Edmund H. Sonnenblick.

Abstract

Edmund H. Sonnenblick, M.D., (Fig. 1) currently the Edmond J. Safra Professor of Medicine and former Chief of the Division of Cardiology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, was born in New Haven, Conn., in 1932. He was raised in Hartford and graduated from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., with highest honors in 1954 and cum laude from Harvard Medical School in 1958. He received his training in internal medicine at Presbyterian Hospital in New York. In 1960, he joined the Cardiovascular Research Laboratories of Dr. Stanley Sarnoff at the National Heart Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. There he initiated studies on the function and structure of heart muscle that have formed the basis upon which modern understanding of ventricular function relies. In 1963, he joined the Cardiology Branch at the National Heart Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, directed by Dr. Eugene Braunwald, where these basic studies were extended to the intact heart, both in experimental animals and in humans. With Drs. Braunwald and John Ross, among others, the entire field of cardiovascular research was greatly expanded with several studies of cardiac function, structure, and energetics. These studies were extended to develop new views of heart failure and coronary heart disease. In 1968, Dr. Sonnenblick joined Dr. Richard Gorlin, and subsequently Dr. Braunwald, at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, where he was the Director of Cardiovascular Research in the Cardiac Unit and an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. This unit extended the studies pursued in Bethesda while continuing to train many of the future leaders in academic cardiology. In 1975, Dr. Sonnenblick accepted the position of Olson Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Cardiology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, where he was also the Director of the Cardiovascular Center. In 1996, he stepped down from directing the division while remaining an active clinical cardiologist and investigator at this institution. Dr. Sonnenblick has been a major contributor to the basic and clinical literature in cardiology, authoring over 650 scientific articles and chapters as well as serving as a senior editor of the Hurst’s The Heart for four editions. He has received many honors, including the Distinguished Scientist Award of the American College of Cardiology, and has been an editor of all of the major cardiology journals. Among other societies, he is also a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the American Association of Physicians, the American Heart Association, and he is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the American College of Physicians. With Dr. Michael Lesch, he has edited Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases, which remains one of the premiere review journals regarding cardiology. He also co-edits the text Cardiovascular Pharmaco Therapeutics with Dr. William Frishman, Chairman of Medicine at New York Medical College. Dr. Sonnenblick’s research accomplishments have been fundamental to the development of cardiology. His initial and extended studies of the mechanics of cardiac muscle have been used to characterize and quantitate ventricular performance. For example, he brought such terms as “preload” and “afterload” into use and concept. His structural studies with Dr. David Spiro, extended by his long and continued association with my laboratory, have served to improve our understanding of cardiac function to the sarcomere; other studies of energetics and coronary physiology have also stood the test of time. Dr. Sonnenblick and I have been collaborators and friends for more than 25 years. Ed’s profound knowledge of cardiac pathophysiology has dramatically influenced my scientific growth and that of many cardiologists and cardiovascular scientists. His ability to integrate basic physiologic principles with quantitative parameters of the diseased heart and with the more recent and popular aspects of molecular cardiology is remarkable. Dr. Sonnenblick has challenged established dogma Clin. Cardiol. 27, 247–248 (2004)