Atlanta Cardiologist Gets Award for Lifetime Achievements

3/7/10 Nanette K. Wenger, M.D., an Atlanta cardiologist, received the Lamartine Hardman Cup for 2009 at the Medical Association of Georgia’s Board of Directors meeting in January. The award is presented to anyone who “has solved any outstanding problem in public health or made any discovery in surgery or medicine or such contribution to the science of medicine, including but not limited to excellence in the field of medical education.”

Dr. Wenger was one of the first doctors to challenge the assumption that women were not vulnerable to heart disease. She uncovered significant differences in how coronary artery disease affects women and men and was among the first research physicians to speak out on the lack of women subjects in medical research. Dr. Wenger has authored more than 1,300 articles and book chapters.

In its nomination letter, the Medical Association of Atlanta noted that Dr. Wenger graduated summa cum laude from Hunter College. She was one of the first women to earn her medical degree at Harvard. Following her graduation, she began her post-graduate work at Mount Sinai Hospital. She went on to complete her cardiology residency at Emory University, where she was appointed a teaching position as an instructor and associate in medicine. She established her clinical practice at Grady Memorial Hospital, and she was named director of cardiac clinics and director of the ambulatory EKG lab. Dr. Wenger was appointed full professor of medicine in 1971. In 1998, she was named chief of cardiology. She is currently professor of medicine in the division of cardiology at the Emory University School of Medicine, and she is the director of cardiac clinics at Grady Memorial.

Dr. Wenger was cited in Time magazine’s “Women of the Year” issue. She was recipient of the top honor of the “President’s Women in Science Award” of the American Medical Women’s Association. The Ladies Home Journal named her “One of the 10 Most Important Women in Medicine.” She was recognized by McCall’s magazine. She received the “Jan J. Kellerman Memorial Award” for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation of the International Society of Heart Failure. And she was recognized for her 30 years of volunteer efforts with the American Heart Association and named the “Physician of the Year.” 

Dr. Wenger and her husband, Julius Wenger, M.D., reside in Atlanta.

The award was named for Lamartine Hardman, M.D., who was Georgia’s governor from 1927 to 1931 and who was a successful physician, entrepreneur and farmer from Jackson County.

Dr. Wenger was unable to attend the formal awards ceremony at MAG’s 155th House of Delegates meeting in October. The Medical Association of Georgia is the leading voice for physicians in Georgia. The House of Delegates is MAG’s policy-making body. Go to www.mag.org for additional information.

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