Women in Medicine Legacy Foundation Honors Dean Linda P. Fried

October 18, 2019

Linda P. Fried, MD, MPH, dean of Columbia Mailman School, received the 2019 Alma Dea Morani Renaissance Woman Award, the most prestigious honor of The Women in Medicine Legacy Foundation. The award recognizes an outstanding contemporary pioneer in medicine, science, and service and is named for Alma Dea Morani, the first woman admitted to the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons and an advocate for humanism in medicine.

A geriatrician and epidemiologist, Dean Fried is an internationally-known medical scientist and leader in medicine and public health. Under her leadership, the Columbia Mailman School has become an innovator in public health education, addressing such critical issues as the health effects of climate change and improving the quality of health for Americans who are living longer. She has been the principal investigator of a number of major studies, including the Women’s Health and Aging Studies and the Cardiovascular Health Study.

Dean Fried has led major lines of scientific investigation, including research that defined frailty in aging as a new medical syndrome. She co-designed and founded Experience Corps, a community-based public health intervention to prevent frailty and cognitive and functional decline in older adults. The program is now in 24 U.S. cities and led by AARP.

She has received numerous honors and awards including the French INSERM International Prize for Medical Research. An elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and its Council, she is past president of the Association of American Physicians and an elected member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She is also a NYAM Fellow and former Trustee and a member of the Age-friendly NYC Commission.

Dean Fried was honored on October 18 at The New York Academy of Medicine.