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This month, BWH celebrated the naming of the Linda Joy Pollin Women’s Heart Center, a reinvigorated and refocused effort to reduce heart disease risk factors in women. The center builds off of the accomplishments of BWH’s existing Women’s Heart Center and Linda Joy Pollin Cardiovascular Wellness Program for women and will take the program and center to the next level. “We believe that the center will create fertile ground for new ideas and innovations and ultimately provide world-class care for women to improve their outcomes,” said JoAnne Foody, MD, medical director of the Pollin Cardiovascular Wellness Center.
Thanks to the generosity of Irene Pollin, the mother of the late Linda Joy for whom the center is named, the center will work to reduce heart disease risk factors in women locally and across the country.
Fifteen years ago, Pollin, a social worker with a specialty in chronic illness, approached then-director of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Claude Lenfant, MD, with an urgency to awaken American women to their risks of heart disease.
This conversation evolved into a broader conversation sparking partnerships and the development of many programs and campaigns, including Sister-to-Sister. For 15 years, Sister-to-Sister has been offering in-person heart-healthy evaluations and free cardiovascular screenings to women of all ages, ethnicities and socio-economic backgrounds.
During the time BWH President Betsy Nabel, MD, led the NHLBI, she worked closely with Pollin to raise awareness of heart disease in women.
“We had an immediate meeting of minds and hearts on this issue,” Pollin said. At the Nov. 6 event celebrating the renamed center and launch of a lectureship series, Nabel thanked Pollin for her dedication to empowering women to take charge and improve their heart health.
“Through her remarkable vision and passion, Irene has dedicated much of her life to helping women help themselves and their families through good health practices,” said Nabel, who then presented Pollin with BWH’s Heritage Society Award.
The award, which was founded 100 years ago at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, is presented only to an individual who has made an exceptional and lasting contribution to the hospital’s mission. Nabel called it a privilege to honor Pollin, whom she described as a “dedicated partner, visionary leader, kindred spirit and dear friend.”
The celebration concluded with the first lecture of the Linda Joy Pollin Women’s Heart Center and Visiting Professor Lecture Series, presented by Roger Blumenthal, MD, Kenneth J. Pollin Professor of Cardiology and director of the Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Blumenthal spoke about the strengths and limitations of cardiovascular risk assessment in women and men.
As part of this annual lectureship, visiting professors will share the innovative research taking place in women’s health and discuss strategies to improve outcomes for millions of women.
View a webcast of the event.