Program Overview & History

Dr. Carolyn McCue listens to a patient’s heart The Dr. Carolyn McCue Award for Woman Cardiologist of the Year is a program of the VCU Health Pauley Heart Center, made possible by a grant from the McCue family. The award honors the late Carolyn Moore McCue, MD, who was a national pioneer in pediatric cardiology.

The award was established in 2008, granted again in 2009, and then resumed in the year 2022. Past recipients include: C. Noel Bairey Merz, MD (2008), Elizabeth G. Nabel, MD (2009), Sharonne N. Hayes, MD (2022), Annabelle Santos Volgman, MD (2023), and Anne B. Curtis, MD (2024). The award carries a monetary prize of $7500 and is presented at the Pauley Heart Center’s Heart Health in Women Symposium held in Richmond, Virginia, annually.

Biography

Biography

Dr. Carolyn McCue (1916-1999) was one of the few female cardiologists of her time and a pioneer in the field of pediatric cardiology. Dr. McCue practiced at the Medical College of Virginia (now VCU Health) for 42 years and was the first woman elected president of the Richmond Academy of Medicine. Dr. McCue created and chaired MCV’s Pediatric Cardiology Division for 20 years, during which time she was also instrumental in establishing pediatric cardiology clinics in medically underserved communities throughout Virginia.

Michelle A. Albert, MD, MPH

It is our great honor to announce that Michelle A. Albert, MD, MPH has received the 2025 Dr. Carolyn McCue Award for Woman Cardiologist of the Year. A physician, scientist, and epidemiologist, Dr. Albert is the Walter A. Haas-Lucie Stern Endowed Chair in Cardiology and Professor in Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF), as well as the director of the CeNter for the StUdy of AdveRsiTy and CardiovascUlaR DiseasE (NUTURE Center) at USCF and admissions dean for the UCSF School of Medicine. Clinically, she specializes in both advanced heart disease and preventive cardiology, while her research focuses on “the biology of adversity” and developing implementation strategies to curb adversity-related cardiovascular disease risk among populations that experience poor social determinants of health and cumulative toxic stress.

Albert is the recipient of sustained research funding as principal investigator including from the NIH, AHA, and multiple foundations. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2024 Distinguished Scientist Award from the American College of Cardiology and the 2018 AHA Merit Award for visionary research; she is the first woman and under-represented person in medicine to receive this award. She is the 86th Past President of the American Heart Association (2022-2023), the 18th Past President of the Association of Black Cardiologists, Inc (2020-2022), and the 60th Past President of the Association of University Cardiologists (2021-2022). She is the first person in history to serve collectively and concurrently as president of these three cardiovascular societies, and she is the first woman of color and Black woman to serve as AHA president and as AUC president.

Albert currently serves as a member of the federal Advisory Committee to the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the NHLBI Board of External Experts, and as a standing committee member of the NIH study section – Mechanisms, Emotion, Sleep & Health. She enjoyed mentoring trainees at all levels across the United States and received the Women in Cardiology Mentoring Award from the AHA in 2016. She has been named to the Forbes 50 Over 50 List for her impact.

Dr. Albert was presented with the McCue Award at the tenth annual Pauley Heart Center Heart Health in Women Symposium, at the Science Museum of Virginia on February 8, 2025. Dr. Albert served as the keynote speaker at the conference. To receive information and updates about the conference, please email Shannon Winston at shannon.winston@vcuhealth.org.

Dr. McCue

The McCue Award is given annually to a woman adult or pediatric cardiologist who is currently practicing in the United States or another country. The candidate must possess an MD, DO, or equivalent international medical degree and be 10 years or more post-med school. The candidate must have had an academic affiliation for the majority of her career. The candidate must be a woman cardiologist who is recognized nationally and/or internationally for important contributions to the general field of adult or pediatric cardiology through clinical care, research, teaching, and leadership in mentoring. While a candidate may not be outstanding in all of these skills, she must excel in one or more. Candidates may self-nominate or be nominated by a peer.

Nominations for the Dr. Carolyn McCue Award for Woman Cardiologist of the Year will be accepted between February 8, 2025 – April 16, 2025. Presentation of the Award and a monetary prize of $7500 will be made at the Heart Health in Women Symposium in Richmond in February 2026. The awardee will also be asked to give a 25-minute scientific presentation at the Symposium.

Nominations for the Dr. Carolyn McCue Award for Woman Cardiologist of the Year are now open.