A testament to your excellence

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May 24, 2021

A testament to your excellence

It was truly an honor to participate earlier this month in commencement ceremonies for the schools of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center, especially during this truly extraordinary time. As the world has faced an unparalleled health and humanitarian crisis over the past year, physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, and public health experts around the globe have put forth a herculean effort to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and to bring help and hope to people in their darkest hour.

The need for highly skilled, compassionate people across the health professions spectrum has never been greater, and no institution is doing more than Emory’s Woodruff Health Sciences Center to provide the superlative leaders we need to tackle the most urgent medical issues of our time.

Congratulations to all graduates of Emory University School of Medicine, the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, and the Rollins School of Public Health. I look forward to seeing all that you will do to advance health and healing for people in need.

Finally, congratulations and my deepest admiration and appreciation to all the faculty and staff who work so hard year-round to provide superior academic opportunities and training to our students. Their excellence is a testament to your excellence.

Please direct questions and comments to evphafeedback@emory.edu.

Jonathan S. Lewin, MD, FACR
Executive Vice President for Health Affairs, Emory University
Executive Director, Woodruff Health Sciences Center
CEO and Chairman of the Board, Emory Healthcare

AHA launches award honoring Nanette Wenger

The American Heart Association has announced the new Dr. Nanette K. Wenger Award for Best Scientific Publication on Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke in Women to recognize and honor her pioneering career in cardiovascular medicine. Wenger is an emeritus cardiology professor, consultant to the Emory Heart and Vascular Center, founding consultant to the Emory Women’s Heart Center, and director of the Cardiac Clinics and Ambulatory Electrocardiographic Laboratory at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta.

Wenger has been at the forefront of advancing patient care for the last 60-plus years, and she was among the first physicians to focus on coronary heart disease in women and to evaluate the different cardiovascular risk factors, symptoms and conditions for women compared to men. She noticed that women were coming into the clinic with heart disease in large numbers, and, unable to find existing studies on women’s heart disease symptoms and their treatment, she decided to investigate. She and her colleagues discovered that women have different heart attack symptoms than men, and those symptoms were often dismissed or misdiagnosed by doctors.

“Dr. Wenger’s name is practically synonymous with women’s cardiovascular research and care – she has been a formidable leader in the field of women’s heart health and a strong ally and advocate for women in cardiology and medicine. This award recognizes her incredible legacy of paving the way, supporting and mentoring women as scientists and medical professionals, as well as her pioneering efforts in cardiovascular disease research about, for and by women,” said AHA President Mitchell S.V. Elkind. “The new Dr. Nanette K. Wenger Award will serve as an inspiration for continued innovation and discovery in research on cardiovascular disease and stroke in women. I think it will continue to motivate the current generation of scientists and medical professionals and many more generations to follow.”

In Brief
National accreditation for NP/PA residency program

The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) has granted Accreditation-Clinical Postgraduate Program status to the Emory Critical Care Center Nurse Practitioner and Physician Assistant Residency Program. The Emory Critical Care Center is the first center in the country to achieve post-graduate PA accreditation under the newly developed pathway for post-graduate PA residency programs.


Inaugural Health Equity Day

The Department of Medicine’s RYSE Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council hosted the inaugural Health Equity Day May 11, 2021. The department-wide event aimed to raise awareness and encourage action around the systemic health disparities that exist across racial, ethnic, cultural, and social groups. The virtual conference included poster presentations, a case competition, a keynote address, and a narrative pre-event.


2020 Benefits Report

At the WHSC, we provide millions of dollars every year in compassionate, innovative care to those who need it most throughout the city, the state, and the world. This year, we were also called upon to respond to a medical crisis of historic proportions, and our people rose to the occasion. We’ve revised the format of our 2020 Community Benefits report, Exemplary Service in Extraordinary Times, to reflect how much the virus influenced our activities over the past year and how decisively we met the challenge.


2021 Legislative Session Report

The OGCA team has completed its 2021 Legislative Session Report outlining legislative action of interest to Emory during the 2021 state session. In addition to summarizing the 57 bills of interest to our community, the report lists our major budget accomplishments. Of note, there is a section-by-section explanation of the election reform bill, SB 202. During the remainder of 2021, the state team will continue to build and maintain relationships across the state and look for opportunities to build partnerships that advance Emory’s mission.


Bree Eaton has received a National Cancer Institute Cancer Clinical Investigator Team Leadership Award.

Nadine Rouphael (infectious diseases) received the Faculty Dragon Award from the Office of Research Administration.

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