| Robert M. Berne | |
| Birth Date: | 22 April 1918 |
| Nationality: | American |
| Workplaces: | University of Virginia |
| Spouses: | )--> |
| Partners: | )--> |
Robert M. Berne (April 22, 1918 – October 4, 2001) was a heart specialist[1] and a medical educator whose textbooks were used by generations of physicians[2] Berne was recognized widely for his seminal research contributions on the role of adenosine in the blood flow to the heart.[3] He served as the editor of the peer-reviewed journal the Annual Review of Physiology from 1983 - 1988.[4] [5]
Berne was the chair and the Founder of cardiovascular research at the University of Virginia as well as the Chair of Department of Physiology there,[2] [6] [7] He was also President of the American Physiological Society.[7] Berne was a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[2] Berne was the Editor in Chief of Circulation Research, a publication of the American Heart Association from 1970 to 1975.[7] He received the Gold Heart Award of the American Heart Association in 1985.[7] He also received a special citation from the American Heart Association in 1979.[3] The National Academies Press called Berne "an acclaimed authority in the field of cardiovascular physiology".[1]
Berne was born in Yonkers, New York.He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1939, and from Harvard Medical School in 1943.[3] In late 1944 he served in the US Army as a medical officer.[7] At the end of the war he took up a residency in Internal Medicine at Mount Sinai with the focus on cardiology.[1] Berne joined the physiology faculty of Western Reserve University in Cleveland in 1949, and remained in that position for 17 years.[3] In 1966 he was appointed Chair of the Physiology Department at the University of Virginia and served in that capacity until 1988.[7] He published more than 200 scientific articles and three textbooks authored with Matthew N. Levy.