Vivian E. Shih Medical Education Fund
In 2019, the American Medical Women’s Association established the Dr. Vivian E. Shih Graduate Medical Education Fund to support initiatives in graduate medical education for women in medicine. Dr. Vivian Shih has been recognized as an internationally renowned expert in the field of metabolic genetics and a scientist, mentor, educator, and pediatric specialist. The Fund will help support and inspire future women in medical training and the programs that nurture their professional growth.
Dr. Vivian Shih has had a long and storied career as one of the leading experts in inherited disorders of amino acid and related metabolism. Born in 1934 in China, Dr. Shih graduated from National Taiwan University of Medicine in 1958. She came to the United States for post-graduate training and completed a rotating internship at Edgewater Hospital (Chicago), residency in pediatrics at Philadelphia General Hospital, and fellowship in pediatric neurology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. She trained under Dr. Mary L. Efron at the Massachusetts General Hospital before joining the faculty in 1967, initially as an Instructor in Neurology of Harvard Medical School, Assistant Professor in 1970, and Associate Professor in 1976 and later full professor. For decades until her retirement, Dr. Shih was Director of the Amino Acid Disorders Laboratory within the Neurology Service of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and a pioneering scientist whose research on amino acid metabolic disorders have led to critical advancement of the field. She has been a research mentor to numerous trainees and postdoctoral fellows, as well as a clinical educator and was honored with MGH’s Teacher of the Year Award in the Pediatric Neurology Service in 1998. During her career, she published over 140 articles in peer reviewed journals, was twice the recipient of the Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award (1985, 1992), and was a member of numerous medical societies, most notably serving as President of the Society for Inherited Metabolic Disorders and a founding member of the American College of Medical Genetics. She retired in 2010 and currently resides in Massachusetts.
“Woman physicians often take on a myriad of roles. Dr. Vivian Shih was an internationally renowned expert in the field of metabolic genetics, and also a scientist, mentor, educator, and pediatric specialist. During our medical school years, she was also our aunt and mentor, welcoming us into her home in Belmont, MA – our home away from home. We hope that the Vivian E. Shih Graduate Medical Education Fund will support and inspire future women in medical training and the programs that nurture their professional growth.”
Eliza Lo Chin, MD, MPH – Executive Director, American Medical Women’s Association
Joan C. Lo, MD, MS – GME Task Force Chair, American Medical Women’s Association
