Helen B. Taussig
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2008-06-21T19:48:29Z
Demophon
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{{Infobox Scientist
|name = Helen Brooke Taussig
|box_width =
|image =Replace_this_image_female.svg
|image_width =150px
|caption = Helen Brooke Taussig
|birth_date = [[May 24]], [[1898]]
|birth_place = [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]]
|death_date = [[May 20]], [[1986]]
|death_place =
|residence =
|citizenship =
|nationality = [[United States]]
|ethnicity =
|field = [[cardiology]]
|work_institutions =
|alma_mater =
|doctoral_advisor =
|doctoral_students =
|known_for = [[Blalock-Taussig shunt]]
|author_abbrev_bot =
|author_abbrev_zoo =
|influences =
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}}
'''Helen Brooke Taussig''' ([[May 24]], [[1898]] - [[May 20]], [[1986]]) was an American [[cardiologist]], working in Baltimore and Boston, who founded the field of pediatric cardiology. Notably, she helped develop the [[Blalock-Taussig shunt]] in cooperation with [[Alfred B. Blalock|Dr. Alfred Blalock]] and [[Vivien Thomas]], to treat [[blue baby syndrome]].
==Background==
Helen Taussig was born in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]]. Her father was Harvard economist [[Frank W. Taussig]], and her mother Edith was one of the first students at [[Radcliffe College]]. Her mother died when she was eleven. Helen struggled with severe [[dyslexia]] through her early school years, overcoming it only with diligent work and extensive tutoring from her father.
She graduated [[Cambridge School for Girls]] in [[1917]], then studied for two years at Radcliffe before earning a [[bachelor's degree]] from the [[University of California, Berkeley]] in 1921. She then studied at both [[Harvard Medical School]] and [[Boston University]] before pursuing her postgraduate cardiac research at [[Johns Hopkins University]].
She suffered from [[deafness]] throughout the latter part of her career, and learned to use [[lip-reading]] to listen to her patients, and her fingers in place of a stethoscope to feel the rhythm of their heartbeats.
==Medicine==
Taussig did extensive work on anoxemia, or [[blue baby syndrome]], which led to the development of the pioneering infants surgery called the [[Blalock-Taussig shunt]], first performed by Taussig and Dr. Alfred Blalock on an 11-month old baby girl on November 29,1944. Taussig wrote the book ''Congenital Malformations of the Heart'' in 1947, and received the 1954 [[Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research]] for her work. In 1959, she was one of the first women to be awarded a full professorship at [[Johns Hopkins University]].
She was also one of the key doctors to advise the American [[Food and Drug Administration]] to prevent [[thalidomide]] from going to market in the United States, after studying European children born with [[phocomelia]] because of the improperly tested drug.
In 1964, Taussig received the [[Medal of Freedom]] from President [[Lyndon Johnson]], and in 1965 she became the first female president of the [[American Heart Association]]. Johns Hopkins University named the "Helen B. Taussig Children's Pediatric Cardiac Center" after her, and in 2005 the [[Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine|School of Medicine]] named one of its four colleges in her honor.
== Films ==
In the 2004 HBO movie ''[[Something the Lord Made]]'', Taussig was portrayed by [[Mary Stuart Masterson]].
==References==
*{{Citation
|id = [[PMID]]:10323553
|url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10323553
|last=Neill
|first=C A
|last2=Clark
|first2=E B
|publication-date=1999 Jan
|year=[[1999]]
|title=The Paediatric Cardiology Hall of Fame: Helen Brooke Taussig MD. May 24, 1898 to May 21, 1986.
|volume=9
|issue=1
|periodical=Cardiology in the young
|pages=104-8
}}
*{{Citation
|id = [[PMID]]:9294954
|url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9294954
|last=Friedman
|first=M
|publication-date=1997 Sep
|year=[[1997]]
|title=Helen Brooke Taussig, M.D.: the original pediatric cardiologist.
|volume=46
|issue=8
|periodical=Maryland medical journal (Baltimore, Md. : 1985)
|pages=445-7
}}
*{{Citation
|id = [[PMID]]:8071766
|url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8071766
|last=Neill
|first=C A
|publication-date=1994 Sep
|year=[[1994]]
|title=Helen Brooke Taussig.
|volume=125
|issue=3
|periodical=J. Pediatr.
|pages=499-502
}}
*{{Citation
|id = [[PMID]]:3305662
|url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3305662
|last=McNamara
|first=D G
|last2=Manning
|first2=J A
|last3=Engle
|first3=M A
|last4=Whittemore
|first4=R
|publication-date=1987 Sep
|year=[[1987]]
|title=Helen Brooke Taussig: 1898 to 1986.
|volume=10
|issue=3
|periodical=J. Am. Coll. Cardiol.
|pages=662-71
}}
*{{Citation
|id = [[PMID]]:3546165
|url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3546165
|last=Neill
|first=C A
|publication-date=1987 Feb
|year=[[1987]]
|title=Dr. Helen Brooke Taussig May 24, 1898--May 21, 1986. International cardiologist.
|volume=14
|issue=2
|periodical=Int. J. Cardiol.
|pages=255-61
}}
*{{Citation
|id = [[PMID]]:3544367
|url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3544367
|last=Dietrich
|first=H J
|publication-date=1986 Dec
|year=[[1986]]
|title=Helen Brooke Taussig 1898-1986.
|volume=8
|issue=4
|periodical=Transactions & studies of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia
|pages=265-71
}}
*{{Citation
|id = [[PMID]]:3534805
|url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3534805
|last=McNamara
|first=D G
|publication-date=1986
|year=[[1986]]
|title=Helen Brooke Taussig: 1898-1986.
|volume=7
|issue=1
|periodical=Pediatr Cardiol
|pages=1-2
}}
*{{Citation
|id = [[PMID]]:3891183
|url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3891183
|last=Engle
|first=M A
|publication-date=1985 Jun
|year=[[1985]]
|title=Dr. Helen Brooke Taussig, living legend in cardiology.
|volume=8
|issue=6
|periodical=Clinical cardiology
|pages=372-4
}}
*{{Citation
|id = [[PMID]]:321852
|url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/321852
|last=Harvey
|first=A M
|publication-date=1977 Apr
|year=[[1977]]
|title=Helen Brooke Taussig.
|volume=140
|issue=4
|periodical=The Johns Hopkins medical journal
|pages=137-41
}}
*{{Citation
|id = [[PMID]]:327568
|url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/327568
|last=Schoenberg
|first=D G
|last2=Schoenberg
|first2=B S
|publication-date=1977 Jul
|year=[[1977]]
|title=Eponym: Helen Brooke Taussig: in the pink.
|volume=70
|issue=7
|periodical=South. Med. J.
|pages=862
}}
*{{Citation
|id = [[PMID]]:7050856
|url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7050856
|last=Engle
|first=M A
|publication-date=1982 Jul
|year=[[1982]]
|title=Biographies of great American pediatricians--Helen Brooke Taussig: the mother of pediatric cardiology.
|volume=11
|issue=7
|periodical=Pediatric annals
|pages=629-31
}}
* [http://www.africanamericans.com/HelenBrookeTaussig.htm Helen Brooke Taussig]
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10372821 Findagrave: Helen B. Taussig]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taussig, Helen}}
[[Category:1898 births]]
[[Category:1986 deaths]]
[[Category:American cardiologists]]
[[Category:History of medicine]]
[[Category:Harvard Medical School alumni]]
[[de: Helen Brooke Taussig]]
[[ja:ヘレン・ブルック・タウシグ]]