Marianne J. Legato is an American physician, author, lecturer, and renowned expert in gender-specific medicine, which focuses on understanding how biological sex and gender influence human health and the experience of diseases.
Legato is the founder and director of the Partnership for Gender-Specific Medicine at Columbia University, where she specializes in the sex-specific aspects of men's and women's health. In 2008, she established the non-profit Foundation for Gender-Specific Medicine. Her research has primarily centered on women and heart disease, and she received the American Heart Association's Blakeslee Award in 1992 for her book on cardiovascular disease written for the general public.
Legato is the founder and editor of The Journal of Gender-Specific Medicine and Gender Medicine. She is a strong advocate for including women in clinical trials and is frequently cited in New York Magazine's annual "Top Doctors" issue. She has authored several books, including Why Men Die First: How to Lengthen Your Lifespan; Eve's Rib: The New Science of Gender-Specific Medicine and How It Can Save Your Life; The Female Heart; and Why Men Never Remember and Women Never Forget, which have been translated into multiple languages. Additionally, she edited the medical textbook Principles of Gender-Specific Medicine, which addresses the sex-specific aspects of normal human function and disease. The third edition of the textbook received a PROSE Award from the Association of American Publishers in 2018. Her latest textbook, The Plasticity of Sex, also received a PROSE Award in 2021.
Legato has been invited as a speaker at numerous lectures and conferences worldwide. She has appeared on various television and radio programs, including ABC's 20/20, NBC's Good Morning America, and The Today Show, as well as The Oprah Winfrey Show, discussing gender bias in women's healthcare and other related topics. She served as the president of the First International Congress on Gender-Specific Medicine in Berlin in 2006 and is the honorary president of subsequent International Congresses on Gender-Specific Medicine held in Vienna (2007) and Stockholm (2008).
Childhood and early career
Marianne J. Legato was born in 1935 in New York. During her childhood, she accompanied her father, who was a general practitioner, on his visits to patients' homes and hospitals. From a very young age, she aspired to pursue a career in medicine. Despite her father's initial concerns for her well-being, she decided to attend medical school. She enrolled at New York University College of Medicine, her father's alma mater, without familial support. Legato attributes her success during medical school and beyond to the mentorship she received from José Ferrer and M. Irené Ferrer, who were siblings of Mel Ferrer and whom she met at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. M. Irené Ferrer went so far as to personally speak with the dean of New York University College of Medicine to facilitate Legato's education there, even covering her tuition expenses. Legato has two children, Christiana and Justin, who grew up as part of the extended Ferrer family and affectionately referred to her as "gran".
Professional career
Upon completing her medical degree in 1962, Legato pursued an internship and junior residency at Bellevue Hospital, followed by a senior residency at the Presbyterian Hospital of the City of New York. From 1965 to 1968, she served as a visiting fellow in cardiology at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. In 1968, Legato assumed the role of instructor in medicine, marking the beginning of her academic career at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Presently, she holds the position of Professor of Clinical Medicine at the institution. Legato is recognized as a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and a Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine.
Since 1969, Legato has served as an attending physician at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, and since 1973, she has also been an attending physician at the Presbyterian Hospital in the City of New York. Currently, she holds the position of senior attending physician at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital and has been a senior attending physician at the Presbyterian Hospital since 1998. Legato has held various teaching appointments and committee memberships at both institutions. In 1997, she founded the Partnership for Gender-Specific Medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.