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Antonia Novello, Birth
Antonia Novello is still alive 75 years old -
Dr. Novello Experience
Novello gained experience in pediatrics in Michigan until 1974 and, after postgraduate work at Georgetown University and several years in private practice, she joined the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps in 1978, working with the National Institute of Arthritis, Metabolism and Digestive Disorders at the National Institutes of Health. She became deputy director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, where she focused on pediatric AIDS. -
Hospital Education
Novello continued to work in pediatrics at Georgetown University Hospital and in 1982 earned her degree in public health from Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health. On assignment with the U.S. Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources, she helped draft legislation for the Organ Transplantation Procurement Act of 1984 -
Getting better and better
Such deeds helped make Novello one of the most popular Surgeon Generals in history. She was also far less controversial than her successor, Dr. Jocelyn Elders, who was forced to step down during the Clinton Administration for her frank pronouncements. She continues to play an active role in public health issues, especially pediatric-related topics and works for UNICEF as a special representative for health and nutrition. A professor of medicine at Georgetown University since 1986 -
First Female Hispanic as Surgical General
When Dr. Antonia Novello was appointed Surgeon General of the United States by President George Bush in 1990, she was the first woman and the first Hispanic ever to hold that office. Her appointment came after nearly two decades of public service at the National Institutes of Health, where she took a role in drafting national legislation regarding organ transplantation. -
Her Achivements
The first woman and the first Hispanic to become the Surgeon General of the United States (1990-1993), Antonia Novello brought to her work a strong empathy for people without power in society and used her position to alleviate suffering, especially for women and children. -
Her honor
She was heavily honored in 1994 because of her achievements in medicine she was in the women's hall of fame