Mehret Birru Talabi, MD, PhD, and Flordeliza Villanueva, MD, have been named the 2026 recipients of the Margaret Ragni Award for Advancement of Women in Medicine and Science, an annual award that recognizes faculty members whose careers exemplify excellence in research, clinical care, mentorship, and leadership while supporting and inspiring women trainees and faculty across medicine and science.
The award is named in honor of Margaret Ragni, a nationally recognized leader in clinical and translational research in congenital hemostasis and thrombosis disorders. Ragni joined the Department of Medicine faculty in 1982 after completing her hematology fellowship and was among the first women faculty members in the department. Throughout her distinguished career, she has led pioneering NIH-funded hemophilia research programs and mentored generations of physician-scientists, investigators, and clinical leaders at the local, national, and international levels.
Department leaders noted that this year’s nominees reflected the remarkable breadth of contributions women faculty are making across the department, from scientific discovery and patient care to mentorship, sponsorship, and innovative program development.
Dr. Villanueva is a professor of medicine, associate chief of cardiology for translational research, and director of non-invasive cardiac imaging for the Heart and Vascular Institute. After earning her undergraduate and medical degrees from Boston University, she completed residency training at Duke University Medical Center and a cardiology fellowship at the University of Virginia before joining the University of Pittsburgh faculty.
Her research has focused on the therapeutic use of ultrasound and ultrasound contrast agents in cardiovascular disease, cancer, and neurologic disease. She founded the Center for Ultrasound Molecular Imaging and Therapeutics, a multidisciplinary translational research program supported by the NIH, American Heart Association, Department of Defense, and other national organizations.
Dr. Villanueva has also played a significant role in training the next generation of physician-scientists. She founded an NHLBI-funded T32 training program focused on cardiac imaging, supporting the physician-scientist track within Pitt’s cardiology fellowship program. Half of the fellows trained through the program to date have been women, all of whom have remained in academic medicine. She is an Established Investigator of the American Heart Association and an elected member of both the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of University Cardiologists.
Dr. Birru Talabi is a tenured associate professor of medicine in the Division of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology. A graduate of Kenyon College and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine’s MD/PhD program in epidemiology, she completed both residency and fellowship training at UPMC. Through her clinical work and health services research, Birru Talabi focuses on improving reproductive health care and outcomes for women with rheumatic diseases and other chronic illnesses. She serves as assistant dean and co-director of the Pitt/CMU Medical Scientist Training Program, co-director of Optimizing Reproductive Outcomes Among People with Chronic Diseases (ORCHID) within the CONVERGE Center, and director of the Women’s and Reproductive Health Rheumatology Clinic at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital.
Dr. Birru Talabi is also co-principal investigator of the NIH-funded EMBRACE Center, which focuses on advancing equity in maternal and reproductive health through community engagement, and leads several additional NIH-funded research projects. Her work has earned numerous honors, including the University of Pittsburgh Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award and the UPMC Excellence in Patient Experience Award.
An award reception and lunch honoring the recipients will be held Thursday, June 11, from noon to 1 p.m. at Morning Grounds on the fifth floor of Scaife Hall.