Dr. Rebecca (“Becca”) E. Rosenberg was a devoted pediatrician, brilliant clinical investigator, loving mother, and fierce advocate for maternal and child health. Her talents were vast, her enthusiasm contagious, and her impact on patients, colleagues, family, friends, and the broader community was profound and enduring.
Becca’s passion for improving access to health care for mothers and infants in underserved settings began early in life. Before attending Cornell University, she volunteered at a rural hospital near her family’s home in western Pennsylvania and accompanied her father, Dr. Larry Rosenberg—a fellow pediatrician—on a medical relief trip to the Dominican Republic, delivering essential newborn supplies to rural communities. After graduating from Cornell in 1997, Becca earned her MD from Penn State College of Medicine and completed her pediatric residency at Yale School of Medicine in 2005. She went on to care for infants and families affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Tanzania, a transformative experience that deepened her commitment to global health. She pursued a Master of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, where she met Dr. Anne CC Lee, the current and founding director of Brown University’s Global Alliance for Infant and Maternal Health Research (Global AIM). United by a shared dedication to global maternal and infant health, Becca and CC collaborated for nearly two decades on research to improve newborn health in low-resource settings—most recently in partnership with the World Health Organization.
As Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Director of Pediatric Hospital Medicine at Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone, Dr. Rosenberg was instrumental in building and leading the Pediatric Hospitalist team. She cultivated a culture of collaboration and excellence, prioritizing compassionate care, clinical quality, and patient safety. A sharp diagnostician and strong leader, she was deeply committed to improving care for hospitalized children. Recognizing the unmet needs of medically complex children, she led the creation of a multidisciplinary clinic to support these families. She also established innovative quality and safety programs at NYU Langone that reshaped institutional practices and ushered in a lasting culture of safety, influencing pediatric care far beyond New York.
Becca passed away from cancer in 2023 at the age of 47. Her legacy is best reflected in the words of her colleagues:
“Becca was a talented pediatrician, a fierce advocate for children and families... She asked the hardest questions and worked tirelessly to get to the root of problems and solve them from the ground up. Becca was passionate about making things better for others and was always a boundless source of inspiration.”
