Honoree promotes health equity through decades of research and mentoring

Looking back, Dr. 艾米丽娅·本杰明相信她的研究获得的第一个荣誉, 指导和教育激发了她对医学的毕生热情.

“我在七年级时被评为年度理科学生, and I still remember the distinct satisfaction of being a girl and earning that award," she said.

The recognition motivated her to overcome obstacles in a male-dominated field and become "an elbow-grease queen" who works hard with high standards.

"I have consistently been underestimated my entire career," Benjamin said. “当你遇到挫折和挑战时, 它迫使你更专注，也让你说, “我不想再落下任何人.'"

感谢她为确保其他人也能参与其中所做的贡献, 本杰明是今年路易斯B. Russell Jr. Memorial Award. The 美国心脏协会 presents the award annually for outstanding service to under-resourced communities. She will be honored May 2 during the AHA's online National Volunteer Awards ceremony下午6点开始.m. 并向公众开放.

该奖项的同名者，1968年是34岁^th person to undergo a heart transplant, survived more than six years — a world record at the time. Russell was an active AHA volunteer who wanted other Black men and women to understand heart disease prevention. He dedicated his time to educate his and other under-resourced communities before dying in 1974.

作为一名心脏病专家, 本杰明在波士顿医疗中心提倡包容, the largest safety net hospital in New England; about 73% of patients live in low-income areas. 作为一名医学教授 波士顿大学乔巴尼亚 & 阿维德医学院 and epidemiology at Boston University School of Public Health, she advocates for diversity and equity to overcome health care inequities.

The AHA's focus on advancing public health is one reason why Benjamin has been an active volunteer since 1992. One of her first roles for the AHA was speaking about women and heart disease. At the time, the topic had limited research because heart problems were still believed to affect mostly men.

Since then, 她一直致力于确保整个美国心脏协会的多样性, 包括在科学委员会和科学会议上. She has also advocated for including more women and other underrepresented populations in every aspect of science and medicine.

“研究不能只关注程序和药物发现，”她说. “为了应对健康结果的真正变化, we need to address social drivers of health to address fundamental structural issues."

在她辉煌的事业中, Benjamin has authored more than 800 peer-reviewed publications on research inequities, genetics, epidemiology and prognosis of a variety of cardiovascular disease conditions.

She's also associate provost of faculty development for Boston University Chobanian & 阿维德医学院, where she helps lead programs for early-career, mid-career, underrepresented individuals and women.

"Diversity is a broader issue than gender or skin pigmentation," she said. "If we want to have a great field of medicine, we need to embrace diversity. A diverse team has more creative friction because we don't see things the same way. But diversity of thought is much more important when your goal is excellence."

Also, Benjamin has formally mentored 50 trainees and faculty and many more informally. 她还指导了无数的美国心脏协会志愿者.

“辅导有科学的一面, 然后是指导我如何度过生活的一面," she said. “两者都很重要. The biggest joy I get is seeing my mentees succeed and knowing I played a little teeny, 微小的部分是支持他们."

Since 1996, 本杰明为国家之心做出了贡献, Lung, 以及血液研究所的杰克逊心脏研究, which examines how Black people are disproportionally affected by cardiovascular disease.

作为国际心房颤动专家, or AFib, 她研究了其风险因素, heritability, 基因会增加心力衰竭和死亡的风险.

Benjamin is also a Framingham Heart Study investigator and has received funding from the National Institutes of Health since 1988 for grants related to AFib, 血管功能, inflammation, 流动医疗和慢性疼痛.

她的工作为她赢得了多重认可, 包括2016年的金心奖, the AHA's highest volunteer honor; the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award in 2020; and the AHA's Distinguished Scientist Award in 2022.

尽管她很成功, Benjamin said she never approaches her work thinking about recognition — including this year's Louis B. Russell Jr. Memorial Award.

“我很震惊，也很惭愧，”她说. “你不可能凭一己之力获得这样的奖项. 和优秀的人一起工作，组建团队，你会得到这样的奖项. 在我的职业生涯中，有一段沙巴足球体育平台我感到非常孤独, and my goal is to make sure everyone is supported and knows what it takes to be successful."