At next month’s Boston Heart & Stroke Ball, the American Heart Association is presenting the Paul Dudley White Award to Jane W. Newburger, MD, MPH, a cardiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital.
The award is named in honor of one of Boston’s most revered cardiologists, Dr. Paul Dudley White, founding father of the American Heart Association. It epitomizes the American Heart Association’s most prestigious tribute and is bestowed annually to a Massachusetts physician dedicated to cardiovascular or stroke care.
Newburger is a physician, teacher, and clinical investigator who has dedicated her life to improving the care and outcomes of children with heart disease. She has worked for more than four decades at Boston Children’s Hospital, rising to the positions of associate chair for academic affairs in the Department of Cardiology and Commonwealth professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School.
During her career, Newburger has made seminal contributions in two areas: evaluation and therapy of Kawasaki disease and neurodevelopmental outcomes in children with congenital heart disease. She is the author of more than 400 original, peer-reviewed manuscripts, chapters and reviews, and her work has had a profound impact on pediatric cardiology and congenital heart surgery on a local, national and international level.
“I cannot imagine a more compassionate physician than Dr. Newburger, nor one with more integrity,” said Dr. Roger Breitbart, chief of Inpatient Cardiology at Boston Children’s Hospital, who was one of several physicians to nominate Newburger for the honor. “She is among the gentlest of individuals, and her kindness — to patients, their parents, her students and her colleagues — is boundless. She is frankly beloved by all.”
Dr. Jane Newburger
Newburger was chosen to receive the Paul Dudley White Award by a 13-member committee of prominent Boston physicians from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston Medical Center, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Lahey Clinic, Massachusetts General Hospital, Newton-Wellesley Hospital, St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center and Tufts Medical Center.
Growing up outside New York City, Newburger wanted to be a doctor from a young age, and was driven by the desire to play an important role in improving people’s lives. To this day, her greatest satisfaction comes from helping children receive the best possible medical care and seeing them grow up as healthy as they can possibly be. She is credited with treating each patient as she would her own child, and she has enjoyed many close relationships with families under her care.
Newburger is also recognized as a generous and successful mentor of medical students, fellows and early career faculty, and was recently selected as the recipient of Harvard Medical School’s 2018 William Silen Lifetime Achievement in Mentoring Award. She has been the primary research mentor for almost 50 trainees, many of whom have gone on to distinguished research careers themselves. She has also been an active member of the American Heart Association for more than 30 years.
Newburger and her husband Peter have been married for 47 years and enjoy hiking, biking, exploring the world, and spending time with family. They reside in Newton, Mass. and have two married children and two grandchildren.
Newburger will be presented with the Paul Dudley Award at the Boston Heart & Stroke Ball on May 5 at the Boston Westin Waterfront. The ball celebrates the American Heart Association’s mission, donors and volunteers — and most importantly, survivors of heart disease and stroke. Funds raised support life-saving scientific research and prevention programs in Greater Boston and across the country. For more information visit bostonheartandstrokeball.heart.org.