Jump to content

Helen B. Taussig: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
Thomaso (talk | contribs)
m Minor tweak - put . inside quote
Moved around sentences to follow chronological order of events.
Tags: Visual edit Mobile edit Mobile web edit
 
(196 intermediate revisions by 97 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|American cardiologist (1898–1986)}}
{{Infobox scientist
{{Infobox scientist
|name = Helen Brooke Taussig
| name = Helen Brooke Taussig
|image = Helen B. Taussig.jpg
| image = Helen B. Taussig.jpg
|birth_date = May 24, 1898
| birth_date = {{birth date|1898|05|24}}
|birth_place = [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]]
| birth_place = [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], U.S.
|death_date = May 20, 1986 (aged 87)
| death_date = {{death date and age |1986|5|20 |1898|5|24 |df=yes}}
|death_place = [[Chester County, Pennsylvania]]
| death_place = [[Kennett Square, Pennsylvania]], U.S.
|residence =
| field = [[Cardiology]]
| work_institutions =
|citizenship =
| alma_mater = [[Boston University]]<br>[[Johns Hopkins School of Medicine]]
|nationality = [[United States]]
| doctoral_advisor =
|ethnicity =
| doctoral_students =
|field = [[cardiology]]
| notable_students = [[S. I. Padmavati]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-08-06 |title=Who was Dr SI Padmavati, India's first woman cardiologist who died at 103 - IBTimes India |website=[[International Business Times]] |url=https://www.ibtimes.co.in/who-was-dr-si-padmavati-indias-first-woman-cardiologist-who-died-103-827343 |access-date=2023-08-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230806092702/https://www.ibtimes.co.in/who-was-dr-si-padmavati-indias-first-woman-cardiologist-who-died-103-827343 |archive-date=2023-08-06 }}</ref>
|work_institutions =
| known_for = Founding figure of paediatric [[cardiology]]<br>[[Blalock-Thomas-Taussig shunt]]<br>Role in banning of [[thalidomide]]
|alma_mater = [[Johns Hopkins School of Medicine]]
| awards = [[E. Mead Johnson Award]] <small>(1947)</small><br>[[Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award]] <small>(1954)</small><br>[[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] <small>(1964)</small><br>[[Elizabeth Blackwell Award]] <small>(1970)</small><br>[[John Howland Award]] <small>(1971)</small>
|doctoral_advisor =
|doctoral_students =
|known_for = [[Blalock–Taussig shunt]]
|awards = [[Elizabeth Blackwell Medal]] (1982)
}}
}}


'''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 is credited with developing the concept for a procedure that would extend the lives of children born with [[Tetralogy of Fallot]] (the most common cause of [[blue baby syndrome]]). This concept was applied in practice as a procedure known as the [[Blalock-Taussig shunt]]. The procedure was developed by [[Alfred B. Blalock|Alfred Blalock]] and [[Vivien Thomas]], who were Taussig's colleagues at the [[Johns Hopkins Hospital]].
'''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. She is credited with developing the concept for a procedure that would extend the lives of children born with [[Tetralogy of Fallot]] (the most common cause of [[blue baby syndrome]]). This concept was applied in practice as a procedure known as the [[Blalock-Taussig shunt|Blalock-Thomas-Taussig shunt]]. The procedure was developed by [[Alfred B. Blalock|Alfred Blalock]] and [[Vivien Thomas]], who were Taussig's colleagues at the [[Johns Hopkins Hospital]].


Taussig was partially deaf following an ear infection in childhood; in early adulthood this progressed to full [[deafness]].<ref name=":8">{{Cite journal|last=Van Robays|first=J|title=Helen B. Taussig (1898-1986)|journal=Facts, Views & Vision in ObGyn|year=2016|volume=8|issue=3|pages=183–187|issn=2032-0418|pmc=5172576|pmid=28003874}}</ref> To compensate for her loss of hearing, she learned to use [[lip-reading]] techniques and [[hearing aid]]s to speak with her patients. Taussing also developed a method of using her fingers, rather than a [[stethoscope]], to feel the rhythm of their heartbeats.<ref name="NIH">{{cite web|url=https://www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine/physicians/biography_316.html|title=Changing the Face of Medicine: Dr. Helen Brooke Taussig|publisher=National Library of Medicine|access-date=5 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Helen-Brooke-Taussig|title=Helen Brooke Taussig {{!}} American physician|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2020-02-25}}</ref> Some of her innovations have been attributed to her ability to diagnose heart problems by touch rather than by sound.<ref name="NIH" />
Taussig is also known for her work in banning [[thalidomide]] and was widely recognized as a highly skilled physician.


