Stacey E. Rosen, MD, a cardiologist and executive director of Northwell Health’s Katz Institute for Women’s Health and the 2025-2026 volunteer president of the American Heart Association, delivered a poignant and powerful Presidential Address at the opening of the Association’s Scientific Sessions 2025, which took place November 7-10. Her keynote speech, which kicked off the annual conference, challenged decades of male-centric research, outlining a transformative vision for the future of women’s cardiovascular and cerebrovascular health and calling for a fundamental shift in scientific inquiry and clinical practice.

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Dr. Stacey E. Rosen delivers her presidential keynote at the American Heart Association’s annual Scientific Sessions. (Credit: American Heart Association).

Addressing an audience of more than 10,000 leading cardiologists, researchers, and media, Dr. Rosen opened with a compelling analogy of two babies, her son and daughter, born on the same day in 1992. She lamented how, historically, her son and other boys around the world would benefit from a vast body of sex-specific research, prevention strategies and treatment options, while for girls it was “not so much.”

“For too long, it was widely believed that human hearts were human hearts, and human brains were human brains,” Dr. Rosen explained, leading scientists to study men and simply apply any findings to women. This flawed approach persisted because, as she noted from discussions with leading experts in the past. “We didn’t think it mattered,” said Dr. Rosen, senior vice president of Women’s Health at Northwell.

Dr. Rosen traced the origins of this male-centric model back to the 1940s, highlighting how early population studies identifying risk factors for coronary artery disease predominantly included only men. While advancements led to decreasing heart disease mortality rates for men, women’s mortality rates continued to rise, eventually surpassing men’s, and the gap widened. This critical disparity spurred a series of pivotal initiatives, including the establishment of the NIH’s Office of Research in Women’s Health and groundbreaking studies that began to uncover sex-differentiated mechanisms of heart disease.

Despite significant progress, Dr. Rosen emphasized that serious questions remain, such as why women with diabetes have a markedly different risk factor profile than men, why women are more prone to migraines with aura (a stroke risk factor), and why mechanisms of sudden cardiac death differ by sex.

Her remarks ended with a powerful call for action and an appeal for broader engagement. Dr. Rosen stressed that improving women’s health requires more than just women scientists and clinicians.

“Women trying to answer these critical questions don’t need men merely as allies … what we really need are men as accomplices to improve the heart and brain health of women!” she asserted, challenging the audience to “make a name for yourself” by pursuing groundbreaking science in this vital area.

“Dr. Rosen’s Presidential Address was a bold and inspiring call to action that underscores the urgent need to transform how we approach women’s cardiovascular health,” said Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association. “Dr. Rosen has been a longtime volunteer and tireless advocate for the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women movement and has championed initiatives like our Research Goes Red and the Go Red for Women Venture Fund. These programs are driving innovation, amplifying women’s voices and accelerating solutions that improve outcomes for all women.”

The American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions is the world’s premier cardiovascular conference, bringing together basic scientists, clinicians, and researchers from across the globe. This annual event serves as a critical platform for presenting the latest groundbreaking science, research and advances in cardiovascular medicine. Attendees engage in learning, networking and collaboration, shaping the future of heart and brain health through the unveiling of new guidelines, pivotal trials and innovative therapies across a wide spectrum of specialties. Having taken the helm as the Association’s volunteer president in June, Dr. Rosen helps share insights to guide the strategic direction of various Association committees.

At Northwell, Dr. Rosen oversees Northwell’s Katz Institute for Women’s Health. Its mission is to improve the health of women throughout their lives, bridging the gap between wellness and personalized care delivery. With a dedicated focus on women, the Katz Institute offers a comprehensive approach and sets the standards for excellence in patient-centered women’s health care. It also serves as a convener and amplifier for all of Northwell’s women’s health initiatives, including supporting sex- and gender-specific research, providing expert, coordinated clinical care and educating the community on prevention and well-being.

About Northwell Health

Northwell is the largest not-for-profit health system in the Northeast, serving residents of New York and Connecticut with 28 hospitals, more than 1,000 outpatient facilities, 22,000 nurses and over 20,000 physicians. Northwell cares for more than three million people annually in the New York metro area, including Long Island, the Hudson Valley, western Connecticut and beyond, thanks to philanthropic support from our communities. Northwell is New York State’s largest private employer with over 104,000 employees – including members of Northwell Health Physician Partners and Nuvance Health Medical Practices – who are working to change health care for the better. Northwell, named a TIME100 Most Influential Companies 2025, is making breakthroughs in medicine at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. Northwell is training the next generation of medical professionals at the visionary Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and the Hofstra Northwell School of Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies. For information on our more than 100 medical specialties, visit Northwell.edu and follow us @NorthwellHealth on Facebook, X, Instagram and LinkedIn.

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