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.

Dr. Anne B. Curtis, Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo

2024 McCue Award recipient Dr. Anne B. Curtis It is our great honor to announce that Dr. Anne B. Curtis has been awarded the 2024 Dr. Carolyn McCue Award for Woman Cardiologist of the Year. Dr. Curtis is both a clinician and researcher, serving as SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Department of Medicine at the Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo in Buffalo, New York. Her specialty is clinical cardiac electrophysiology, the field of cardiology that studies, and diagnoses and treats disorders of, the electrical activity of the heart muscle.

Curtis currently serves as president of the Association of Professors of Medicine, an organization that represents the leadership of departments of internal medicine across the United States and Canada. She is on the editorial boards of many of the key academic journals in the fields of cardiology and electrophysiology, and also serves as an associate editor of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Her research interests include clinical trials in implantable device therapy, including defibrillators and cardiac resynchronization therapy; sex and racial disparities in the management of patients with arrhythmias; and clinical research in atrial fibrillation. In addition to holding leadership positions on steering committees, executive committees, and data and safety monitoring boards for multicenter clinical trials, Dr. Curtis was the national principal investigator on a study of heart failure patients with atrioventricular block (entitled Block HF). She has been on the writing committees for national and international guidelines and consensus statements on atrial fibrillation, sudden cardiac death, ablation for atrial fibrillation, sex differences in cardiac arrhythmias, and cardiac physiological pacing. Dr. Curtis has over 350 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and reviews.

Dr. Curtis will be presented with the Dr. Carolyn McCue Award for Woman Cardiologist of the Year at the Pauley Heart Center Heart Health in Women Symposium, held at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture in Richmond, Virginia on Saturday, February 3, 2024. Dr. Curtis will also serve as keynote speaker at the conference. To receive information and updates about the conference, 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 2025 McCue Award will open in February 2024. The award is presented each year at the Pauley Heart Center’s Heart Health in Women Symposium, held in Richmond, Virginia. The award comes with a monetary prize of $7500, and the awardee will also be asked to serve as the keynote speaker at the symposium.

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