Taussig is also known for her work in banning [[thalidomide]] and was widely recognized as a highly skilled physician. She was the first woman to be elected head of the [[American Heart Association]]. She was more proud of the fact that she was the first pediatrician to be elected head of the [[American Medical Association|AMA]]; and in 1964 she was awarded a [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Swaby, Rachel.|title=Headstrong : 52 Women Who Changed Science - and the World|date=2015|publisher=Broadway Books (A Division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group Inc)|isbn=978-0-553-44679-1|pages=20–21|oclc=903952884}}</ref>
==Early life and career==
Helen Brooke Taussig was born in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]] on May 24, 1898 to [[Frank W. Taussig]] and Edith Thomas Guild, who had three other children. Her father was an economist at [[Harvard University]], and her mother was one of the first students at [[Radcliffe College]], a women's college. When Taussig was 9 years old, her mother succumbed to [[tuberculosis]]; Helen also contracted the disease and was ill for several years, severely affecting her ability to do schoolwork. She also struggled with severe dyslexia through her early school years.<ref name=Ogilvie>{{cite book|title=The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science|last1=Harvey|first1=Joy|last2=Ogilvie|first2=Marilyn|year=2000|isbn=0-415-92038-8 |publisher = Routledge}}</ref> She graduated from Cambridge School for Girls in 1917,{{citation needed|date=November 2013}} then studied for two years at Radcliffe before earning a [[bachelor's degree]] from the [[University of California, Berkeley]] in 1921. She later studied [[histology]], [[bacteriology]], and [[anatomy]] at both [[Harvard Medical School]] and [[Boston University]], though neither school allowed her to earn a degree.<ref name=Ogilvie/> She was particularly discriminated against in her histology class, where she was barred from speaking to her male classmates for fear of "contamination."<ref name=Shearer/> As an anatomy student at Boston University in 1925, she published her first scientific paper on studies of [[ox]] heart muscles with [[Alexander Begg]]{{dn|date=July 2014}}. She applied to the [[Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine]] and was accepted as a full degree candidate.<ref name=Ogilvie/> She completed her MD degree in 1927 at Johns Hopkins, where she then remained for one year as a cardiology fellow and for two years as a pediatrics intern.<ref name=NIH>{{cite web|title=Changing the Face of Medicine: Dr. Helen Brooke Taussig|url=http://www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine/physicians/biography_316.html|publisher=National Library of Medicine|accessdate=5 October 2013}}</ref> While at Hopkins, she received two Archibald Fellowships, spanning 1927-1930.<ref name=Ogilvie/>


==Early life and education==
Dr. Taussig became deaf in the later part of her career. She learned to use [[lip-reading]] techniques and [[hearing aid]]s to speak with her patients, and her fingers rather than a stethoscope to feel the rhythm of their heartbeats and to lip read.<ref name=NIH/>
Helen Brooke Taussig was born in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], on May 24, 1898, to [[F. W. Taussig]] and Edith Thomas Guild, the youngest of four children. Her father was an economist at [[Harvard University]], and her mother was one of the first students at [[Radcliffe College]], a women's college.


She spent summers as a child in [[Cotuit, Massachusetts]],<ref name=":4">[http://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/taussig-helen-brooke-1898-1986 Taussig, Helen Brooke (1898–1986) - Dictionary definition of Taussig, Helen Brooke (1898–1986) | Encyclopedia.com: FREE online dictionary] Retrieved 2017-05-03.</ref> and later in life had a home there.<ref>[http://masscases.com/cases/land/2015/2015-13-477228-DECISION.html ENTINE vs. REILLY, MISC 13-477228] Retrieved 2017-05-03.</ref>
==Career in medicine and retirement==
Taussig began her career after her fellowship in cardiology with a stint as head of a [[rheumatic fever]] department. She then was hired by the pediatric department of Johns Hopkins, the Harriet Lane Home, as its chief, where she served from 1930 until 1963. While there, she did extensive work on anoxemia, called "[[blue baby syndrome]]", and discovered its cause as a partial blockage of the [[pulmonary artery]] either alone or combined with a hole between the [[ventricle (heart)|ventricle]]s of the infant's heart. She worked with surgeon [[Alfred Blalock]] and [[Vivien Thomas]] to develop a surgery to correct the defect, resulting in what is now known as the [[Blalock-Taussig-Thomas shunt]]. They first performed the corrective surgery on dogs but by 1946 began to perform the operation on human babies. That year, she became an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; she was promoted to full professor in 1959. In 1947, Taussig published her magnum opus, ''Congenital Malformations of the Heart'', considered to be the genesis of pediatric cardiology as an independent field.<ref name=Ogilvie/>


