Stanford's Fatima Rodriguez Receives Prestigious 2025 Joseph A. Vita Award for Cardiovascular Research

Dr. Fatima Rodriguez, an associate professor of medicine, vice chair of clinical research, and section chief of preventive cardiology at Stanford Medicine, has been selected to receive the 2025 Joseph A. Vita Award from the American Heart Association. The award will be presented during the opening session of the Association's Scientific Sessions 2025, scheduled for November 7-10 in New Orleans.

The Joseph A. Vita Award recognizes scientists whose research has significantly advanced cardiovascular biology or cardiovascular health within the past five years, with work published in American Heart Association journals. Dr. Vita was the founding editor of the Association's open-access, peer-reviewed Journal of the American Heart Association (JAHA). The award selection is made by the editors-in-chief of the Association's 14 peer-reviewed scientific journals, celebrating research that transforms or changes the direction of cardiovascular science.

Dr. Stacey E. Rosen, the American Heart Association's 2025-2026 volunteer president, emphasized the significance of Dr. Rodriguez's work. "Innovative, impactful and patient-centered, her work has directly improved our ability to assess cardiovascular risk and target prevention strategies in ways that are more personalized and data-driven," said Rosen, who also serves as executive director for Northwell's Katz Institute for Women's Health.

Dr. Rodriguez's research focuses on cardiometabolic disease prevention, leveraging technology and data science to personalize cardiovascular risk prediction. Her multidisciplinary program aims to uncover drivers of gaps in cardiovascular outcomes across different populations and develop evidence-based interventions. Her work is funded by multiple prestigious organizations, including the American Heart Association, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (a division of the National Institutes of Health), and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

"I am deeply honored to receive this award from the American Heart Association, an organization that has championed my work throughout my career," Dr. Rodriguez stated. "Having family experiences with heart disease helped shape my career focus on improving cardiovascular risk prediction and developing more personalized, equitable treatment strategies."

The recognition comes as cardiovascular disease remains a leading cause of death globally, with significant disparities in outcomes across different demographic groups. Dr. Rodriguez's work addresses critical gaps in personalized medicine and health equity, potentially transforming how healthcare providers assess and manage cardiovascular risk for diverse patient populations.

Dr. Rodriguez earned her medical degree from Harvard Medical School and a master of public health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She completed her internal medicine residency at Brigham and Women's Hospital and a cardiology fellowship at Stanford University before joining the faculty. With over 270 peer-reviewed publications and multiple national honors, including the 2022 Douglas P. Zipes Distinguished Young Scientist Award from the American College of Cardiology, Dr. Rodriguez's research continues to influence cardiovascular prevention strategies worldwide.

The American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2025 serves as a premier global exchange for the latest scientific advancements and evidence-based clinical practice updates in cardiovascular science. The recognition of Dr. Rodriguez's work underscores the growing importance of personalized, data-driven approaches to cardiovascular disease prevention and the critical role of research in addressing health disparities.