982. She was the first female cardiologist at VUMC. She received her bachelor’s from Manhattanville College in Purchase N.Y. and her medical degree from Harvard Medical School. She trained in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and in cardiology at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Robertson, who is the past president of the American Heart Association—the first Vanderbilt physician ever elected to the post—said this of being recognized: “I was very pleased that the Department chose to nominate me, and of course, I’m delighted to be in the list of finalists.”
This is the 40th year the National Board for Women in Medicine will present the award as part of its mission to honor and promote women who have made remarkable contributions to health care, medical education and research.