Passing of Gloria Sarto, MD, PhD
For nearly 60 years, Dr. Sarto focused her remarkable intellect and sense of compassion on lifting the status of women’s health. The University of Wisconsin was Dr. Sarto’s academic home for much of her training and career. She completed medical school (MD’58) and ob-gyn residency here, graduating from residency in 1963. She completed a PhD in medical genetics in 1971. She was a member of the University of Wisconsin Department of Ob-Gyn faculty from 1966-1976 and returned to our department in 1998 after time at Northwestern University in Chicago and the University of New Mexico, where she served as department chair.
As a physician, Dr. Sarto personally treated many women and delivered their babies; as a department chair, she taught and mentored many students, residents, and young faculty; and as a national voice for women’s health, she had tremendous influence on public policy, educational curricula, and national research initiatives. Her impact on reproductive health training and research in Wisconsin and across the country is immeasurable.
Dr. Sarto was a fierce champion for women's health and health equity. She worked with national leaders to establish the National Institutes of Health Office of Research on Women’s Health. In more recent years she obtained the funding for the Health Disparities Research Scholars (HDRS) program at the University of Wisconsin in 2007, where she shepherded important research about health equity and prepared post-doctorate scholars for independent research careers. The HDRS program has been continuously funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Health Development since that time, graduating more than 30 exceptional postdoctoral scholars.
The UW Department of Ob-Gyn owes its leadership in health equity to Dr. Sarto's devotion to this work. The department will celebrate her impact on research with the Gloria Sarto Reproductive Health Equity Symposium, an annual event she founded in 2005 connecting health care professionals, population health experts, and community advocates who are dedicated to advancing health equity. Current and future researchers will carry on her legacy through the Gloria E. Sarto, MD, PhD Chair in Women’s Health and Health Equity Research, an endowed professorship that supports academic leadership at the forefront of women's health research. The Department of Ob-Gyn has established a memorial in Dr. Sarto’s honor to support that chair.
Dr. Sarto was passionate about establishing a health education and outreach nonprofit to improve health literacy in Dane County. She had recently established the Foundation for Neighborhood Health Education, which will include a mobile unit to bring accessible, reliable health information to communities around Madison. In lieu of flowers, Dr. Sarto’s family suggests supporting the Foundation for Neighborhood Health Education’s Sarto Health Education Express in her memory.
More information about Dr. Sarto’s life and impact, and details about a celebration of life later this fall, is available here. Our hearts and thoughts are with Dr. Sarto’s family, friends, and loved ones during this difficult time.