Obituary
On Thursday, December 2, 2021, Rebecca Del Carmen-Wiggins, PhD, passed away unexpectedly at her home in Potomac, MD. She was a researcher, leader, and advocate who worked to advance child psychology and women's health research throughout her long career at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), most recently in the Office of Research on Women’s Health. In addition, she was a generous and empathetic friend, a strong role model, and a caring mother and wife. Dr. Del Carmen-Wiggins is survived by her husband of 29 years, Stephen E. Wiggins, M.D. and her children, Daniel S. and Elizabeth R. Wiggins.
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Dr. Del Carmen-Wiggins was born October 18, 1957 in Coronado, CA to the late Alberto and Amelia Del Carmen. Her Filipino-Lebanese family endowed her with a deep appreciation for cultural diversity and education. Her family was always her first priority and she treasured and nurtured her relationships with them.
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Dr. Del Carmen-Wiggins received her doctorate in psychology from Ohio State University and was an NIH grant recipient. She completed a clinical internship in Baltimore at the University of Maryland’s School of Medicine in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. She was a licensed psychologist in Maryland and Washington, DC with teaching experience at American University and Georgetown University.
In her career at the NIH, Dr. Del Carmen-Wiggins made many outstanding contributions to inform the biomedical community of the seminal role of studying biological sex in the health of women. Her work targeted knowledge gaps in the influence of sex and gender on disease conditions to improve the understanding of underlying sex differences in health. Her commitment to the mission of the Office of Research on Women’s Health went above and beyond her job responsibilities. She was considered a model of excellence by her NIH colleagues.
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Beyond her career, Dr. Del Carmen-Wiggins enjoyed spending time with loved ones, cooking Filipino and Lebanese food, and doing yoga, especially at her yearly mindfulness retreat in the Bahamas, which she attended for 35 years. She also had an adventurous spirit; she traveled widely and lived abroad in the Philippines and England. Dr. Del Carmen-Wiggins was known for always having a smile on her face and being the first to offer words of encouragement to her children, friends, and colleagues. She also thoughtfully passed on family traditions to Daniel and Elizabeth.
Dr. Del Carmen-Wiggins was stylish, optimistic, and a compassionate presence in the lives of everyone who knew her. She will be greatly missed.
