Arlene D. Bardeguez, MD, has won the prestigious Edward J. Ill Award, one of the highest honors available to a New Jersey physician, for her "tireless work in improving the lives of women and children both statewide and nationally." The award, given by the Academy of Medicine of New Jersey (AMNJ), will be presented at a ceremony in May. Bardeguez is associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School (NJMS).

Bardeguez came to NJMS in 1987. She has long had an interest in treating women with high-risk pregnancies caused by many factors, ranging from diabetes to drug use. As the AIDS population grew, she dealt with more and more HIV-infected pregnant women. She was co-investigator at NJMS for the first national clinical trial demonstrating that AZT reduces perinatal HIV transmission.

Bardeguez, as medical director of New Jersey's first perinatal HIV clinic at UMDNJ-University Hospital, has been instrumental in reducing the statewide rate of transmission of HIV from mother to child to about 2 percent, well below the national average.

Receiving the Ill Award, which was first given in 1939, seems to be a UMDNJ tradition. Past awardees from the University include Stanley S. Bergen, Jr., MD, James Oleske, MD, Victor Parsonnet, MD, and Harrison Martland, MD. Recipients are selected by the Board of Trustees of AMNJ.