Quick Facts
Biography
Elizabeth Nabel is an American cardiologist and the current President of Brigham Health and its Brigham and Women's Hospital, a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and the Chief Health and Medical Adviser to the National Football League.
Family and education
Nabel was raised in St. Paul, Minnesota. Nabel became interested in biomedicine during a physiological psychology class at St. Olaf College, when she conducted a study in rats to see how various stimuli affected their behavior. She graduated summa cum laude from St. Olaf in 1974 and earned her MD degree from Weill Cornell Medical College in 1981.
Career
Nabel's work has produced 17 patents and more than 250 scientific publications. Nabel was director of the NIH’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute from 2005 to 2009.
Biomedical research
Nabel’s research focused on the molecular genetics of vascular diseases. She conducted clinical studies to understand the contribution of genetic factors to proliferative and inflammatory diseases in blood vessels, including common diseases like atherosclerosis and the rare, premature aging in Hutchinson Gilford progeria syndrome.
Nabel 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 restenosis. Her vascular biology laboratory characterized the role of cell cycle inhibitors on vascular proliferation and inflammation, and this research has opened up new avenues for therapeutic targets in the vasculature. Nabel contributed to both policy and basic research on embryonic stem cells.
National Football League
In 2015, Nabel was appointed Chief Health and Medical Advisor to the National Football League. Nabel provided strategic input to the NFL’s medical, health and scientific efforts; participated as an ex-officio member on each of the NFL’s medical advisory committees; and identified areas for the NFL to enhance player safety, care and treatment. Nabel stepped down from this role in 2017. In May 2016, a Congressional report detailed how multiple doctors tied to the NFL, including Nabel, lobbied the NIH not to fund a study whose lead investigator had been critical of the NFL in the past.
Awards
Nabel has been named one of the nation’s top leaders in medicine by Modern Healthcare and Becker’s Hospital Review, and one of Boston’s 50 most powerful people by Boston Magazine. Her honors include the Distinguished Bostonian Award from the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, the Kober Medal from the Association of American Physicians, the Champion in Health Care award from the Boston Business Journal, the Willem Einthoven Award from Leiden University in the Netherlands, the Amgen-Scientific Achievement Award, two Distinguished Achievement Awards and the Eugene Braunwald Academic Mentorship Award from the American Heart Association, and six honorary doctorates.