When Taussig was 11 years old, her mother died of [[tuberculosis]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Yount|first1=Lisa|title=Contemporary Women Scientists|date=1994|publisher=Facts on File|location=New York|isbn=0-8160-2895-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/contemporarywome00youn/page/2 2]|url=https://archive.org/details/contemporarywome00youn/page/2|access-date=9 November 2016}}</ref> Helen also contracted the disease and was ill for several years, severely affecting her ability to do schoolwork. She also struggled with severe dyslexia through her early school years and was partially deaf.<ref name="Ogilvie">{{cite book|title=The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science|last1=Harvey|first1=Joy|last2=Ogilvie|first2=Marilyn|author2-link=Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie|author-link=Joy Harvey|year=2000|isbn=0-415-92038-8|publisher=Routledge|url=https://archive.org/details/biographicaldict00ogil_0}}</ref> Despite this, she did well at school due to diligent work and extensive tutoring from her father.<ref name=":0" />
Taussig formally retired from Johns Hopkins in 1963, but continued to teach, give lectures, and lobby for various causes. In addition, she kept writing scientific papers (of the 129 total that Taussig wrote, 41 were after her retirement from Johns Hopkins). She advocated the use of animals in medical research and legalized abortion, as well as the benefits of [[palliative care]] and [[hospice]].<ref name=Ogilvie/><ref name=Shearer/> Taussig also learned of the damaging effects of the drug [[thalidomide]] on newborns and in 1967, testified before Congress on this matter after a trip to Germany where she worked with infants suffering from [[phocomelia]] (severe limb deformities). As a result of her efforts, thalidomide was banned in the United States and Europe.<ref name=Ogilvie/> In 1977, Taussig moved to a retirement community in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Ever active, she continued making periodic trips to the University of Delaware for research work. {{Citation needed|date=April 2011}} Taussig pioneered the use of [[x-ray]]s and [[fluoroscopy]] simultaneously to examine changes in a baby's heart and lungs in a less invasive manner.<ref name=Bailey>{{cite book|page=387|last=Bailey|first=Martha J.|title=American Women in Science|isbn=0-87436-740-9|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=1994}}</ref> At the time of her death, she was working on research involving the genetic basis for certain congenital heart defects with avian hearts.<ref name=Ogilvie/>


She graduated from [[The Cambridge School of Weston|Cambridge School for Girls]] in 1917,<ref name="NIH" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.womeninmedicinemagazine.com/profile-of-women-in-medicine/helen-b-taussig-a-founder-of-pediatric-cardiology|title=Helen B Taussig - a Founder of Pediatric Cardiology|last=Edwards|first=Todd|website=www.womeninmedicinemagazine.com|language=en-gb|access-date=2020-02-26|archive-date=2020-02-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226010659/http://www.womeninmedicinemagazine.com/profile-of-women-in-medicine/helen-b-taussig-a-founder-of-pediatric-cardiology|url-status=dead}}</ref> then studied for two years at [[Radcliffe College]] before earning a [[bachelor's degree]] and [[Phi Beta Kappa]] membership<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/taussig-helen-brooke|title=Helen Brooke Taussig {{pipe}} Jewish Women's Archive|website=jwa.org}}</ref> from the [[University of California, Berkeley]] in 1921.<ref name="NIH" />
==Death and legacy==

