Bernadine Healy

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bernadine Healy

Bernadine Patricia Healy (born August 4, 1944 in New York , † August 6, 2011 in Gates Mills , Ohio ) was an American cardiologist . She was best known as the first director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), America's leading authority for biomedical research. Healy was considered to be highly skilled in questions of science and health policy.

life and work

Healy grew up as the second of four daughters in an American family of Irish descent in Long Island City, New York. First she went to a Catholic elementary school, but switched to the renowned Hunter College High School in Manhattan. She then attended Harvard Medical School and completed her internal medicine and cardiology training at the Johns Hopkins University School . After completing her internship at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, she spent two years at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health before returning to Johns Hopkins University in 1976 to become Professor of Medicine. She gained a reputation as an experienced cardiovascular researcher specializing in heart attacks.

In 1984, Ronald Reagan appointed Bernardine Healy as assistant director of the White House Science and Policy Office . In 1985 she was appointed director of the Research Institute at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation . Here she headed the research programs of nine departments.

Bernadine Healy was appointed first director of the National Institutes of Health by George HW Bush in 1991 after several (male) candidates turned down the position. The post of director had been vacant for two years when Healy took office. The reason for these rejections was the Reagan-Bush doctrine that research with fetal tissue could not be supported in any way with government funds. In addition, the authority was said to have numerous internal problems such as sexism and racism in personnel policy decisions during this time. Healy himself was ready - albeit with little enthusiasm - to support government policy and to face the above-mentioned internal problems.

Even so, Healy's merits in this office cannot be overlooked. She initiated groundbreaking programs like the Woman's Health Initiative to fight breast cancer and osteoporis and the Human Genome Project . During her term of office, she primarily promoted application-oriented, long-term research. As part of the genome project, she campaigned for the possibility of patenting cDNA sequences without a known function. She justified this by stating that this was the only way to avoid private companies from making use of such sequences and possibly simply not publishing them. With this position she came into conflict with James Watson in his function as head of the genome project, who insisted on the patent-free publication of these gene sequences by the NIH. Healy was formally Watson's superior. The dispute led to Watson's resignation from the genome project. Healy was able to win over the medical and geneticist Francis Collins as Watson's successor , who has several human defect genes such as B. had discovered the gene for cystic fibrosis . On the first day after taking office in 1993, President Bill Clinton revoked the "fetal tissue decree" of his predecessors. Healy stayed in office for almost a year until a successor was found for her position. She later became dean and professor of the College of Medicine and Public Health at Ohio State University .

In 1998 and 1999, Healy was chair of the American Heart Association . During this time, she made it clear to the American public that heart disease is not just a classic male problem, but also a female problem. She was also chairwoman of the American Red Cross and tried to strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation with the Red Cross organizations in Africa, India and Turkey. She led the operations of the American Red Cross during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. In this context, she campaigned for a support program for families affected by the terrorist attacks in the amount of 200 million US dollars.

In her roles as a policy maker, manager, and researcher, Healy has left about 220 publications on cardiovascular research, health and science policy, among others. In addition to her administrative and managerial roles, she also treated patients at all times. Her research has led to a deeper understanding of the pathology and treatment of heart attacks, especially in women.

Bernadine Healy died of a brain tumor on August 6, 2011, two days after her 67th birthday, after struggling with the disease for 13 years.

swell

  • Dr, Bernardine Healy. US National Library of Medicine, archived from the original on January 10, 2020 ; accessed on May 15, 2020 (English).
  • Rudolf Hausmann : ... and wanted to try to understand life - considerations on the history of molecular biology. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1995, ISBN 3-534-11575-9 , pp. 208–209 (There some comments on Bernardine Healy in connection with the genome project).

Web links

Commons : Bernadine Healy  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s U.S. National Library of Medicine: Bernadine Healy.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Rudolf Hausmann: Considerations on the history of molecular biology.
personal data
SURNAME Healy, Bernadine
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Healy, Bernadine Patricia (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American cardiologist
DATE OF BIRTH 4th August 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH new York
DATE OF DEATH August 6, 2011
Place of death Gates Mills , Ohio