Bernadine Healy, MD, a physician and medical leader in patient care, research and education, is a director and advisor to several non-profit and for-profit organizations. In December 2001, she retired as President of the American Red Cross.
Dr. Healy became the president of the American Red Cross on September 1, 1999. There she worked to substantially upgrade blood services, develop and execute a strategic plan for organizational integration and human capital development, recruited major talent from government and industry, expanded bilateral and multilateral international work in Africa, India and Turkey and created organization-wide action and Congressional support for the inclusion of the Magen David Adom (Israeli Red Cross) into the International Red Cross movement. In the wake of major national debate, she supported the successful ARC research application for one of the first stem cell grants given by National Institutes for Health (NIH), gained support for a billion-dollar organization-wide Third Century Campaign and initiated programs and controls to enhance financial stewardship and accountability throughout the system. Dr. Healy was instrumental in the development and launch of a branding campaign which shifted the motto of the American Red Cross from "We'll be there" to "Together, we can save a life."
For more than a year, she oversaw the development of a weapons of mass destruction (WMD) planning process, and then, unexpectedly, led the response of the American Red Cross to the 9/11 events, mobilizing volunteers, blood and financial support for the range of services triggered by the President's activation of the Federal Response Plan. These efforts included recovery and response work in New York, in Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon, the creation of an unheralded $200-million family grant program for victims' families, grieving and healing programs in chapters throughout the country, an international response for the families of foreign nationals caught in the disaster, expansion of the armed forces emergency preparedness activities for deployed military, reservists and their families and the initiation of a strategic blood reserve from "extra" blood collections. Dr. Healy activated plans for nation-wide volunteer expansion and WMD training and preparedness, including plans for recruiting and training a medically based "Mercy Battalion" to assist federal and local officials with quarantines, hospital overflow, vaccinations and pharmaceutical stockpile distribution. To assure transparency and accountability, Dr. Healy established a separately designated Liberty Fund to be used exclusively for terrorist-related response and readiness for 9/11 and its aftermath including future threats and attacks, obligations mandated by federal charter.
Prior to the American Red Cross, Dr. Healy served as the Dean of the College of Medicine and Public Health and Professor of Medicine at the Ohio State University, starting in 1995. Under Dr. Healy's leadership, the College, which includes its Medical School, a newly created School of Public Health, and a School of Allied Medical Professions, greatly expanded its talent and programs in cancer research and tumor genetics, and within its Heart and Lung Institute, received national designation as a Center of Excellence in Women's Health, and obtained accreditation for its Public Health School. Dr. Healy chaired the Ohio State University Research Commission, a task force on university-wide research.
Dr. Healy was a past director of the NIH, appointed by President George H. W. Bush to that post in early 1991. During her tenure, Dr. Healy established the Shannon Awards, designed to foster innovative approaches in biomedical research and keep talented scientists working within a highly competitive grant system during funding lapses; established a major intramural laboratory for human genomics at NIH and recruited a world renowned scientist to lead the Human Genome program. She oversaw the elevation of nursing to an Institute for Nursing Research, as well as the reentry of the three behavioral institutes into the NIH enterprise. Dr. Healy launched the NIH Women's Health Initiative, a $625 million effort to study the causes, prevention and cures of diseases that affect women. Under her leadership, the NIH embarked on its first strategic planning process, involving a broad cross-section of NIH constituencies.
Prior to her appointment at NIH, Dr. Healy was chairman of the Research Institute of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, where she directed the research programs of nine departments, including cardiovascular disease, neurobiology, immunology, cancer, artificial organs and molecular biology. With an active program of recruitment, fund raising and strategic planning, the Research Institute more than doubled in size and expanded into newly built research facilities, forming the basis for the Cleveland Clinic's Health Science Center and Lerner Research Institute. From the time of her appointment in November 1985 to the present, she has been a member of the staff of the Cleveland Clinic, now in an adjunct role.
In early 1984, Dr. Healy became Deputy Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy at the White House. Her appointment, made by President Reagan and confirmed by the Senate, involved her in life science and regulatory issues at the federal level. She served as chairman of the White House Cabinet Working Group on Biotechnology, was executive secretary of the White House Science Council's Panel on the Health of Universities, and served as a member of several advisory groups, including the Councils of the National Hearth, Lung and Blood Institute, as well as the White House Working Group on Health Policy and Economics.
From June 1976 until February 1984, Dr. Healy served on the faculty of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Hospital, where she became a professor of medicine and cardiology, director of the Coronary Care Unit, and was dedicated to patient care, research and teaching. Dr. Healy also served as assistant dean for post-doctoral programs and faculty development in the medical school.
Among her other professional affiliations, Dr. Healy has served on the American Board of Internal Medicine, on the Board of Governors of the American College of Cardiology, and as president of the American Federation of Clinical Research from 1983 to 1984. She served as president of the American Heart Association (AHA), a volunteer role, in 1988 and 1989, having been a member of its Board of Directors since 1983. As AHA president, she initiated the Women and Minorities Leadership Task Force and a Women and Heart Disease program that took hold in affiliates nationwide.
Dr. Healy was elected as a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 1987. She was also elected to a six-year term as a member of the Board of Overseers of Harvard University and served on the Visiting Committee to their school of medicine. She has served on the Board of Trustees of Vassar College, and on numerous public and private advisory groups. Over the years, she has received numerous awards and honorary degrees. She is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of the Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus and serves on the corporate boards of Medtronic, MBNA, Ashland, and Invacare.
In December 2001, she was appointed by President George W. Bush to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, her third term of service on that White House Advisory Panel. The author or coauthor of over 220 peer review manuscripts in cardiovascular research and health and science policy, Dr. Healy has served on several editorial boards. She is the former Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Women's Health. Her book, A New Prescription for Women's Health" was published in 1996 by Viking/Penguin. Since 1997, Dr. Healy has been a medical consultant and commentator for CBS News and has worked with PBS.
A native of Queens, New York, Bernadine Healy graduated as valedictorian from The Hunter College High School, received her bachelor's degree, summa cum laude, from Vassar College, her MD, cum laude, from Harvard Medical School, and completed training in internal medicine and cardiology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Dr. Healy is married to Dr. Floyd D. Loop, head of The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, and has two daughters, Bartlett and Marie.