Pioneering pediatric cardiologist Dr. Sarah Blumenschein dies at 85

Sarah Blumenschein, MD, a pediatric cardiologist, died Oct. 25 at age 85, according to a Nov. 10 obituary published by the Houston Chronicle.

Dr. Blumenschein was considered a trailblazer for women in medicine and practiced as a pediatric cardiologist for 60 years. She is credited with making significant contributions to preventive care for heart disease in children. Her research focused largely on inherited high cholesterol, the changing conditions of a patients' heart tissue and the effects of genetics on the effectiveness of different medications. 

Dr. Blumenschein graduated from Wellesley (Mass.) College in 1960 and completed a residency in pediatrics at John Hopkins University in Baltimore and a fellowship in pediatric cardiology at Duke University in Durham, N.C., according to the obituary. 

In 1973, Dr. Blumenschein gained a position at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, where she treated children with heart disease for 13 years and earned the moniker of "Saint Sarah." In 1987, she relocated to the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas. 

In 2016, she became co-principal investigator for the Family Heart Foundation after discovering that UT Southwestern had the largest single database of patients with hypercholesterolemia. 

She continued working into her 80s and trained and mentored hundreds of physicians, the obituary said.

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