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Marianne J. Legato is an American physician and researcher known for her work in gender-specific medicine. Her research focuses on how biological sex and gender influence human health and the experience of diseases,[1] including research on the relationship between women and heart disease[2].
Legato was born in 1935 in New York City to a general practitioner father, whose professions greatly influenced her interest in medicine.[3] As a child, she often accompanied her father on hospital rounds and house calls, and by the age of three decided she wanted to become a physician herself.[3]Legato enrolled in the New York University College of Medicine, her father’s alma mater, but quit her education when her father ended his financial support. Dr. M. Irené Ferrer and her brother, Dr. José María Ferrer, became mentors to Legato and assisted in her return to medical school. Dr. M. Irené Ferrer advocated for her re-enrolment and provided financial support for tuition.[4][5]
Professional career
After graduating in 1962, Legato completed an internship and junior residency at Bellevue Hospital in New York, followed by a senior residency at the Presbyterian Hospital of the City of New York.[3] From 1965 to 1968, she was a visiting fellow in cardiology at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.[6] In 1968, Legato became an instructor in medicine, beginning her academic career at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.[5] She holds the title of Professor Emerita of Clinical Medicine at Columbia.[7] Legato is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and a Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine.[8]
In 1997, Legato founded the Partnership for Gender-Specific Medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.[3] The Partnership for Gender-Specific Medicine established the M. Irené Ferrer Professorship in Gender-Specific Medicine at Columbia University.[3][9] Legato is the director of the Partnership.[10]
In 2006, she established the non-profit Gender-Specific Medicine Foundation.[11] She received an award from the American Heart Association for her book The Female Heart: The Truth About Women and Coronary Artery Disease, published in 1992.[12][13]
Legato served as president of the First International Congress on Gender-Specific Medicine in Berlin in 2006, and has served as president for subsequent International Congresses, including those held in Vienna (2007) and Stockholm (2008).[14]
Research and advocacy
Legato received the Martha Lyon Slater Fellowship from 1965 to 1968, and the J. Murray Steele Award in 1971, both given by the New York Heart Association.[15] Her research on myocardial cell structure and function was supported by a Research Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Health as well as research grants from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. She has worked on study sections for NIH grant applications at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. From 1995 to 1998, Legato served as a member of the advisory board to the Office of Research in Women's Health at the NIH. During that time, she co-chaired a task force responsible for setting research priorities on women's health.[16]
In 2004, Legato was among 300 American physicians featured in the National Library of Medicine's documentary, Changing the Face of Medicine.[16] She received the National Council on Women's Health Award for gender-specific medicine in 2005. Ladies' Home Journal established the annual Marianne J. Legato Award in Gender-Specific Medicine in 2006.[17]
In 2018, she received a PROSE Award from the Association of American Publishers for her book on clinical medicine, Principles of Gender-Specific Medicine: Gender in the Genomic Era (Third Edition). Her book, The Plasticity of Sex: The Molecular Biology and Clinical Features of Genomic Sex, Gender Identity, and Sexual Behavior,[19] also received a PROSE Award in the Biomedicine category in 2021.[20]
Personal life
Legato has two children, Christiana and Justin.[3][15]
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