Who is dr antonia novello

Antonia Novello -. Published October Works Cited. How to Cite this page. Additional Resources. Related Biographies. Abrams is now one of the most prominent African American female politicians in the United States. Abigail Adams was an early advocate for women's rights.

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Shirley Chisholm to better understand her experience, and the experience of women everywhere in America. The first woman and the first Hispanic to become the Surgeon General of the United States , Antonia Novello brought to her work a strong empathy for people without power in society and used her position to alleviate suffering, especially for women and children.

Trained as a pediatric nephrologist and in public health, Novello became a clinical professor of pediatrics at Georgetown University Hospital in , after working in private practice and later in the U.

The PHS is a quasi-military corps of doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel who conduct research, serve in areas where there are shortages of doctors such as on Native American reservations , and assist in national disaster relief. By the early s, she was a serving as a Congressional fellow, lending her expertise to the staff of Capitol Hill legislators drafting health-related legislation.

Four years later she was promoted to deputy director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in , which effectively combined her pediatrics training with a desire to assist and act for those who could not.

In her new job, she became a prominent activist for pediatric AIDS research, and executed her duties with zeal and zest for the job, certain that her post was the apex of her ambitions. Yet when Novello's name was mentioned to fill the vacant Surgeon General slot during the presidency of George Bush, she realized she could do even more. Traditionally, the sitting U. Public Health Service. That honoree is also charged with raising public awareness on health issues and serving as the administration's spokes-person for such matters.

On March 9, , Novello was sworn in as U. Surgeon General, after a Senate confirmation hearing that was markedly dissimilar to that of her controversial predecessor, Dr. Everett Koop. She was the fourteenth physician to hold the job, but its first female and its first minority. Not surprisingly, in her new role Novello initiated campaigns designed to raise awareness for America's children and their health-care needs.

She was an advocate of the necessity for preschool immunization programs to reduce infant mortality rates, and espoused increased research and funding into providing better health care services for America's minorities, women, and children-all traditionally underserved by a medical establishment skewed to provide the best care only to fully employed Americans with job-provided health insurance.

Novello and her Surgeon General's office also launched a "Spring Break '91" campaign that targeted the rising number of binge drinkers among American college students; she undertook a speaking tour of college campuses herself to make her point.

Her office also implemented AIDS awareness programs. To mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in , Novello organized an unprecedented meeting between Surgeon General David Satcher and seven others, besides herself, who had held the office. In , Governor George Pataki nominated her to be commissioner of health for the state of New York, where she now heads one of the largest public health agencies in the country. Novello came from a poor family. Her parents divorced and her father died when she was 4.

Her mother was a high-school principal in a distant town and usually was home only on weekends. Because she was an outstanding student, Novello was able to get a scholarship to study at the University of Puerto Rico. Novello's chronic health problem limited her activity during childhood, sapping her energy and requiring long periods of hospitalization. Her first corrective surgery at age 18 was not completely successful, and she had to have a second operation when she was Novello made a huge impact on American public health through her work at the National Institutes of Health and especially as surgeon general.

Her most significant contributions were in setting guidelines for organ transplantations, in leading a campaign against tobacco companies who targeted children in cigarette ads, in raising public awareness about AIDS and its spread among women and children, and in improving general health care for women, children, Hispanics, and other minorities.

Novello's mother, Ana Delia Flores Coello, taught her to work hard in school in order to have a better life, and to care about and respect other people. Novello began her career as a pediatrician, but found the experience emotionally difficult when she was dealing with children who were severely or terminally ill.