On May 20, 1986, four days short of her 88th birthday, Taussig was driving a group of friends to vote in a local election when her car collided with another vehicle at an intersection, killing her instantly.<ref name=Ogilvie/> Johns Hopkins University named the "Helen B. Taussig Children's Pediatric Cardiac Center" in her honor, and in 2005 the [[Johns Hopkins School of Medicine]] named one of its four colleges in her honor.<ref>{{cite web|title=College Advising Program|url=http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/som/admissions/md/faculty/advising.html#Taussig|accessdate=25 July 2012}}</ref> The [[University of Gottingen]] named its cardiac clinic in honor of Taussig in 1965.<ref name=Ogilvie/>
After graduating, Taussig wished to study at [[Harvard Medical School]], but the medical program did not accept women (this was the case until 1945, though the first woman had applied nearly 100 years earlier, in 1847); <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2012/04/hard-earned-gains-for-women-at-harvard/|title=Hard-earned gains for women at Harvard|date=2012-04-26|website=Harvard Gazette|language=en-US|access-date=2020-03-22}}</ref><ref name=":8" /> the program accepted women in theory but would not give them a degree. When Taussig was told this by the dean of the medical school, she asked why anyone would want to attend without any hope of getting a degree, to which the dean replied, "That is what we are hoping." Taussig responded, "Well, I shall not be the first to disappoint you", and left.<ref>grand niece Margo Taussig Pinkerton from first-hand accounts from her great aunt.</ref> Instead she considered applying to study public health, partially because her father thought it a more suitable field for women,<ref name=":7" /> <ref name=":7">{{Cite book|last=Stevenson|first=Jeanne Hackley|title=Notable Maryland Women|publisher=Tidewater|year=1977|location=Cambridge, MD|chapter=Helen Brooke Taussig, 1898: The 'Blue Baby' Doctor}}</ref>

Taussig ended up taking classes at [[Boston University]] in [[histology]], [[bacteriology]], and [[anatomy]], without expecting to receive a degree.<ref name="Ogilvie" /> She was required to sit at the rear of the lecture hall apart from the male students and not speak to them.<ref name=":8" /> As an anatomy student at Boston University in 1925, she published her first scientific paper on studies of [[ox]] heart muscles with her professor [[Alexander Begg (scientist)|Alexander Begg]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Taussig|first1=Helen B.|last2=Meserve|first2=Faith L.|title=Rhythmic Contractions in Isolated Strips of Mammalian Ventricle|date=1925-03-01|journal=American Journal of Physiology. Legacy Content|volume=72|issue=1|pages=89–98|doi=10.1152/ajplegacy.1925.72.1.89|issn=0002-9513|doi-access=}}</ref>

With Begg's encouragement, Taussig applied to transfer to the [[Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine]], one of the few medical schools to admit women at the time, and was accepted as a full-degree candidate.<ref name="Ogilvie" /><ref name=":1">Kelly, Evelyn B (December 2000). "Helen Brook Taussig". ''Science and Its Times''. 6: 1900 to 1949: 387–388 – via Gale In Context: Global Issues.</ref><ref name=":9">{{Cite journal|last=Evans|first=William N.|date=2008|title=The relationship between Maude Abbott and Helen Taussig: connecting the historical dots|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cardiology-in-the-young/article/relationship-between-maude-abbott-and-helen-taussig-connecting-the-historical-dots/BAA4AFD1AD1C59A00C9DD44904B43190|journal=Cardiology in the Young|language=en|volume=18|issue=6|pages=557–564|doi=10.1017/S1047951108002771|pmid=18842160|s2cid=13549398|issn=1467-1107}}</ref> She wanted to specialise in internal medicine, but the one position available for a woman in that specialization was already taken so she opted for pediatrics and the emerging field of pediatric cardiology. After attaining her Doctorate of Medicine in 1927, Taussig remained at Johns Hopkins as a cardiology fellow for one year and two years as a pediatrics intern<ref name="NIH" /> and received two Archibald Fellowships.<ref name="Ogilvie" />

==Blalock-Thomas-Taussig shunt==

=== Concept ===
Taussig's early career in pediatric cardiology at Johns Hopkins consisted of studying babies with [[congenital heart defect]]s and [[rheumatic fever]],<ref name=":1" /> an inflammation of the heart and other organs resulting from bacterial infection, which was at the time a major source of child mortality. In the early 20th century, rheumatic heart disease made up the majority of clinical cardiology work: congenital heart defects were considered hopeless curiosities as the surgical means to correct them were extremely undeveloped so relatively little could be done to prevent the early deaths of patients with these conditions.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://hekint.org/2017/01/27/helen-taussig-founder-and-mother-of-pediatric-cardiology/|title=Helen Taussig: founder and mother of pediatric cardiology {{!}} Hektoen International|website=hekint.org|access-date=2020-03-23}}</ref>

She then was hired by the pediatric department of Johns Hopkins, the Harriet Lane Home, as its chief, where she served from 1930 until 1963. Taussig made use of [[fluoroscopy]] as a diagnostic tool, and developed a particular interest in infants with [[cyanosis]] (blue-tinged appearance), often caused by the heart defect [[Tetralogy of Fallot]].<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|last1=Neill|first1=C A|last2=Clark|first2=E B|date=1994|title=Tetralogy of Fallot. The first 300 years.|journal=Texas Heart Institute Journal|volume=21|issue=4|pages=272–279|issn=0730-2347|pmid=7888802|pmc=325189}}</ref> Cyanosis is caused when insufficient oxygenated blood is circulating around the body; in infants it can be known as "[[blue baby syndrome]]". Taussig is most remembered for her role in the development of a surgical treatment for this condition, the [[Blalock–Taussig shunt|Blalock-Thomas-Taussig shunt]].

