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Nanette K. Wenger, MD: A lifetime of volunteerism and firsts
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Nanette K. Wenger, MD, MAAC, MACP, FAHA, contributed to the community long before she knew she would become a cardiologist. Volunteering was common for her while growing up in New York with her family. Giving back to the community was second nature.
Today, Wenger is emeritus professor of cardiology at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. As a volunteer, she gravitates toward nonprofit organizations. In many cases, she was the organization’s first female president, so leadership is in her blood. Before support groups for women and networking were common, she founded one of the first women’s networking groups, the Atlanta Women’s Network, which still promotes and enhances the success of professional women. Wenger also has a gift for raising awareness. As one example, before most community centers had senior citizen programs, she organized groups to meet the needs of senior citizens at the Atlanta Jewish Community Center and other underserved populations. For special needs children, she established educational programs for those who could not get religious education at their facility.
Nanette K. Wenger, MD
Professor Emeritus of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Emory University School of Medicine
Consultant, Emory Heart and Vascular Center
Director, Ambulatory Electrocardiographic Laboratory
Director, Cardiac Clinics, Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta
Member of Medical Staff, Internal Medicine/Cardiology, Grady Memorial Hospital
Member of Medical Staff, Consultant in Internal Medicine/Cardiology, Emory Hospital Midtown
Member, CHD and Prevention section of Cardiology Today’s Editorial Board
In 2010, she was honored as Georgia’s Woman of the Year, for her work in advancing the health, education, economic, social and legal status of women in the state. The best part, she said, is seeing her children follow in her footsteps.
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not practicing medicine?
I enjoy spending time with my three daughters and six grandchildren. They live in New York and Birmingham. My husband and I love to travel and we do that as frequently as we can. In my peaceful downtime, I do needlepoint.
If you hadn’t gone into cardiology or medicine, what would you have done?
No question about it, I would have gone into constitutional law. Whether from the legal point of view or from the historical point of view, I’ve always been interested in constitutional law. I had a phenomenal constitutional law professor at Hunter College who inspired me.
What would you consider one of your biggest successes in your specialty?
Raising awareness of heart disease in women at a time when most professionals said it wasn’t an issue, that women were no different than men. I’ve spent decades of my life raising awareness and have identified differences and improved outcomes for women. I’ve done the same with raising awareness of heart disease in the elderly. I was editor of the American Journal of Geriatric Cardiology for 15 years and was also a founder of the Society of Geriatric Cardiology, now the Council on the Cardiac Care of Older Adults at ACC. Early in my academic career, I was interested in cardiac rehabilitation at a time when the two words, cardiac and rehabilitation, were rarely married. Now, every cardiologist recommends physical activity after a CV event. I also helped found the American Association of Cardiovascular Rehabilitation to bring attention to cardiac rehabilitation.
What is the last book you read?
This goes back to constitutional law: Making our Democracy Work: A Judge’s View, by Stephen Breyer, an associate justice of the Supreme Court. He explores many aspects I am interested in, such as the role of the Supreme Court in American life, why the public accepts Supreme Court decisions and how the Supreme Court can help democracy work.
Whom do you most admire and what would you ask that person if you had 5 minutes with him/her?
Moses ben Maimon, or Maimonides, the 12th century Jewish physician and philosopher of the Middle Ages. He contributed a great deal of codification of medical law and medical practice of the time. I would love to hear him comment on 21st century medicine. He always taught to exercise and eat prudently. Many of his public health principles are similar to what we currently teach about exercise and diet. So much of what he said can be interpreted as what we call preventive cardiology today.
What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
The following quote by Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972): “Living is not a private affair of the individual. Living is what man does with God’s time, what man (and woman) does with God’s world.” Every time I read this quote, it resonates with the way most of us should behave.
Whom do you consider a mentor?
Hermann Blumgart, MD, who taught me at Harvard Medical School. Charles K. Friedberg, MD, who was the director of my training program when I was a resident and fellow at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. And, J. Willis Hurst, MD, at Emory University, who was a longtime friend and mentor.
What kind of diet and exercise regimen do you follow?
I’m a cook by hobby. I do a great deal of my own cooking and cook for family and friends fairly often. I have two shelves of cookbooks, plus the computer resources now. Our diet at home is very much like the Mediterranean diet.
What kind of exercise do you like to do?
I am addicted to my stationary bicycle. The bike is in our pool house; I can swim before or after biking.
Nanette K. Wenger, MD, with her husband, Julius Wenger, MD, and grandchildren on vacation in Jamaica.
Photo courtesy of: Nanette K. Wenger, MD
What do you think will have the biggest influence on cardiology in the next 10 years?
Data. I believe we are increasingly adhering to evidence-based issues. Data will have major influence on what we do as cardiologists.
What is your favorite travel destination?
My best trip ever was to the Galapagos Islands. It was different from anywhere in the world I’ve ever been. It is a place where dressing for dinner meant putting on a clean T-shirt on the small boat. We ate what was bought at the dock or fished out of the water. It was exciting to see the whole Darwin story, to see the exotic birds and animals and to get so close to them.
What is your favorite restaurant?
Le Bernardin in New York and Bacchanalia in Atlanta.