Dr. Eugene Braunwald, the visionary 'father of modern cardiology' whose research transformed heart attacks from inevitable tragedies into treatable events, passed away on April 22, 2026, at the age of 96. A titan of Harvard Medical School and the NIH, his work redefined the landscape of cardiovascular medicine for over seven decades.

Born in Vienna, Austria, to Jewish parents Wilhelm Braunwald and Clara Wallach, his early life was defined by resilience. He fled Nazi-occupied Austria with his family in 1938, briefly living in London before arriving in New York in 1939. This escape forged a profound dedication to the sanctity of human survival. He graduated first in his class from the New York University School of Medicine and completed his residency in internal medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, according to Pri-Med. He married Nina Starr, who became the first female board-certified thoracic surgeon and a pioneer in cardiac surgery.

His professional ascent was rapid and transformative. He served as the Chief of Cardiology and Clinical Director at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute before becoming the founding Chairman of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego. His defining clinical breakthrough arrived when he published the landmark discovery that a heart attack is a progressive event rather than an instantaneous one, allowing for medical intervention. "He made his entire life about answering questions that were important to improving the health of people with cardiovascular disease," noted Dr. Thomas H. Lee, Biographer and Senior Physician, in a statement shared by the American Heart Association.

He was later appointed Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, now Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Harvard Medical School. Acting as the literal and figurative editor-in-chief of modern medicine, he served as the editor-in-chief of Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine for 12 editions. He also authored Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine, widely considered the definitive text in the field. Despite his immense professional prestige and authoring more than 1,600 scientific publications to become the most frequently cited author in cardiology, his brilliance was always rooted in empathy. He famously believed that the best book of cardiology is the patient itself.

To further clinical progress, he founded the Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction Study Group, which has conducted over 70 major clinical trials. He became the first cardiologist elected to the National Academy of Sciences of the United States. He received the King Faisal International Prize for Medicine for his contributions to cardiovascular research and was awarded the Lasker-Koshland Special Achievement Award in Medical Science. Brigham and Women's Hospital dedicated the 16-story Eugene Braunwald Research Tower in his honor. His death was confirmed by Mass General Brigham, as reported by TCTMD.

The architect of the healing heart leaves behind a living legacy. Millions of beating hearts continue to thrive today because of the protocols he established. The generations of physicians he mentored now carry his torch, ensuring his profound commitment to human life endures.