A cardiologist and investigator at Mass General Brigham in Boston has been selected to receive a major national award for research that documents a troubling rise in cardiovascular disease among pregnant individuals. Emily S. Lau, M.D., M.P.H., FAHA, will receive the American Heart Association's 2026 Dr. Nanette K. Wenger Research Goes Red® Award at the Association's Scientific Sessions 2026, to be held Nov. 6-9 in Chicago. The award will be presented during the annual Dr. Nanette K. Wenger Research Goes Red® Award for Best Scientific Article on Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke in Women session on Saturday, Nov. 7.
The award honors the best research article on cardiovascular disease and stroke in women published in one of the Association's peer-reviewed journals during the previous year. Dr. Lau was selected for her manuscript, "Contemporary Burden of Cardiovascular Disease in Pregnancy: Insights from a Real-World Pregnancy Electronic Health Record Cohort," published online in Circulation on Oct. 6, 2025. The study analyzed 56,833 pregnancies among 38,996 individuals treated between 2001 and 2019, using electronic health records from multiple institutions.
The findings reveal that maternal cardiovascular disease was present in 4% of pregnancies overall, or 8% after adjusting for age. The age-adjusted prevalence increased from 1% in 2001 to 7% in 2019. Pregnancy-related cardiovascular complications—including maternal death, major adverse cardiovascular events, and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy—occurred in 15% of pregnancies overall, or 17% after age adjustment, and also rose during the study period. Complications within one year after pregnancy were more common among individuals who entered pregnancy with cardiovascular conditions or risk factors such as high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, or obesity, and were disproportionately higher among non-Hispanic Black women.
"Dr. Lau's research demonstrates the urgent need to make cardiovascular health a routine part of care before, during and after pregnancy," said Jennifer Hall, Ph.D., FAHA, chief of data science and analytics at the American Heart Association. "By documenting how cardiovascular disease and pregnancy-related complications have increased over time, this study identifies an important opportunity to recognize risk earlier, address disparities and help more women protect their heart health throughout their lives."
The award is named for Nanette K. Wenger, M.D., FAHA, a pioneering figure in women's cardiovascular medicine and emeritus professor at Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. Lau's manuscript was chosen from 130 submissions from 18 countries, evaluated by 32 expert peer reviewers. The Research Goes Red® initiative aims to empower women to contribute to health research. More information about the American Heart Association's work is available at heart.org and stroke.org.
Dr. Lau also serves as co-director of the Mass General Brigham Women's Heart Health Program and assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Her research examines how biological sex differences and female-specific risk factors contribute to cardiovascular disease. "It is a tremendous honor to receive an award bearing Dr. Wenger's name and to share this recognition with my co-authors," said Dr. Lau. "Our findings show that more individuals are entering pregnancy with cardiovascular risk factors and cardiovascular disease, and pregnancy-related cardiovascular complications are also increasing in parallel. Pregnancy provides a critical opportunity to identify risk, strengthen prevention and help women build better cardiovascular health across their lifetime."
The implications of this research are significant for clinical practice and public health. With maternal cardiovascular disease rising sevenfold over two decades, health care providers may need to integrate cardiovascular screening and preventive care more systematically into prenatal and postpartum visits. The disparities highlighted in the study underscore the need for targeted interventions to address racial inequities in maternal health outcomes. For readers, the findings reinforce that pregnancy can serve as a window into future heart health, and that early identification of risk factors can lead to life-saving interventions. The original release is available at www.newmediawire.com.
