Internationally, the impact of Dr. Nasonova’s career was similarly monumental as historically the only woman president of the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR), serving from 1979–1981. She organized the 10th EULAR Congress in Moscow in 1983, long remembered not only for its scientific content but also for its humanitarian and cultural substance. She further served as rheumatology expert to the World Health Organization for 25 years. Dr. Nasonova became an honorary member not only of the ACR, but also of the national rheumatology societies of Bulgaria, Poland, Yugoslavia, Finland, Japan, France, Czechoslovakia, Britain, Germany, Ukraine, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, and others. Among her numerous awards of distinction are the “Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation” and “Legends of World Medicine.”
Her son Evgeny L. Nasonov, MD, PhD, DMSci, has followed in his mother’s footsteps and assumed the reins of the State Institute during the past decade. Under his direction, the country’s largest center for the scientific and clinical advancement in rheumatic disorders remains one of the flagship facilities of RAMS.
At his office, the younger Dr. Nasonov can easily recite the long and formal list of professional contributions and awards of his mother, Valentina. He is equally eager to share that, despite her prominent national and international stature, friends, family, and close colleagues remember Dr. Nasonova as a leader whose doors were always open to staff and patients. The desire to advance patient wellbeing was first among her many motivations.
“Beloved in her dress code of business jacket, light blouse, and skirt of tartan fabric, her style personified her enduring harmony and elegance,” says Dr. Evgeny Nasonov. “An inspiration to women scientists everywhere, Valentina was yet a loving mother and grandmother and beamed most brilliantly when she became great-grandmother to twin girls.”
Russian rheumatology colleagues at the Institute agree that Dr. Nasonova “belonged to the glorious galaxy of luminaries of domestic medicine where her name shines with a special and unique luster.”
Dr. Caldron is a rheumatologist at Arizona Arthritis and Rheumatology Associates, PC, in Paradise Valley. Dr. Tartakovsky is a pediatric rheumatologist trained at the State Institute of Rheumatology in Moscow and Science Officer at Dr. Willmar Schwabe Pharmaceuticals in Germany. Both are principals in AmeRuss Clinical Trials, LLC.
