Helen B. Taussig 1266115 220825211 2008-06-21T19:48:29Z Demophon 1837101 {{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 = |influenced = |prizes = |religion = |footnotes = |signature = }} '''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]]