JudyAnn Bigby ’73

Alumnae Achievement Awards 2007

Physician, Health Care Advocate, Educator

After receiving a B.A. in biology from Wellesley, JudyAnn Bigby ’73 graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1987. Dr. Bigby and her siblings were the first in their family to attend college; she was the first to become a doctor.

After medical school, Dr. Bigby completed a primary care internal medicine residency at the University of Washington Affiliated Hospitals in Seattle and was a Henry J. Kaiser Fellow in general internal medicine at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. In 1984, she joined the faculty of the department of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard, and she has been active in teaching, patient care, research, and administration. She is also the medical director of Community Health Programs at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Dr. Bigby has devoted her career to addressing the health-care needs of disadvantaged and vulnerable populations. She is nationally recognized for her pioneering work in substance-abuse education for primary-care physicians. Her current work focuses on health care for low-income and minority women. She works with public health officials, community health centers, and other community-based organizations to explore models for care for disadvantaged women, identify ways to overcome barriers to care, and decrease racial disparities in health status and health access.

Recognized for her many outstanding achievements, Dr. Bigby is the recipient of many awards, including the Betty Ford Award and Lectureship from the Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse; the David H. Mulligan Award for Leadership and Public Service from the Boston Public Health Commission; the Mary Horrigan Connors Award for Outstanding Leadership in Women’s Health from the Brigham and Women’s Hospital; the Massachusetts Black Legislature Caucus Health Care Award; and the YWCA Academy of Women Achievers Award.

Note of interest: Dr. Bigby is Boston Mayor Tom Menino’s personal physician.