Boston University professor to receive 2025 Eugene Braunwald Academic Mentorship Award

Dr. Emelia Benjamin to be honored at American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2025

2025-10-06

(Press-News.org) Embargoed until 7 a.m. CT/8 a.m. ET, Monday, Oct. 6, 2025

DALLAS, Oct. 6, 2025 — Emelia J. Benjamin, M.D., FAHA, professor of medicine at Boston University (BU), will receive the 2025 Eugene Braunwald Academic Mentorship Award at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2025. The meeting, to be held Nov. 7-10, 2025, in New Orleans, is a premier global exchange of the latest scientific advancements, research and evidence-based clinical practice updates in cardiovascular science. Dr. Benjamin will be recognized with the award during the Presidential Session on Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025.

Named for legendary cardiologist Eugene Braunwald, the award honors an individual with a sustained record of excellence in teaching and mentoring the next generation of faculty researchers, educators and health care professionals. Recipients of the award are recognized for their lasting impact on cardiovascular care and research through their extensive mentoring of residents and fellows.

Dr. Benjamin is the Jay and Louise Coffman Professor in Vascular Medicine at the BU Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine and professor of epidemiology at the BU School of Public Health. She has developed and led ongoing faculty development programs that support early- and mid-career clinicians and researchers from diverse backgrounds. She has also directed multi-institutional research fellowships supported by the Heart Association and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including an ongoing international atrial fibrillation genetics fellowship. Her NIH-funded research has focused on atrial fibrillation, mobile health, inflammation and chronic pain, and she has served as principal investigator or co-investigator for NIH-funded trials continuously since 1998.

The legacy of Dr. Benjamin’s career is reflected in the success of her trainees. Many of her trainees received NIH Career Development Awards, which reflects the strength of their mentorship and training plans, and went on to launch numerous careers in cardiovascular research. In her numerous roles for the Heart Association, Dr. Benjamin has been a strong advocate for early-career scientists, including serving as former chair of the Council on Functional Genomics and Translational Biology to develop a strong Early Career Committee, participation on many Early Career Panels and mentoring individual members.

“Dr. Emelia Benjamin is a distinguished scientist and powerful advocate for the next generation of cardiovascular researchers,” said Stacey E. Rosen, M.D., FAHA, the American Heart Association’s 2025-2026 volunteer president, executive director for Northwell’s Katz Institute for Women’s Health, senior vice president of Women’s Health at Northwell, the Partners Council Professor of Women’s Health and professor of cardiology at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell in New York City. “Her commitment to training diverse and talented early career professionals continues to shape the future of cardiovascular science and medicine.”

Among her many honors are several of the Heart Association’s highest awards: a Distinguished Scientist Award (2022), the Gold Heart Award (2016), the Population Research Prize (2016), the Paul Dudley White Award (2015), the Laennec Clinician/Educator Lecture (2019), the Genomics and Precision Medicine Distinguished Achievement Award (2019), the Women in Cardiology Mentoring Award, and the Functional Genomics and Translational Biology Mentoring Award. She was also recognized with the Louis B. Russell Jr. Memorial Award for her work supporting women and people from diverse backgrounds in cardiovascular science and medicine and advancing equitable health in under-resourced communities.

An elected member of the Association of American Physicians, Dr. Benjamin has received national recognition for her excellence in research, education, service, and mentoring. She was honored with the Dr. Daniel D. Savage Memorial Science Award from the Association of Black Cardiologists for her impactful research in atrial fibrillation epidemiology. She was also recognized with the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine’s Diversity and Inclusion Award for her advocacy and leadership in equity and inclusion. She has informally guided hundreds of colleagues and formally mentored more than 60 faculty members and trainees, many of whom have secured independent research funding and faculty positions around the world that contribute to the ongoing advancements in research.

“I am deeply honored to be recognized with this award,” said Dr. Benjamin. “Mentoring has been one of the most meaningful parts of my career. There is nothing more fulfilling than seeing my mentees thrive, whether in research, clinical care or academic leadership. I owe the successes of my career to my mentees. It is especially humbling to receive an award named for Dr. Eugene Braunwald, whose legacy as a mentor and scientist has informed my career and generations of cardiovascular health scientists and clinicians.”

Dr. Benjamin earned her medical degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, a master’s degree in epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a bachelor’s degree in psychology and social relations from Harvard University. In recognition of her outstanding contributions to cardiovascular research and public health, Dr. Benjamin received an honorary doctor of medical science degree (Doctor Honoris Causa) from Aalborg University in Denmark in 2025.

In addition to serving as a leading investigator with the Framingham Heart Study, a breakthrough research project that identified many of the major risk factors for heart disease, she has authored more than 800 peer-reviewed publications with a focus on the genetics, epidemiology, clinical outcomes and prognosis of a number of cardiovascular diseases. Her leadership roles include co-chairing the 2008 National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s (NHLBI’s) Atrial Fibrillation (AF) Prevention Workshop, the NHLBI AF Working Group and contributing to the 2023 ACC/AHA/ACCP/HRS Guideline for the Diagnosis and Management of Atrial Fibrillation.

Additional Resources:

Multimedia is available on the right column of the release link. For more news at American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2025, follow us on X @HeartNews, #AHA25 ###

About the American Heart Association

The American Heart Association is a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. Dedicated to ensuring equitable health in all communities, the organization has been a leading source of health information for more than one hundred years. Supported by more than 35 million volunteers globally, we fund groundbreaking research, advocate for the public’s health, and provide critical resources to save and improve lives affected by cardiovascular disease and stroke. By driving breakthroughs and implementing proven solutions in science, policy, and care, we work tirelessly to advance health and transform lives every day. Connect with us on heart.org, Facebook, X or by calling 1-800-AHA-USA1.

