Brigham and Women's Health Care President Elizabeth G. Nabel, MD

Elizabeth G. Nabel, MD

President, Brigham and Women's Health Care

Elizabeth G. Nabel, MD, is the president of Brigham and Women's Health Care, comprised of and Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital. She assumed the position on Jan. 4, 2010. Prior to her position at BWHC, Dr. Nabel served as the director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health. In this capacity, Dr. Nabel oversaw an extensive national research portfolio with an annual budget of approximately $3 billion to prevent, diagnose, and treat heart, lung, and blood diseases. A native of St. Paul, Minn., she attended Weill Cornell Medical College and conducted her internal medicine and cardiovascular training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, followed by senior faculty positions at the University of Michigan Medical School where she directed the Division of Cardiology and the Cardiovascular Research Center.

As a physician-scientist, Dr. Nabel has made substantial contributions to our understanding of molecular genetics of cardiovascular diseases. She has delineated the mechanisms by which cell cycle and growth factor proteins regulate the proliferation of vascular cells in blood vessels, a process important for the development of atherosclerosis and other cardiovascular diseases. Her current work has focused on the rare premature aging disorder, Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome, where she has characterized the smooth muscle cell defect leading to premature heart attack and stroke in children in their early teens.

Among her leadership efforts as NHLBI director, Dr. Nabel launched new scientific programs in genetics and genomics, stem and progenitor cell biology, translational research, global health, and support for young investigators.

Her awards include the Willem Einthoven Award; the Amgen-Scientific Achievement Award; the American Heart Association Distinguished Achievement Awards; the Eugene Braunwald Academic Mentorship Award; the Distinguished Alumni Award from Weill Cornell Medical College; the Lewis Katz Research Prize in Cardiovascular Research and four honorary doctorates. She is a member of the American Academy of the Arts and Sciences, the Institute of Medicine (Council) of the National Academy of Sciences, the Association of American Physicians (Council), and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dr. Nabel has served on the Board of Reviewing Editors for Science and currently is on the Editorial Board of the New England Journal of Medicine and Science Translational Medicine. She is a partner on 17 patents and the author of more than 250 scientific publications.

Dr. Nabel’s pledge is to strengthen the mission of Brigham and Women’s and Faulkner Hospitals and their connections to the people and the communities that they serve, whether they live across street or around the world.