Rosa Lee Nemir, MD

Rosa Lee Nemir, MD was a pulmonary and pediatrics specialist who paved the way for women in medicine as a doctor, teacher and researcher. Originally from Waco, Texas, Dr. Nemir completed her medical education at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1930.

She spent the entirety of her career at New York University Medical School and Bellevue Hospital Center in New York City, acting as director of the Bellevue Children’s Chest Clinic, medical director for the Adolescent Girls Clinic at the Judson Health Center, and director of Pediatric Laboratories at Gouverneur Hospital.

Dr. Nemir’s research focused largely around tuberculosis. She studied the effects of steroids on TB before antibiotics were discovered as a treatment for the disease. Dr. Nemir followed a group of patients from childhood into their 30s, which led her to pioneer the use of rifampin, a drug that would later become a widely used treatment for tuberculosis in children.

She worked to promote women in the field of medicine and served as president of the American Medical Women’s Association (1963-1964) as well as the North American Vice-President of the Medical Women’s International Association (MWIA) and MWIA’s representative to the United Nations.

She married E. J. Audi who founded the furniture company E.J. Audi Fine Furniture & Rugs. Her son, Alfred J. Audi and his wife Aminy Audi bought and revitalized L. & J.G. Stickley Furniture, Inc.