END

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Pusan National University researchers reveal how forest soil properties influence arsenic mobility and toxicity in soil organisms

2025-10-06

Soil contamination is a global environmental concern, with toxic metals and metalloids from industrial activities persisting as long-term pollutants. Arsenic (As), although naturally occurring, becomes widespread when mobilized by mining. Abandoned gold mines are major sources, releasing arsenic-rich minerals into surrounding environments through erosion and leaching. Forest soils, essential for ecosystem health and biodiversity, are particularly vulnerable. Despite arsenic’s mobility under specific soil conditions and known toxicity, its behavior in forest soils and impacts on soil organisms remain poorly understood. In ...

Korea University researchers find sweet taste cells resist nerve damage through c-Kit protein

2025-10-06

Taste is one of our most vital senses, shaping appetite, nutrition, and quality of life. Yet taste buds are fragile, relying heavily on the nerves that connect them to the brain. When those nerves are cut or damaged, taste buds usually deteriorate — but later regenerate as nerves regrow. How this recovery occurs has remained unclear. Now, a study led by Dr. Dong-Hoon Kim and Professor Yong Taek Jeong at Korea University College of Medicine, published in the International Journal of Oral Science ...

HealthFORCE, AAPA, and West Health release “Aging Well with AI” – first in a two part series on AI and the healthcare workforce

2025-10-06

Alexandria, Va. — October 6, 2025 — HealthFORCE, a national alliance of leaders dedicated to addressing the root causes of America’s healthcare workforce crisis, along with the American Academy of Physician Associates (AAPA) and West Health, today released “Aging Well with AI: Empowering Care through Innovation,” the first in a two-part white paper series exploring how artificial intelligence (AI) can strengthen the U.S. healthcare workforce and improve access to care. The paper was commissioned by the three ...

The real reasons Endurance sank — study finds Shackleton knew of ship’s shortcomings

2025-10-06

Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship, Endurance, was crushed by Antarctic sea ice and sank in November 1915. Emblematic of the heroic age of Antarctic exploration, it is widely considered the strongest polar ship of its time, albeit with a fatal flaw — a weakness in the rudder that caused the ship to sink. Now, a world-first study incorporating both technical analysis and research into diaries and correspondence sheds new light on the expedition and the man himself. Not only did the ship have structural weaknesses that made it notably less robust than other early polar vessels ...

Marine heatwaves have hidden impacts on ocean food webs and carbon cycling

2025-10-06

New research shows that marine heatwaves can reshape ocean food webs, which in turn can slow the transport of carbon to the deep sea and hamper the ocean’s ability to buffer against climate change. The study, published in the scientific journal Nature Communications today, was conducted by an interdisciplinary team of researchers from MBARI, the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, the Hakai Institute, Xiamen University, the University of British Columbia, the University of Southern Denmark, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada. To explore the impacts of marine heatwaves on ocean food webs and carbon flows, the research team combined multiple ...

Order from disordered proteins

2025-10-06

Key Takeaways Researchers at Harvard and Northwestern have developed a machine learning method that can design intrinsically disordered proteins with custom properties, addressing nearly 30% of all human proteins that are currently out of reach of AI tools like AlphaFold. The new approach uses automatic differentiation, traditionally a deep learning tool, to optimize protein sequences for desired properties. The method opens new possibilities for engineering proteins, directly from physics-based models, that do not fold into a specific shape. In synthetic and structural biology, advances in artificial intelligence have led to an explosion of designing new proteins with ...

Rocket test proves bacteria survive space launch and re-entry unharmed

2025-10-06

A world-first study has proven microbes essential for human health can survive the extreme forces of space launch. Space agencies are planning to send crews to Mars within decades but sustaining life on the red planet would be more difficult if important bacteria die during the flight. Now an Australian-led study has found the spores of Bacilus subtilis, a bacterium essential for human health, can survive rapid acceleration, short-duration microgravity and rapid deceleration. The spores of bacteria were launched high into ...

New wheat diversity discovery could provide an urgently-needed solution to global food security

2025-10-06

Wheat has a very large and complex genome. Researchers have found that different varieties can use their genes in different ways. By studying RNA—the molecules that carry out instructions from DNA—researchers can see which genes are active and when. By mapping this gene activity for the first time, researchers are able accelerate international wheat breeding programmes, developing new varieties of wheat which can adapt to the rapidly escalating climate emergency. Wheat is the most widely cultivated crop in the world, with over 215 million hectares grown annually. To meet the demands of a growing global population, plant breeders face ...

Could reducing inflammation help combat fatigue in people with early-stage breast cancer?

2025-10-06

New research reveals that inflammatory responses may play a role in different types of fatigue experienced by many people with cancer. The findings are published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. Cancer-related fatigue can be a distressing and persistent burden that causes patients to feel physical, emotional, and/or cognitive tiredness or exhaustion. Activation of inflammatory responses by the tumor itself and/or by cancer treatment is thought to be a key biological driver of this symptom, but inflammatory activity across the cancer continuum has not been thoroughly ...

Traumatic brain injuries in older adults linked to increased risk of dementia

2025-10-06

Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) in older adults are associated with new cases of dementia, use of home care services, and admission to long-term care, according to new research published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.250361. “One of the most common reasons for TBI in older adulthood is sustaining a fall, which is often preventable,” write Dr. Yu Qing Huang, ICES PhD student, and Dr. Jennifer Watt, associate professor and ICES scientist, both geriatricians at St. Michael’s ...

Boston University professor to receive 2025 Eugene Braunwald Academic Mentorship Award

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: