Women's History Month

For Women’s History Month, we’re celebrating the incredible achievements of women at @NIH. Here Dr. Nina Starr Braunwald checks in with a young patient. Dr. Braunwald was a pioneer in the field of cardiac surgery. One of the first women to train as a surgeon at New York’s Bellevue Hospital, she joined the National Heart Institute, now @NHLBI, in 1958. She made history in 1960, leading the first successful artificial human mitral valve replacement, using a design she created and fabricated. She developed many other valve designs, surgical treatments, and pioneering techniques during her time at NIH, leading the field of cardiac surgery.

Doctor listening to a young girl's chest using a stethoscope

This photo is part of the Jerry Hecht Collection at the Office of NIH History and Stetten Museum.