April 28, 2026
5 min read
Key takeaways:
- Eugene Braunwald, MD, MACC, considered a founder of modern cardiology, died at age 96 years.
- Some of Braunwald’s colleagues shared memories and discussed his many contributions to the field.
Eugene Braunwald, MD, MACC, whose diverse body of work changed the practice of cardiology, died April 22 at age 96 years.
Among his many contributions to cardiology, Braunwald, who held the title of Distinguished Hersey Professor of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, was one of the first researchers to describe what came to be known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, was founding editor of the influential textbook Braunwald’s Heart Disease and was founder of the TIMI Study Group at Brigham and Women’s, which developed the modern approach for large-scale CV clinical trials.
Eugene Braunwald
Braunwald was an author on more than 1,000 peer-reviewed publications, was one of the most-cited cardiologists in history and was still publishing up to the month of his death.
Braunwald was a longtime member of the Healio | Cardiology Today Editorial Board. He attended many Editorial Board meetings at the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association scientific sessions over the years and offered numerous contributions to the publication.
‘Immeasurable influences’
Peter Libby
Peter Libby, MD, a colleague of Braunwald’s since 1969, said Braunwald “made incalculable contributions to cardiology and internal medicine.”
“His influence ranged from groundbreaking physiologic and clinical research that culminated in 80 trials led by the TIMI Study Group that he founded and led for decades,” Libby, cardiovascular medicine specialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the Mallinckrodt Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and a member of the Healio | Cardiology Today Editorial Board, told Healio. “Many of these trials changed guidelines, practice around the world, and ultimately benefited multitudinous patients. Dr. Braunwald also had immeasurable influences on training. He served as a chief of medicine for many years at three major academic institutions and oversaw the training of many hundreds of individuals. He often took morning report with the residents himself. His innovations in training were legion, including institution of a research residency that trained numerous leaders and academic medicine. As a longtime editor of Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine and the founding editor of Braunwald’s Heart Disease, currently in its 13th edition, he educated countless individuals and influenced the practice of medicine and cardiology worldwide.”
Carl J. Pepine
Healio | Cardiology Today Chief Medical Editor Emeritus Carl J. Pepine, MD, MACC, told Healio about his first interaction with Braunwald.
“Dr. Braunwald chaired the meeting when I made my first academic presentation as a medical resident at the then-termed ‘Spring Meetings.’ These meetings took place every January in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and included the American Federation for Medical Research, the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians.
“As you can imagine, I was scared for my first presentation, but Dr. Braunwald was very kind. He raised several key points that enhanced my presentation. Most impressively, he remembered my name and greeted me warmly every time we crossed paths from then on. Gene Braunwald was a giant in the field,” Pepine told Healio.
Deepak L. Bhatt
Healio | Cardiology Today Editorial Board Member Deepak L. Bhatt, MD, MPH, MBA, director of the Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital and the Dr. Valentin Fuster Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and a former colleague of Braunwald’s at Brigham and Women’s and Harvard, said Braunwald’s “impact on medicine is immeasurable.”
“To me, he was a friend, mentor, teacher and so much more,” Bhatt told Healio. “He was a proud alumnus of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, having trained in cardiology here. He had a brilliant mind, as everyone knows, but perhaps not as well-known was that he had a great sense of humor. Few people I have ever met were as quick on their feet with a witty response. When I finished giving the laudatory remarks prior to him receiving an award from Heart in Diabetes, Dr. Braunwald shared, ‘If my father had heard what you said, he would have been very proud of me, but if my mother heard it, she wouldn’t have believed it!’ Despite being a giant in the field, he was always humble. I traveled with him many times, and he was a fun travel companion — terrific stories, funny jokes. People would always come up to take a picture with him, and he was always so gracious, but he never courted that sort of attention. I am happy to be one of the editors of Braunwald’s Heart Disease and hope that source of knowledge will continue to inspire future generations of physicians, as he inspired so many of us, and remind them of the indelible mark he has left on medicine.”
Braunwald was born in Vienna in 1929 and came to the U.S. with his family after the Nazis took control of Austria. Before arriving at Brigham and Women’s and Harvard, Braunwald’s positions included chief of cardiology and clinical director of the NHLBI and founding chair of medicine at the University of California, San Diego.
‘A legend of all legends’
Roxana Mehran
“He was a legend of all legends; the ‘father of modern cardiology,’” Roxana Mehran, MD, FACC, professor of medicine and director of interventional cardiovascular research and clinical trials, Zena and Michael A. Weiner Cardiovascular Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and president of the American College of Cardiology, said in a memorial posted on the ACC’s website. “His contributions span decades and his legacy will live on with all of the many lives he touched through his work as a clinician, researcher, mentor and teacher.”
“The passing of Dr. Eugene Braunwald marks the end of an era for cardiovascular medicine,” Stacey E. Rosen, MD, FAHA, president of the American Heart Association and executive director of the Katz Institute for Women’s Health and senior vice president of women’s health at Northwell Health in New York City, said in a press release issued by the American Heart Association. “His relentless pursuit of scientific truth transformed the way we understand and treat cardiovascular disease, saving countless lives across the globe. Beyond his groundbreaking research and definitive textbooks, he was a devoted mentor whose brilliance and humanity inspired generations of clinicians. I was always struck by his genuine warmth and his unwavering interest in the next generation of physicians.”
Libby told Healio that in addition to his many accomplishments, Braunwald “was a champion of women in medicine.”
“He was married to Nina Starr Braunwald, MD, the first woman certified in cardiothoracic surgery in the country. One of his daughters, Allison, became an accomplished physician,” Libby said. “In his appointments and career development efforts, he boosted the trajectory of many talented women throughout his career.
“His manifold contributions to our field were indelible, and have improved the lives of many professionals and the public at large through his discoveries and academic leadership,” Libby said.
“I take enormous pleasure in watching everything that we are doing in cardiology today, how it is changing,” Braunwald said in 2023, during a panel discussion at a meeting of the Valentin Fuster Society with Fuster, Bhatt and Martin E. Goldman, MD, a transcript of which was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. “I lived through a time when there were no useful antihypertensive drugs, no cardiac surgery and no echocardiography or other imaging. I have enjoyed a ringside seat to observe these and other developments and, in a few instances, even participated in them. If you can contribute to the development of a field, even if it is just adding a single brick to the construction of a large, important building, the impact may be quite satisfying. This has driven me through all of these years and what is continuing to do so now.”
For more information:
Deepak L. Bhatt, MD, MPH, MBA, can be reached at deepak.bhatt@mountsinai.org or on X @DLBhattMD.
Peter Libby, MD, can be reached at cardiology@healio.com.
Carl J. Pepine, MD, MACC, can be reached at cardiology@healio.com.
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