A new surgery first performed in 1939 by [[Robert Edward Gross|Robert Gross]] corrected a common pediatric heart problem: [[patent ductus arteriosus]]. The [[ductus arteriosus]] is a small blood vessel connecting the [[pulmonary artery]] to the [[aorta]] of a [[fetus|foetus]]. Since the foetus obtains oxygen via the mother's [[placenta]] and not via its own lungs, which are fluid-filled and not yet functional, this vessel provides a shortcut, bypassing the lungs and allowing more efficient delivery of oxygenated blood around the foetus' body.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Marieb |first1=Elaine Nicpon |last2=Hoehn |first2=Katja|title=Human anatomy & physiology|year=2019|isbn=9780134580999|edition=Eleventh|location=[[Hoboken, New Jersey]] |publisher=Pearson |oclc=1004376412}}</ref> In most infants, the ductus arteriosus closes within a few weeks of birth so that blood flows to the lungs to be oxygenated; if it remains open or 'patent', the normal flow of blood is disrupted.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/congenital-heart-defects/about-congenital-heart-defects/patent-ductus-arteriosus-pda|title=Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA)|website=www.heart.org|language=en|access-date=2020-03-22}}</ref> This new surgical procedure artificially closed the blood vessel.

While this was going on, Taussig observed that infants with [[cyanotic heart defect]]s such as [[Tetralogy of Fallot]] or [[pulmonary atresia]] often fared remarkably better if they also had a [[patent ductus arteriosus]], with less severe symptoms and longer survival.<ref name=":8" /> In general, cyanotic symptoms would often begin or worsen shortly after birth, a change which Taussig suspected was caused by the natural closure of the ductus arteriosus.<ref name=":6" /> In cyanotic children, bloodflow from the heart to the lungs via the pulmonary artery is often compromised; Taussig thought that surgically creating an artificial ductus linking these two vessels could increase bloodflow to the lungs and alleviate this problem, increasing survival.<ref name=":7" /> She broached the idea to Robert Gross, and he was skeptical, reportedly telling her "I have enough trouble closing the ductus arteriosus. I certainly don't want to try to make an artificial one."<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":8" /><ref name=":12">{{Cite journal|last=McNamara|first=Dan|date=1987|title=Helen Brooke Taussig: 1898 to 1986|journal=Journal of the American College of Cardiology|volume=10|issue=3|pages=662–671|doi=10.1016/S0735-1097(87)80211-5|pmid=3305662|doi-access=free}}</ref>

=== The first surgeries ===
Two years later, Taussig obtained the collaboration of Johns Hopkins' new chief of surgery [[Alfred Blalock]] and his laboratory assistant [[Vivien Thomas]]. The three of them developed a surgery now known as the [[Blalock-Taussig-Thomas shunt|Blalock-Thomas-Taussig shunt]]. Originally, it was referred to as the Blalock-Taussig shunt: the critical input of [[Vivien Thomas]] was overlooked because of his non-clinical role and because of his race.<ref name=":8" />

Following extensive experimentation on about 200 dogs,<ref name=":11">{{Cite news|last=Altman|first=Lawrence K.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/05/22/obituaries/dr-helen-taussig-87-dies-led-in-blue-baby-operation.html|title=Dr. Helen Taussig, 87, Dies; Led in Blue Baby Operation|date=1986-05-22|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-03-23|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> on November 9, 1944, Blalock and Thomas performed the surgery on the first human patient.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":10">{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-05-23-me-23503-story.html|title=OBITUARIES : 'First Lady of Cardiology' Dies in Crash : Dr. Helen Brooke Taussig Pioneered 'Blue-Baby' Operation|date=1986-05-23|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|access-date=2020-03-23}}</ref> [[Eileen Saxon]], a 15-month-old baby, had arrived at the emergency department earlier that month severely underweight at just 5&nbsp;kg, purplish blue in colour and hardly able to drink a sip without gasping for breath. Taussig diagnosed her with [[Tetralogy of Fallot]], a diagnosis which meant that without intervention she certainly would not survive to adulthood.<ref name=":8" /> The procedure was an immediate success: Eileen's colour quickly returned to normal, she could drink milk more easily and gained a few kilograms. Two months after the surgery she was discharged from hospital.<ref name=":8" /> However, she became cyanotic again a few months later and died shortly before her second birthday.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last1=Vricella|first1=Luca A.|last2=Jacobs|first2=Marshall L.|last3=Cameron|first3=Duke E.|date=2013|title=The birth of a new era: the introduction of the systemic-to-pulmonary artery shunt for the treatment of cyanotic congenital heart disease|journal=Cardiology in the Young|language=en|volume=23|issue=6|pages=852–857|doi=10.1017/S1047951113001996|issn=1047-9511|pmid=24401258|s2cid=37408731}}</ref> Despite Eileen's death, the operation was proof that the Blalock-Thomas-Taussig shunt could in principle be used to extend the lives of children with cyanotic heart disease.

