When Nanette K. Wenger, MD, professor of medicine in the division of cardiology at Emory University School of Medicine began her career, heart disease was something doctors thought only affected men. Today, the American Society for Preventive Cardiology is honoring her significant contributions as a champion for women’s heart health with a lectureship in her name.
“Dr. Wenger is an icon in many aspects of cardiology, but perhaps her greatest achievement involves her commitment to exposing the previously unrecognized toll cardiovascular disease takes on women,” says Seth J. Baum, MD, president elect of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology. “It is safe to say that without Dr. Wenger’s tireless efforts, women’s cardiovascular care would not have advanced to where it is today. We all owe her a tremendous debt of gratitude. There is no one who could better speak to the cause of women and heart health than Dr. Nanette K. Wenger."
Wenger presented the first annual Nanette K. Wenger Distinguished Lecture focusing on cardiovascular disease in women, at the ASPC annual Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Conference in Boca Raton, Florida, on July 11, 2014.
“Cardiovascular disease remains the major killer of U.S. women. Despite an increased awareness of cardiovascular disease as a leading health problem for women, substantial work is required to improve women’s cardiovascular health,” says Wenger. “Disparities in outcomes remain among women from racial and ethnic minorities. The American Society of Preventive Cardiology is to be congratulated for highlighting this challenge and opportunity.”
Wenger graduated from Harvard Medical School and completed her medical and cardiology training at Mount Sinai Hospital before coming to Emory University School of Medicine and Grady Memorial Hospital in 1958. Since then she has written over 1,500 papers and book chapters. Her extraordinary career has been celebrated with a Gold Heart Award, the most prestigious award from the American Heart Association, and Lifetime Achievement Awards from the American College of Cardiology and National Lipid Association.