Rita F. Redberg

Rita Fran Redberg (born December 27, 1956) is an American cardiologist and was the editor-in-chief of JAMA Internal Medicine (JAMA IM) from 2009 to 2023.

Early life and education Redberg was born on December 27, 1956 in Brooklyn, New York. She attended James Madison High School and was among the first students enrolled in City-as-School, an experiential learning high school that allowed students to have educational experiences all over New York City. During the program, she chose to work at a hospital, shadowing doctors. Following high school, Redberg majored in biology at Cornell University.

Following Cornell, Redberg completed her medical degree at Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania while simultaneously earning her Master of Science degree in Health Policy and Administration at the London School of Economics. She then accepted a residency and fellowship position at the Columbia University Medical Center, Mount Sinai Hospital, and the Cardiovascular Research Institute at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center.

Career Upon completing her residency and fellowship, Redberg accepted a faculty position at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) in 1991, where she is currently a professor of clinical medicine. In 2003, Redberg spent a year in Washington, D.C. as a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow. As part of her fellowship, she began working as a health policy staff member for Senator Orrin Hatch whom she helped research and develop legislation related to the Food and Drug Administration and lead the implementation of the Medicare Modernization Act.

In 2009, she was appointed the editor-in-chief of JAMA IM (formerly the Archives of Internal Medicine). The Wall Street Journal, on National Public Radio and The Today Show, and in the George Polk Award-winning nominated Netflix documentary The Bleeding Edge.

In 2017, she was elected to the National Academy of Medicine for her "outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service in the medical sciences, health care and public health."

Redberg has been listed as a "Top Doctor" by San Francisco Magazine every year since 2015. In 2016, Redberg was awarded the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Health Policy Fellows Lifetime Achievement Award. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Redberg was appointed the Araxe Vilensky Endowed Chair for her "long history and proven record of research." A few months later, she also received the 2021 Perelman School of Medicine Distinguished Graduate Award from the University of Pennsylvania for her "outstanding service to society and the profession of medicine." Redberg currently serves on Penn's Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics' (CHIBE) external advisory board.

Selected publications

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You Can be a Woman Cardiologist (1996)