rejection and other cardiac diseases. Her work led her to be known as 'founder of cardiac transplantation pathology'. In addition, she also worked on research into the toxicity of the Adriamycin, a chemotherapy drug. In 1972, she became diplomat for the American Board of Pathology. She also became a fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists, American College of Cardiology and the American College of Pathology. In 1990, she became the first female president of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT). Billingham authored more than 500 papers, abstracts and chapters. Some recent advances in cardiac pathology, Progress in human pathology, Margaret E. Billingham, July 1979. Later life and legacy In 1994, three years after being appointed director of women in medicine and medical sciences at Stanford's school of medicine, she retired. Together with her husband, they moved to Penn Valley in Northern California. Spending time with her family, discovering California and enjoying fishing and gardening, were to become her past times until her death at Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital, Grass Valley, from kidney cancer in 2009. Billingham not only devised the scoring system for acute heart transplant rejection based on endomyocardial biopsy samples at Stanford, but worked on getting it accepted internationally. This "Billingham criteria" became widely used. Tributes Described by colleagues as “generous”, "kind", "gracious" and “reflective”, she was also known to advocate fellow female physicians. "Her contributions were the key to advancing the care and survival of heart transplant patients" – Robert Robbins, director of cardiovascular institute. Billingham received numerous International honours and awards. In 1986, she received the medal for histopathology of heart transplantation, from the University of Padua, and the city of Paris gold medal for contributions to heart transplantation. The U.S. and Canadian Academy of Pathology bestowed her the Distinguished Pathologist of the Year Award for 2001. She was frequently invited to speak at many National Institutes of Health symposiums and also been advisor to them. Following her death, the ISHLT awarded her their lifetime achievement award. Selected publications . References 1930 births 2009 deaths British pathologists Transplantation medicine Deaths from kidney cancer Stanford University faculty Physicians of the Royal Free Hospital History of transplant surgery Tanzanian women scientists Deaths from cancer in California