Judith Aberg

{{Infobox scientist

| name = Judith Aberg

| image = Dr.Judith Aberg, NIH Record.jpg

| caption = Aberg in 2020

| workplaces = Bellevue Hospital
New York University Grossman School of Medicine
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
University of California, San Francisco
Washington University School of Medicine

| alma_mater = Pennsylvania State University
Cleveland Clinic

}}

Judith Aberg is an American physician who is the George Baehr Professor of Clinical Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital. She was appointed Dean of System Operations for Clinical Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Her research considered infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS and COVID-19.

Early life and education

At the age of 14, Aberg's father suffered paralysis after having an operation on his back.{{Cite web |last=Susan |date=2018-12-18 |title=Prior ID Fellow, Dr. Judy Aberg, Honored by the IDSA Foundation, Women in ID |url=https://infectiousdiseases.wustl.edu/prior-id-fellow-dr-judy-aberg-honored-by-the-idsa-foundation-women-in-id/ |access-date=2022-12-04 |website=Division of Infectious Diseases |language=en-US}} She has credited her experience in hospital as motivation to study medicine. She had a difficult time as an adolescent, and was kicked out of her family home as a teenager when she became pregnant. In an attempt to earn enough money for university, she worked several different jobs, including at an amusement park, as a chef, a lawn mower and a lab technician. When her partner started working as a dentist, Aberg was able to attend medical school. Aberg was an undergraduate student in medicine at the Pennsylvania State University.{{Cite web |date=2015-07-16 |title=Meet the Team {{!}} Aberg Lab |url=https://labs.icahn.mssm.edu/aberglab/meet-the-team/ |access-date=2022-12-04 |website=Aberg Lab {{!}}}} She completed her medical residency at the Cleveland Clinic, where she was Chief Resident.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}} After completing her medical training, Aberg was made a fellow in infectious diseases at the Washington University School of Medicine. She became increasingly aware that young men her age were dying with AIDS, and decided to focus on HIV/AIDS. She has said she was mentored by William Powderly to improve the health outcomes of people living with HIV (PLWHA), with a focus on using clinical observations to drive basic sciences.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

Research and career

Aberg worked on the faculty of the University of California, San Francisco, where she oversaw the AIDS Clinical Trial Unit.{{Cite web |title=Judith Aberg, MD {{!}} UCSF-Gladstone Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) |url=https://cfar.ucsf.edu/people/judith-aberg |access-date=2022-12-04 |website=cfar.ucsf.edu |date=March 1999 |language=en}} In San Francisco, she started to challenge conventional practices, for example, why to keep treating PLWHA with mycobacterium avium complex if they were regaining immunity to the virus.{{Cite journal |last1=Aberg |first1=Judith A. |last2=Williams |first2=Paige L. |last3=Liu |first3=Tun |last4=Lederman |first4=Howard M. |last5=Hafner |first5=Richard |last6=Torriani |first6=Francesca J. |last7=Lennox |first7=Jeffrey L. |last8=Dube |first8=Michael P. |last9=MacGregor |first9=Rob Roy |last10=Currier |first10=Judith S. |last11=AIDS Clinical Trial Group 393 Study Team |date=2003-04-01 |title=A study of discontinuing maintenance therapy in human immunodeficiency virus-infected subjects with disseminated Mycobacterium avium complex: AIDS Clinical Trial Group 393 Study Team |journal=The Journal of Infectious Diseases |volume=187 |issue=7 |pages=1046–1052 |doi=10.1086/368413 |issn=0022-1899 |pmid=12660918|doi-access=free }} These treatments were making people ill and impacting their quality of life. She changed treatment guidelines, and switched her focus to developing primary care. Aberg started to investigate complications associated with having HIV, including cardiovascular issues and the pathogenesis of inflammation.{{Cite web |date=2015-07-16 |title=Aberg Lab |url=https://labs.icahn.mssm.edu/aberglab/ |access-date=2022-12-04 |website=Aberg Lab {{!}}}}

