Pioneer in Women’s Health Research to Receive Alma Dea Morani Award

The Women in Medicine Legacy Foundation honors Dr. Vivian W. Pinn

Vivian W. Pinn, MD, a pioneer in women’s health research and a tireless advocate for quality healthcare for all, is the 2020 recipient of the Alma Dea Morani Renaissance Woman Award, the most prestigious honor bestowed by The Women in Medicine Legacy Foundation.

In 1991, Dr. Pinn became the first director of the Office of Research on Women’s Health at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The only woman and the only African-American in her class at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, she went on to become the first woman of color in the United States to chair an academic pathology department, at Howard University College of Medicine.

Dr. Pinn led NIH efforts to include women and minorities in clinical research. She also focused on sex differences research, from cellular to translational research to the implementation of healthcare. Over the course of a long and fruitful career, she has received more than 300 awards and was the first African American to be named to Modern Healthcare’s Hall of Fame.  

Her oral history is included in the National Library of Medicine’s exhibit on women physicians, ‘Changing the Face of Medicine’; in the University of Virginia’s project ‘Explorations in Black Leadership’ conducted by Julian Bond; and, in The HistoryMakers collection which is now housed in the Library of Congress.

“For half a century, Dr. Pinn has worked diligently to advocate for quality healthcare for everyone. She is a champion for both women’s health and women in medicine,” says Julia Haller, MD, Foundation president. “We are proud to present this year’s award to her.”

The Alma Dea Morani Award recognizes an outstanding contemporary pioneer in medicine or science who has demonstrated professional excellence and a thirst for knowledge and service beyond her medical practice or scientific endeavors. Dr. Pinn will receive the 21st award.

She will accept her award at a virtual event hosted by the New York Academy of Medicine on November 19, 2020. As part of this event, she will also deliver remarks on Women in Academic Medicine: Leadership and Intersectionality Matter.