Steering Committee:
C. NOEL BAIREY MERZ, MD, MACC, FAHA, FESC
Irwin and Sheila Allen Chair in Women’s Heart Research
Director, Barbra Streisand Women's Heart Center
Director, Linda Joy Pollin Women's Heart Health Program
Erika J Glazer Women’s Heart Research Initiative
Director, Preventive Cardiac Center
Professor of Medicine
Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute
C. Noel Bairey Merz, MD, is Director of the Barbra Streisand Women's Heart Center, the Linda Joy Pollin Women’s Heart Health Program, the Erika J. Glazer Women’s Heart Research Initiative, and the Preventive Cardiac Center at the Smidt Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute. She also is Professor of Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Dr. Bairey Merz's research interests include ischemic heart disease, women and cardiovascular disease, mental stress and heart disease, the role of exercise and stress management in reversing disease, the role of cholesterol and nutrition management in heart disease, Takotsubo Syndrome, adverse pregnancy outcomes and cardiovascular disease, and precision medicine monitoring to predict unexpected cardiovascular events. She is chair of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI)-sponsored WISE (Women's Ischemic Syndrome Evaluation) initiative, which is investigating potential methods for more effective diagnosis and evaluation of ischemic heart disease in women. Dr. Bairey Merz has received investigational grants from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), NIH-National Center for Alternative and Complementary Medicine (NCCAM), the National Institutes of Aging (NIA), the Flight Attendants Medical Research Institute, the Pfeiffer Foundation, the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, the Barbra Streisand Foundation, the Erika J. Glazer Women’s Heart Research Initiative, the Society for Women’s Health Research, the Linda Joy Pollin Women’s Heart Health Program, and the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program of the Department of Defense. She has an extensive scientific publication record of over 450 scientific publications and book chapters, and more than 400 abstracts. Her work has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the American Medical Association, Circulation, the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, and the Journal of Women's Health.
Dr. Bairey Merz has appeared frequently in the media, recognized as an authority on the subject of heart disease. Her television appearances have included 60 Minutes, the Today Show, Dr. Oz, Good Morning America, NBC Dateline and 20/20. She has also been interviewed for articles published in The New York Times, Ladies Home Journal, US News & World Report and Working Woman Magazine, to name a few.
Dr. Bairey Merz received her bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago and her medical degree from Harvard University. She completed her residency at the University of California, San Francisco, where she served as Chief Medical Resident. Dr. Bairey Merz also completed fellowships in clinical cardiology and nuclear cardiology and served as Chief Cardiology Fellow at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
https://bio.cedars-sinai.org/merz/index.html
STEPHANIE S. FAUBION, MD, MBA, FACP, NCMP, IF
Medical Director, The North American Menopause Society
Penny and Bill George Director, Mayo Clinic Center for Women’s Health
Professor and Chair, Department of Medicine
Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida
Dr. Faubion completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Texas at Austin and medical school and residency in internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. She received her masters of business administration at the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota in 2019.
She is Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida and the Penny and Bill George Director of the Center for Women’s Health. In 2019 she was named Medical Director of The North American Menopause Society.
Her clinical research interests include menopause and sexual health in women. She is Principal Investigator for the Data Registry on Experiences of Aging, Menopause and Sexuality (DREAMS). She has served on the board of trustees for the North American Menopause Society and the board of directors for the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health. She also serves as editor of the journal, Menopause, and is on the editorial board of Journal of Sexual Medicine.
https://www.mayo.edu/research/faculty/faubion-stephanie-s-m-d-m-b-a/bio-20199366
MARTHA GULATI, MD, MS, FACC, FAHA, FASPC
Professor of Medicine
Director, Preventive Cardiology at Cedars Sinai Smidt Heart Institute
Associate Director, Barbra Streisand Women's Heart Center
Associate Director, Preventive and Cardiac Rehabilitation Center
Editor-in-Chief, CardioSmart for The American
College of Cardiology
Martha Gulati, MD, MS, FACC, FAHA, MASPC, FESC, FSCCT (hon) is a leading authority in women’s cardiovascular health and prevention. She is a professor of cardiology at Houston Methodist and holds the Davis Chair in Women’s Cardiovascular Health. She was formerly at the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai, where she served as the director of cardiovascular prevention and associate director of the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center, and held the Anita Dann Friedman Endowed Chair in Women’s Cardiovascular Medicine and Research.
The Immediate Past President of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology, Dr. Gulati previously served as the inaugural Chief of Cardiology at the University of Arizona. She chaired the national chest pain guidelines, led CardioSmart as editor-in-chief, and authored the best-seller Saving Women’s Hearts.
Her pioneering research—including the St. James Women Take Heart Project, WARRIOR trial, and contributions to WISE and the Women’s Health Intiative (WHI)—has advanced understanding of women’s heart disease. She has published in NEJM, Circulation, and JAMA, and her work has been recognized with numerous awards, including the National Red Dress Award, ACC’s Bernadine Healy Award, and the Arthur Agatston Award for Prevention.
