Zena Stein—A Fearless Advocate for Women’s Health
A public health trailblazer whose impact is felt around the world
In November 2021, the medical community lost one of its finest—and the world lost a fierce advocate of social justice. But the legacy Zena Athene Stein, MD, left behind will not be forgotten.
Born in South Africa in 1922, Dr. Stein attended the University of Cape Town and earned a medical degree at Witwatersrand University. She married fellow medical student Mervyn Susser and together the couple helped establish the first health clinic in Johannesburg.
At their clinic, the couple focused on disease prevention within the area’s poorest residents—all against the backdrop of apartheid. In an article that appeared in The Lancet, Drs. Stein and Susser argued that providing social support alongside medical care made for a healthier population, which was a novel idea at the time.
The couple later moved to Manchester, England, where they established some of the very first mental health services in the country. While working to better understand intellectual disabilities and enuresis, Dr. Stein also passionately advocated for social equality.
Dr. Stein and her husband moved to the United States in 1965 where they both joined Columbia University’s Public Health School as faculty members. Two years later, Dr. Stein became the director of the Epidemiology Research Unit in the New York State Psychiatric Institute.
The couple’s work helped establish the field of epidemiology and brought new understanding to how reproduction and mental health are affected by social factors. This field of study would prove invaluable during the global HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. At the time, medical research primarily focused on men, so Dr. Stein threw a spotlight on women (especially those from poor areas in Africa) and her work aided the development of the female condom (which was approved by the FDA for use in the U.S. in 1993) and microbicides to prevent viral transmission.
Dr. Stein was a founding member of the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center, where researchers focus on nervous system disorders. But perhaps her biggest achievement was helping poor children with neuropsychiatric disabilities around the world live more normal lives. Alongside her husband, she also helped to run the Dutch Famine Study, which researched malnutrition during World War II.
She also:
Co-founded the HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies, New York State Psychiatric Institute (1987);
Authored over 250 scientific papers and five books (mostly focused on social and epidemiological topics);
Consulted with the World Health Organization (WHO);
Served on the editorial boards of prestigious medical journals;
Received the John Snow Award from the American Public Health Association; and
Earned honorary doctorates from Columbia University and Witwatersrand University.
In remembrance of their mother, Dr. Stein’s three children wrote, “She was a brilliant and extraordinary woman whose warmth, caring and insights illuminated the lives she touched at home and thousands across the world.”
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