Harriet P. Dustan

Harriet Pearson Dustan (1920–1999) was an American physician who is known for her pioneering contributions to effective detection and treatment of hypertension. She was the first woman to serve on the Board of Governors of the American Board of Internal Medicine.

Early life and education Dustan was born in 1920 in Craftsbury Common, Vermont to Helen Paterson and William Lyon Dustan. She attended Craftsbury Academy for her primary and secondary education before receiving her Bachelors of Science (cum laude) and medical degrees from the University of Vermont. Following graduation, she received her training in internal medicine at Mary Fletcher Hospital, which is now the Medical Center Campus at Fletcher Allen Health Care, in Burlington Vermont. She then moved to Montreal to do her residency in internal medicine at Royal Victoria Hospital. She retired from her position in 1990 and returned to Vermont, where she became a visiting professor of Pharmacology and Medicine at the University of Vermont College of Medicine.

Throughout her career, Dustan held a number of leadership and advisory positions, leaving a lasting footprint on the medical community. In 1973, she became the first woman on the Board of Governors of the American Board of Internal Medicine. She was also an active member of the American Heart Association from 1973 to 1979, serving as its second woman president (1977–1978), chairing its Ethics and Research Committees, and acting as the first editor-in-chief of its journal, Hypertension. She also served as a member of the Board of Regents of the American College of Physicians from 1979 to 1984 and on the Advisory Board of the NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, establishing national clinical practice guidelines. At the Cleveland Clinic, she worked in the Research Division with Drs. Irvine Page and Arthur C. Corcoran where she became a leading force in the field of hypertension. There, she was among the first to suggest that reducing dietary sodium could lower hypertension and risk for other cardiac disorders. In addition to recommendations for hypertension prevention, she advanced the medical field's understanding of the mechanisms underlying hypertension and helped develop early anti-hypertensive treatments. For instance, she studied the effects of serotonin in constricting blood vessels, which is now a treatment used in antidepressants. She was also a member of the team that established selective renal arteriography to track circulation in the kidneys and develop a reference standard by which to guide treatment and interventions. In so doing, her work transformed hypertension from a death sentence to a treatable disease.

Legacy Following her death on June 27, 1999, Dr. Edward D. Frohlich, a colleague and scientist at the Alton Ochsner Medical Foundation, noted Dr. Dustan's keen intellect, delightful sense of humor, and service to humanity. Honorary Degree, Doctor of Science, University of Vermont, 1977 Honorary Degree, Doctor of Science, Cleveland State University, 1978 Honorary Doctor of Science, Medical College of Wisconsin, 1986 Lifetime Achievement Award of the Council for High Blood Pressure Research