A Canadian by training, Dr. Gulati earned her MD at the University of Toronto, completed residency and fellowship at the University of Chicago, and holds a master’s in science. She continues to champion awareness, research, and equity in women’s heart health.
Hadine joffe, MD, MSC
Executive Director, Mary Horrigan Connors Center for Women’s Health and Gender Biology
Executive Vice Chair for Academic and Faculty Affairs, Department of Psychiatry
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Paula A. Johnson Professor of Psychiatry in the Field of Women’s Health
Harvard Medical School
Hadine Joffe MD MSc is the Paula A. Johnson Professor of Psychiatry in the Field of Women’s Health at HMS, Executive Vice Chair for Academic and Faculty Affairs in the Department of Psychiatry, and Executive Director of the Connors Center for Women’s Health and Gender Biology at BWH, where she directs the Women’s Hormones and Aging Research Program.
Dr. Joffe’s education/training includes undergraduate degree from Harvard University, medical degree from Cornell University Medical College, master’s degree in Epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health, psychiatry residency training at McLean Hospital, fellowship in Reproductive Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Dr. Joffe is an experienced clinician and clinical reproductive neuroscientist focused on women’s brain health related to midlife aging, mental health, and neurobehavioral consequences of cancer therapies. Her research has been continuously funded by the NIH since 2000, by foundations and pharmaceutical companies. She is currently PI of a U54 SCORE Center grant and 2 R01s. Her work focuses on mechanisms (neural, hormonal, stress, autonomic), course, downstream consequences (body fat gain), and treatment of neuropsychological symptoms (depression, insomnia, thermoregulatory disturbance, fatigue) in midlife women and breast cancer survivors.
As Director of the Connors Center, Dr. Joffe oversees a comprehensive hospital-wide research program with two pillars: 1) equity in the development of novel therapeutics for diseases affecting women exclusively, predominately and differentially; 2) impact of stress and adversity on the health of women. Both pillars involve research funded by the NIH, industry, and philanthropy, and training programs to sponsor the next generation of investigators.
Dr. Joffe’s contributions have been recognized through the Vivian Pinn Award for Outstanding Research in Women’s Health, BWH Distinguished Clinician Award, Thomas Clarkson Outstanding Clinical & Basic Science Research Award from the North American Menopause Society, and HMS Department of Psychiatry Stuart T. Hauser MD PhD Mentorship Award.
https://connorscenter.bwh.harvard.edu/team/hadine-joffe-md-msc/
WENDY KLEIN, MD, MACP
Associate Professor Emerita Internal Medicine & Obstetrics Gynecology
Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
Dr. Klein received her medical degree from Case Western Reserve University and served on the faculty of the VCU School of Medicine for 25 years. During that time, she co-founded the award winning VCU Women’s Health Center, the nationally designated VCU Institute for Women’s Health, the Women in Science, Dentistry & Medicine Organization (WISDM), the SOM Committee on the Status of Women and Minorities, the Women’s Health IM Residency Program, and the annual multidisciplinary Health of Women Conference, a scientific update for health care professionals. She was co-editor of the Journal of Women’s Health from 2005-2011. She has served on numerous national initiatives and committees for the American College of Physicians, the Sex and Gender Women’s Health Collaborative, the North American Menopause Society, and Planned Parenthood, and LEADERS (Leaders Empowering the Advancement of Diversity in Education, Research and Science) in Women’s Health. She continues to mentor senior and junior faculty, residents and students. She continues to strive for excellence in menopausal health and recently served as Associate Editor of Menopause Practice: A Clinician’s Guide, 6th edition.
Dr. Klein has been recognized in Richmond Magazine’s listing of the “Top Docs in Richmond” and in The Best Doctors in America. She remains actively involved in promoting excellence in women’s health and in sex and gender medicine. From 2015-2020, she was Medical Director of the oldest free clinic in Virginia, known for its leadership in inclusive care and transgender health, as well for providing care to those least served. Also, in 2015, she was made a gubernatorial appointee to the Virginia Board of Health, and upon which she currently serves. She is an advocate for access to health care, for reproductive rights and for gender equity in every arena.
RITA F. REDBERG, MD, MSC, FACC
Professor of Medicine
Editor, JAMA Internal Medicine
Director, Women’s Cardiovascular Services
University of California, San Francisco
Rita F. Redberg, MD, MSc, is a cardiologist and Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco and Core Faculty, Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies. Dr. Redberg has been the Chief Editor of JAMA Internal Medicine since 2009. She spearheaded the journal’s new focus on health care reform and “less is more”, which highlights areas of health care with no known benefit and definite risks. Her research interests are in the areas of health policy, technology assessment, and how to promote high value care, focusing on high-risk medical devices as well as the need for inclusion of women in clinical trials of such devices.
She has had a long-standing commitment to women and heart disease and cofounded the UCSF Center of Excellence in Women’s Health in 1997. She was honored to receive the Women’s Day Red Dress Award in 2011 and is a proud member of the Women’s Heart Alliance.
Dr. Redberg recently completed a 6-year term on the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, which advises Congress on Medicare payment issues. She also served on the Medicare Evidence, Development and Coverage Advisory Committee from 2003-2006 and was reappointed as Chairwoman of MEDCAC from 2012 - 2016.
