Emelia Benjamin, MD, Honored by the AHA

Emelia J. Benjamin, MD, ScM, FACC, FAHA, professor of medicine in the section of cardiovascular medicine at BUSM and professor of epidemiology at BUSPH, has received two prestigious awards from the American Heart Association (AHA): the 2019 Laennec Clinician/Educator Lecture, sponsored by the Council on Clinical Cardiology, which recognizes her contributions and achievements in the field of clinical cardiology and the 2019 Distinguished Achievement award from the Council on Genomic and Precision Medicine (GPM) for her substantial professional contributions to the field represented by the council.

Dr. Benjamin, who also is an investigator at the Framingham Heart Study and a cardiologist at Boston Medical Center, is one of the most highly cited researchers in clinical medicine with more than 600 publications and a continuous record of substantial National Institutes of Health grant support. Her expertise in the genetic epidemiology of atrial fibrillation has helped elucidate the risk factors and mechanisms that underlie the development of the abnormal heart rhythm.

In addition to her research, Dr. Benjamin is known for an exemplary devotion to teaching and mentoring. Cultivating the next generation, she has guided numerous young investigators and faculty members on research projects and has been a mentor for more than 50 individuals, most of whom have been highly successful in academic health sciences. She serves as assistant provost of Faculty Development at BU Medical Campus and has designed and implemented five longitudinal faculty development programs.

She has been recognized with the AHA’s 2016 Gold Heart Award and the AHA’s 2015 Paul Dudley White Award, the AHA’s Functional Genomics and Translational Biology Council Mentoring Award in 2013, the 2012 AHA’s Women in Cardiology Mentoring Award and the Boston University Department of Medicine’s Excellence in Research Mentoring Award in 2011.

The Laennec/Clinician/Educator lecture was established in 1970 by the Laennec Society, a section of the Council on Clinical Cardiology, but was not presented consistently until 1978. The major aim of the Society was to promote the importance of bedside cardiology and the application of clinical research to the bedside. The GPM Distinguished Achievement Award is presented every three years. It recognizes individuals who have made major contributions to the affairs of the Council over a continuing period of time.