Rita Redberg, MD, helps bring research outcomes to the forefront

In addition to her research, Redberg spends time in an editorial role.

When not traveling and enjoying the outdoors, Rita Redberg, MD, spends a great deal of time helping guide research and interpret research outcomes.

In 1982, Redberg received her MD from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. She completed her residency in internal medicine and fellowship in cardiology at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York in 1985, followed by a fellowship in noninvasive cardiology at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York in 1988.

Redberg went on to become an assistant professor of medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in 1989 before moving to California to become a fellow at the Cardiovascular Research Institute of the University of California San Francisco. Redberg has remained at the University of California San Francisco, serving as both an associate professor of medicine, a research director at the National Center for Excellence in Women’s Health and as director of the Women’s Cardiovascular Service. She has been a professor of medicine since 2002. Redberg is also an adjunct associate at the Center for Health Policy/Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research at Stanford University in California.

Redberg has also served on many editorial boards and review committees and is currently is the editor of the Archives of Internal Medicine. Redberg served on numerous writing committees and scientific advisory panels for organizations like the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the FDA. She has also had research published in Circulation, the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the Journal of the American Medical Association and others.

Rita Redberg, MD Associate Professor of Medicine and Professor of Medicine, at the University of California, San Francisco. Research Director at the National Center for Excellence in Women’s Health; Director of the Women’s Cardiovascular Service. Adjunct Associate at the Center for Health Policy/Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research, Stanford University in California. Member of the CHD and Prevention section of the Cardiology Today Editorial Board.

What do you enjoy doing when you’re not practicing medicine?

Of course I enjoy spending time with my wonderful family. I also enjoy being outdoors. Our family tries to go hiking and camping a lot. I also enjoy bicycling.

If you hadn’t gone into cardiology or medicine, what would you have done?

I actually wanted to be a reporter before I went into cardiology, but I only wanted to write for the New York Times. I figured that wasn’t going to happen.

What would you consider one of your biggest successes in your specialty?

I feel that I and many others have been able to bring outcomes assessment and technology assessment to the forefront, and that is really important to the future of health care. I can’t take sole credit for that, but there is a group of us that have done that.

What is the last book you read / art collection you saw / CD you bought? Why, and what did you think of it?

I read a lot and have a long commute, so I often listen to books on CD. Right now, I am reading “Hot, Flat and Crowded” by Thomas Friedman. I just finished “Bridge of Sighs” by Richard Russo, and I also like Malcolm Gladwell. I have not read his new one, but I’ve read “The Tipping Point” and “Blink.” “Freakonomics” was also fun. I love nonfiction. There was just a Dale Chihuly exhibit in Chicago. He does a lot of glass sculpture. He has a distinct style, and once you know his work, you see it everywhere. I last listened to a CD by Geneva Magness, which I heard on a weekend show on National Public Radio. I also recently got something from Mavis Staples, who is older.

Who do you most admire, and what would you ask that person if you had five minutes with him/her?

I used to be a tennis player and admired Billie Jean King. She totally elevated women’s tennis and women’s sports, particularly in the respect that women could receive as much prize money as men did. She also did it all at a time when this was a lot harder to do. I would ask her what inspired her and what she attributes her success to.

What is the best advice you’ve ever received?

I just went to a Parent Teacher Association conference where they focused on the process, which can be controlled, but not the outcome. When you tell your kids to focus on the process, the process is “trying your best.” You cannot really tell your kid “get an A” because that may not always be in their control, but you can say that you certainly tried your best. That’s what I was told when I was younger and I thought that was good advice.

Who do you consider a mentor?

Cathy D’Angelis, MD, who is the editor of JAMA, is somebody that I really admire. I have had the pleasure to work with her a little because I was recently named editor of the Archives of Internal Medicine. She is the first female editor in chief of JAMA, and that is not an easy job. She has doubled the impact factor of JAMA and at the same time really stuck to her principles. She is focused on keeping a very strict conflict of interest policy in place, which has been a hallmark of the publication. In fact, it is the only journal with a policy that industry-funded trials must have an independent statistical review to make sure everything is on the up and up. She has done a great job professionally.

What kind of diet and exercise regimen do you have?

I go running every morning around 5:30 or 6:00 and I think that exercise is important for physical and mental health. I also live in the “fruit basket of the world” so I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. We’re part of a community-supported agriculture cooperative, and we get fresh fruits and vegetables every week from the local farmers.

What do you think will have the biggest influence on cardiology in the next 10 years?

Genomics is a growing field, although I remain personally skeptical that it will have any real clinical effect in the near future. Human beings are just too complex to have figured out, with the exception of a few rare single-gene diseases. People in the cardiology field are certainly appearing to take an interest in genomics, though.

What is your favorite travel destination?

I love the beach. We try to go to the California coast often. Our family likes to travel, and one of the most incredible trips we did was to the Galapagos Islands. We saw dolphins frolicking and sea turtles and other wildlife. You would have had to work to not see wildlife there, and we camped on islands where we were the only people on the island. It was really remote and very beautiful.

What is your favorite restaurant?

There are so many great restaurants. The best one is the French Laundry. The year I was in Washington, we went to The Inn at Little Washington, which had one of the most incredible meals and incredible service, but you have to have a few hours and a lot of money to do that. Otherwise, we go to Max’s a lot, which is a local diner that says it is the best place for a diet but is in fact the worst place for a diet. They have good salads and other healthy things, though. – by Eric Raible