BWH’s JoAnn E. Manson, MD, DrPH, has been appointed the Elizabeth F. Brigham Professor in Women’s Health at HMS.
The Joint Committee on Appointments of the Governing Boards at Harvard University recently approved the professorship. The chair’s namesake was the sister of Robert Breck Brigham and the niece of Peter Bent Brigham. Since her death in 1909, BWH has received monthly distributions from the Elizabeth F. Brigham Trust, as the hospital was named the sole beneficiary.
“It gives me extreme pleasure and a great sense of pride to have Dr. Manson accept our offer to fill this endowed chair. The Elizabeth F. Brigham Professorship in Women’s Health symbolizes our commitment to fulfilling the health care needs of women around the world and our confidence in Dr. Manson’s expertise to carry out such a grand mission,” said BWH President Gary Gottlieb, MD, MBA.
Manson is a Professor of Medicine at HMS and chief of the Division of Preventive Medicine and the co-director of the Connors Center for Women’s Health and Gender Biology at BWH. She is the principal investigator of several landmark research studies that focus on the role of various lifestyle factors and therapeutic interventions in the prevention
of chronic disease in women. As a result, Manson has published hundreds of women’s health findings in top-tier medical journals.
“I’m tremendously grateful for this extraordinary honor, which is a testament to BWH’s commitment to women’s health and women’s careers. In particular, I’d like to thank Drs. Gary Gottlieb, Victor Dzau, Carol Nadelson and Andy Whittemore, as well as Joan Hadly in the Department of Development, for making this opportunity possible,” said Manson. “This enhanced leadership role will provide me with the pivotal opportunity of driving forward BWH’s women’s health mission with many of my talented colleagues.”
Manson is the second female physician at BWH to be named to a HMS endowed chair. The first was Cynthia Morton, PhD, who is the William L. Richardson Professor in Obstetrics and Gynecology.
The Elizabeth F. Brigham Professorship in Women’s Health increases the total number of HMS endowed professors at BWH today to 34. The others include two in the Department Anesthesia; one in the Department of Dermatology; eleven in the Department of Medicine; four in the Department of Neurology; three (including Morton’s) in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology; three in the Department of Pathology; two in the Department of Radiology; and seven in the Department of Surgery.