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Hinda Rosenthal and Fredi Kronenberg, PhD, ABC Board of Trustees Member, at the 10th anniversary of the Rosenthal Center in New York City.
This time last year, a great supporter in alternative medicine
passed, but left behind a significant legacy. This philanthropist
together with her husband established a foundation in her late 20s that
bestowed grants to various causes, including a center focused on
science-based alternative medicine that was a first of its kind, a
cardiology unit in her hometown of Stamford, Connecticut; and literary
awards that recognized leading authors such as John Updike.1 On November 6, 2006, Hinda Rosenthal died at the age of 85.
Born Hinda Gould to New Jersey in 1921, Mrs. Rosenthal spent a
portion of her childhood in New York and part of it in California. She
began her professional career as a model at Lord & Taylor’s College
Shop. She was also an editor at Cosmopolitan Magazine for
nine years during which—in 1943—she met her future husband, Richard
Rosenthal. Five years later they together established the Richard and
Hinda Rosenthal Foundation to award grants to innovators in their
favorite causes. This Foundation still exists today, more than 50 years
later.
“Hinda loved giving--and not just in the ways of money—she gave of
herself,” said Fredi Kronenberg, PhD, professor of clinical physiology
at Columbia University in New York (oral communication, December 7,
2007). “If you were her friend you were part of her family. I was
treated like part of her family.”
Dr. Kronenberg is a leading researcher on menopause, including the
physiology of hot flashes, and how herbs affect menopausal health and
their use as alternative treatments for hot flashes. She co-founded the
North American Menopause Society and was a founding editor of the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.
In 1993 the Rosenthals wanted to establish a center for
complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). They had had medical
problems for which conventional Western medicine did not provide all
the answers. They explored alternative approaches but wanted to see
scientific evidence for those treatments. They approached Columbia
University given its strong research community. A proposal by Dr.
Kronenberg fit the bill for such a center, and she obtained the job as
the center’s first and only director, a position she held for 14 years
(the center closed June 2007). The Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Center
for Complementary and Alternative Medicine was located at Columbia
University’s College of Physicians & Surgeons in New York City.
“She was a pioneer, progressive and courageous, and, with her late
husband Richard, she blazed a trail by initiating a broad-based
alternative medicine program at an academic medical center when no
other existed, leading the way for others later to follow,” wrote Dr.
Kronenberg, a member of the American Botanical Council (ABC) Board of
Trustees, in a tribute in the New York Times.2
Dr. Kronenberg described Mrs. Rosenthal as a positive “people
person” who liked to celebrate. One of the things she celebrated most
was “young clinicians and researchers who excelled in medical science.”
Over the years the Rosenthal Foundation donated over $3 million to the
Stamford Hospital in Stamford, CT.1 One of the most recent
donations of $1 million created the Richard and Hinda Rosenthal
Cardiology Unit, which opened in May 2007.
Michael J, Balick, PhD, director of the Institute of Economic Botany
of The New York Botanical Garden and on the Rosenthal Center’s
scientific advisory board, further described Hinda as “a delightful
travel companion. She was sharp, always asked interesting questions,
hugely modest, enthusiastic, constantly laughing—keeping everyone
smiling, and genuinely fun to be with,” said Dr. Balick (oral
communication, October 19, 2007).
Even though Hinda suffered from a significant chronic illness, she
was an unstoppable force of good-nature. “She was on dialysis for years
but it didn’t stop her from engaging in activities at the Center, and a
multitude of other organizations around the country,” said Dr.
Kronenberg. “If you didn’t know that about her, you’d not suspect this
medical problem. On a trip to London for an audience with Prince
Charles, we had an appointment at his garden at Highgrove in the
afternoon. Hinda had dialysis that morning in a London hospital, and
was at the garden, on time, shortly thereafter, undeterred and ready
for the tour of the garden and organic farm.”
She must have made a strongly positive impression since Prince Charles made an appearance at the 10th
Anniversary party of the Rosenthal Center in New York. Via video
presentation he accepted an award for international leadership in
complementary and alternative medicine, and discussed the common
interests of the Rosenthal Center and the Prince of Wales’s Foundation
for Integrated Health.3
The Rosenthal Center had many successes. It developed a broad,
ongoing research program (phytochemistry, clinical, basic science) on
black cohosh (Actaea racemosa; syn: Cimicifuga racemosa,
Ranunculaceae), and it was the first university-based center to
implement CAM continuing medical education courses for doctors, nurses,
and other clinicians in botanicals, integrative pain medicine, and
nutrition. The week-long “Botanical Medicine in Modern Clinical
Practice” course was intended to help educate doctors about current
research on herbal options to complement or replace conventional
pharmaceuticals and what to recommend to their inquisitive patients,
many of whom were already using herbal remedies. This popular course
started in 1996 and ran for 10 years at Columbia University, with
Andrew Weil, MD (University of Arizona Program of Integrative Medicine)
as co-course director with Dr. Kronenberg, and with the New York
Botanical Garden.
“Medical doctors who were curious got a lot of information about
botanicals from the botanical classes,” said integrative medicine
expert and ABC Board of Trustees member John Weeks (oral communication,
October 19, 2007). “The Center is part of what kick-started the CAM
movement.”
After the success of the botanicals course, the Rosenthal Center
implemented a second course in Integrative Pain Medicine which ran from
2002-2006. This course blended the best of Western contemporary
medicine and the best of CAM for pain management. A third course,
“Nutrition and Health: State of the Science & Clinical
Applications,” which began in 2004, again in collaboration with Dr.
Weil and his Program in Integrative Medicine, is ongoing as an annual conference.
The next one will take place April 13-18, 2008, in Phoenix, AZ. Hinda
Rosenthal was an eager participant at all of these courses, which she
attended several times.
The Center also sponsored courses and lectures for medical
students—some in pharmacology and some as part of their clinical
practice courses—and sent medical students for their elective courses
to center-affiliated programs in China so they could learn about
traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). There were also internships for
undergraduates and dissertation opportunities for graduate students.
The research of the Center involved everything from basic science
(molecular biology, phytochemistry, cell biology) to clinical research,
ethnomedicine, and epidemiology. It also conducted the first national
survey of women’s use of botanicals for women’s health conditions such
as menstrual disorders, pregnancy, and menopause. This was an
invaluable survey, since, according to Dr. Kronenberg, women are the
biggest users of alternative medicine in the United States and the
world. And this vast informational resource was all because of Hinda
Rosenthal.
“She will be remembered for her indomitable spirit, visionary
leadership, integrity, passion, and incredible zest for life,” Dr.
Kronenberg wrote in the New York Times.2 “She embodied all that is best in the human spirit and heart, and was one-of-a-kind.”
Hinda Rosenthal is survived by her daughter Jamie Wolf of
California, her son Rick Rosenthal of California, four grandchildren,
her second husband Bernard Rosenberg, PhD, and his family.
More information about the Rosenthal center can be found on the Web site: http://www.rosenthal.hs.columbia.edu/.
—Kelly E. Saxton
References
1Streitfeld L. Grande dame of philanthropy dies at 85: Hinda Gould Rosenthal supported health, education, and the arts. The Stamford Advocate. November 9, 2006;A:9.
2Kronenberg F. Hinda Rosenthal. New York Times. November 9, 2006; B3:9.
3Columbia University’s Rosenthal center Celebrates 10th Anniversary. HerbalGram 62:13. |