In 2004, Aberg joined the faculty the New York University Grossman School of Medicine and the Bellevue Hospital.{{Cite web |title=Abstract: How to Advocate for Your Patients (IDWeek 2012 Meeting) |url=https://idsa.confex.com/idsa/2012/webprogram/Paper33459.html |access-date=2022-12-04 |website=idsa.confex.com |archive-date=2022-12-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221204204911/https://idsa.confex.com/idsa/2012/webprogram/Paper33459.html |url-status=dead }} Aberg served as Director of Virology and lead of the AIDS Clinical Trials Unit. She worked to improve the outcomes of PLWHA and advocated to use evidence in decision-making.{{Cite web |title=- The New York State HIV Quality of Care Program |url=https://quality.aidsinstituteny.org/QOCPgm/QOCPgm/laubensteinAwards |access-date=2022-12-04 |website=quality.aidsinstituteny.org}}

Aberg joined the Mount Sinai Health System in 2014.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}} In an article for The Journal of Infectious Diseases, Aberg said that women and people from other historically excluded groups feel obliged to participate in uncompensated institutional service.{{Cite web |title=Women in ID push against glass ceiling |url=https://www.healio.com/news/infectious-disease/20180718/women-in-id-push-against-glass-ceiling |access-date=2022-12-04 |website=www.healio.com |language=en}} She called this burden "cultural taxation,", and noted that alongside this tax, there were considerable gender-based salary differences.{{Cite web |title=Diversity in the US Infectious Diseases Workforce: Challenges for Women and Underrepresented Minorities |url=https://academic.oup.com/jid/article/216/suppl_5/S606/4160395 |access-date=2022-12-04 |website=academic.oup.com}}

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Aberg started to work on therapeutic strategies for people with COVID-19. She studied the effectiveness of convalescent plasma.{{Cite web |date=2020-07-28 |title=Notable in Health Care - Judith Aberg, MD |url=https://www.crainsnewyork.com/awards/notable-health-care-2020-judith-aberg-md |access-date=2022-12-04 |website=Crain's New York Business |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Nichols |first=Mackenzie |date=2020-06-09 |title=Meet Three Doctors Who Are Pioneering a Plasma Program for Coronavirus Treatment |url=https://variety.com/2020/biz/news/coronavirus-plasma-treatment-judith-aberg-nicole-bouvier-ania-wajnberg-1234628446/ |access-date=2022-12-04 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=The Race to Develop a Covid-19 Vaccine {{!}} Aspen Ideas |url=https://admin.aspenideasfestival.production.a17.io/podcasts/the-race-to-develop-a-covid-19-vaccine |access-date=2022-12-04 |website=Aspen Ideas Festival |language=en-US}} She is a member of the panel developing NIH Covid-19 treatment guidelines.{{Cite web |last=McManus |first=Rich |date=2020-08-21 |title=Aberg Offers Clinical Lessons from NYC Frontlines |url=https://nihrecord.nih.gov/2020/08/21/aberg-offers-clinical-lessons-nyc-frontlines |access-date=2022-12-06 |website=NIH Record |language=EN}}

Awards and honors

2008 New York Linda Laubenstein Award
2014 George Baehr Endowed Professorship of Clinical Medicine{{Cite web |title=Dr. Judith Aberg receives Dr. George Baehr Endowed Professorship of Clinical Medicine - Forum for Collaborative Research |url=https://forumresearch.org/partner-news/1097-aberg-endowed-chair |access-date=2022-12-04 |website=forumresearch.org |archive-date=2022-12-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221204204909/https://forumresearch.org/partner-news/1097-aberg-endowed-chair |url-status=dead }}
2018 Infectious Diseases Society of America Lifetime Achievement Award
2021 Jacobi Medallion{{Cite web |title=Jacobi Medallion Ceremony |url=https://alumni.icahn.mssm.edu/s/1819/17/events.aspx?sid=1819&gid=2&pgid=504 |access-date=2022-12-04 |website=alumni.icahn.mssm.edu |language=en |archive-date=2022-10-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221028222542/https://alumni.icahn.mssm.edu/s/1819/17/events.aspx?sid=1819&gid=2&pgid=504 |url-status=dead }}