Dr. Redberg is a member of the California Technology Assessment Forum, the Medical Policy Technology and Advisory Committee, Blue Cross Blue Shield Medical Advisory Panel, and served on the Food and Drug Administration Cardiovascular Devices Expert Panel.
JUDITH G. REGENSTEINER, PHD
Professor of Medicine
Judith and Joseph Wagner Chair in Women’s
Health Research
Director, Center for Women’s Health Research
Director, Women in Medicine and Science
University of Colorado School of Medicine
judy.regensteiner@cuanschutz.edu
Dr. Judith Regensteiner is the Director of the Center for Women’s Health Research and Professor of Medicine in the Divisions of Internal Medicine and Cardiology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. She holds the Judith & Joseph Wagner Chair in Women’s Health Research. Dr. Regensteiner’s research expertise is in the cardiovascular effects of diabetes with a specific focus on women with type 2 diabetes since they appear to have more significant abnormalities than men with diabetes. Her lab has been funded for over 28 years and her publications have influenced the field. She is also known for her research on peripheral arterial disease.
Dr. Regensteiner is Principal Investigator for the National Institutes of Health’s Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) grant and the Doris Duke Foundation’s Fund to Retain Clinical Scientists. She is also on the Advisory Committee for the NIH’s Office of Research on Women’s Health.
As Director and Co-Founder of the Center for Women’s Health Research, Dr. Regensteiner leads an interdisciplinary team of researchers who focus on women’s health and sex differences research. Dr. Regensteiner is also the director of Women in Medicine and Science at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
https://medschool.cuanschutz.edu/deans-office/cu-med-today/profiles/judith-regensteiner-md
STACEY E. ROSEN, MD, FACC, FACP, FAHA
Senior Vice President, Women’s Health
Katz Institute for Women’s Health
Northwell Health
Partners Council Professor of Women’s Health
Professor of Cardiology
Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine At Hofstra/Northwell
Stacey Rosen, MD, is the Senior Vice President for the Katz Institute for Women’s Health (KIWH) and oversees the development and coordination of a comprehensive and integrated approach to women’s health services at Northwell Health. Dr. Rosen has been a practicing cardiologist for over 25 years, and was Associate Chairman of the Department of Cardiology at Long Island Jewish for 12 years, and Director of the Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Program at Northwell Health prior to joining The Katz Institute for Women’s Health. The Katz Institute for Women’s Health focuses on the elimination of health care disparities through comprehensive clinical programs, gender-based research, community partnerships and education.
Dr. Rosen is Partners Council Professor of Women’s Health and Professor of Cardiology at the Hofstra- Northwell School of Medicine. Dr. Rosen has been a long time volunteer for the American Heart Association with leadership positions at the local, regional and national levels. In 2018 she received the AHA’s Women in Cardiology Mentoring Award. She currently serves as the President, Board of Directors, Eastern States for the AHA.
Dr. Rosen serves as a member of the Scientific Advisory Council for WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease and was previously a member of the Roundtable on Health Literacy at the National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine). Dr. Rosen is a co-author of the newly released book Heart Smart for Women, Six S.T.E.P.S. in Six Weeks to Heart-Healthy Living. Dr. Rosen is a graduate of the six-year medical program at Boston University School of Medicine.
Amparo C. Villablanca, M.D.
Frances Lazda Endowed Chair, Women's Cardiovascular Medicine
Chair, UC Systemwide Group for Inclusive Leadership for Women
Director, Women's Cardiovascular Medicine Program
Principal Investigator, UC Davis Center for Women's Cardiovascular and Brain Health
Professor, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine
avillablanca@health.ucdavis.edu
Dr. Villablanca is Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of California, Davis where she completed all of her medical training, and since 2005 has held the Frances Lazda Endowed Chair in Women’s Cardiovascular Medicine, the 5th endowed chair in woman’s health in the US. She has been a pioneer in academic medicine and is the founding director of the first woman’s heart program in the US and an inaugural Red Dress award recipient. Known for her longstanding commitment to faculty development and for supporting and advocating for the careers of women in medicine and science, she is a graduate of the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) program during which she served as faculty assistant to the Dean at UC Davis and established the Medical School’s Mentoring, Diversity, Faculty Development, and Women in Medicine and Health Sciences (WIMHS) Programs. She also founded, and for four years directed, the Program for Advancing Leadership Across the Health Sciences at UC Davis, and until 2024 was the founding Chair for the University of California Health systemwide Group for Inclusive Leadership. Dr. Villablanca also served as co-PI on one of 14 NIH RO1s on Women’s Careers in Biomedical Sciences, subsequently co-chairing the National Research Partnership on Women in Science Careers. Recognized by the NIH as a 'woman scientist in action' and featured by UC Davis Women in STEM, Dr. Villablanca is the recipient of numerous awards including the UC Davis School of Medicine’s Extraordinary Lifetime Achievement Award (2008), Dean’s Award for Excellence in Diversity Research (2017), and AAMC-GWIMS National Leadership Award (2016).