In Memoriam: Magda Heras i Fortuny, M.D., Ph.D. (CV ’89)
Magda Heras i Fortuny, M.D., Ph.D., (CV ’89), who was a research fellow at Mayo Clinic from 1987 to 1989, died on Aug. 3, 2014.
Dr. Heras was born in Terrassa, Catalonia, Spain, and received her medical degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Barcelona. She completed a residency in internal medicine at Hospital Mútua de Terrassa and residency in cardiology at Hospital Clínic de Barcelona,. She completed a research fellowship at Mayo Clinic in the arteriosclerosis and thrombosis laboratory.
Returning to Spain, Dr. Heras joined the Department of Cardiology at Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, where she remained until her death. She was a professor of cardiology at the University of Barcelona. She founded a basic research group and became its director in 2003. During her career, Dr. Heras received numerous grants, awards and prizes and produced more than 300 articles and chapters in medical journals and textbooks.
Dr. Heras was one of few women to be a fellow of the European Society of Cardiology. She also was editor-in-chief of Revista Española de Cardiología and appeared frequently on Spanish television as an expert on public health.
According to her husband, Marc Garcia-Elias, M.D., a hand surgeon, his wife considered Rochester her second hometown.