By 1945, this operation had been performed on a total of three infants with [[Pulmonic stenosis|pulmonary stenosis]] and [[pulmonary atresia]]. As Alfred Blalock and Helen Taussig wrote in ''[[JAMA (journal)|Journal of the American Medical Association]]'', "Heretofore there has been no satisfactory treatment for pulmonary stenosis and pulmonary atresia. A "blue" baby with a malformed heart was considered beyond the reach of surgical aid. During the past three months we have operated on 3 children with severe degrees of pulmonary stenosis and each of the patients appears to be greatly benefited. In the second and third cases, in which there was deep persistent cyanosis, the cyanosis has greatly diminished or has disappeared and the general condition of the patients is proportionally improved."<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Blalock|first1=Alfred|last2=Taussig|first2=Helen|date=1945|title=The Surgical Treatment of Malformations of the Heart in Which There Is Pulmonary Stenosis or Pulmonary Atresia|journal=Journal of the American Medical Association|language=en|volume=128|issue=3|pages=189–202|doi=10.1001/jama.1945.02860200029009}}</ref> Following this report, and lectures given by Blalock and Taussig at conferences around Europe and America, the procedure quickly gained worldwide acceptance.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":6" />

=== Legacy ===
With the international fame this surgery drew, parents worldwide began coming to [[Baltimore]] to have their "blue babies" treated by Blalock and Taussig. The rapid influx of prospective patients was so great that the clinic struggled to cope, and medical visitors from around the world came to assist and to share knowledge.<ref name=":12" /> By 1951, the team had operated on over 1,000 children and the surgery had a mortality rate of only 5%.<ref name=":8" />

One of the major benefits of this surgery was that children gained the ability to play actively without the rapid exhaustion and frequent loss of consciousness that usually results from cyanotic heart defects. Helen Taussig reportedly kept a letter on her mantelpiece from twelve year old Jean-Pierre Cablan, written after undergoing the procedure: "''Je suis maintenant un tout autre petit garcon ... je vais pouvoir aller jouer avec mes petits camarades.''"<ref name=":6" /> (''"''I am now a completely new boy... I will be able to play with the other children''."'') Often, an immediate improvement in the level of cyanosis could be seen as well. Taussig later recalled, "I suppose nothing would ever give me as much delight as seeing the first patient change from blue to pink in the operating room... bright pink cheeks and bright lips."<ref name=":3" />

Nowadays, the Blalock-Thomas-Taussig shunt is useful for prolonging life and improving health in infants before heart defects can be definitively repaired, commonly as the first stage of the three-step [[Norwood procedure|Norwood Procedure]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://surgery.ucsf.edu/conditions--procedures/norwood-procedure.aspx|title=Department of Surgery - Norwood Procedure|website=surgery.ucsf.edu|access-date=2020-03-23}}</ref> It allows infants to survive and gain weight before more complex surgeries are later attempted, and is used in the care of patients with [[Tetralogy of Fallot]], [[pulmonary atresia]], and more rare and complex abnormalities.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Kiran|first1=Usha|last2=Aggarwal|first2=Shivani|last3=Choudhary|first3=Arin|last4=Uma|first4=B|last5=Kapoor|first5=Poonam Malhotra|date=2017|title=The Blalock and Taussig Shunt Revisited|journal=Annals of Cardiac Anaesthesia|volume=20|issue=3|pages=323–330|doi=10.4103/aca.ACA_80_17|issn=0971-9784|pmc=5535574|pmid=28701598 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

At the time of Taussig's death, tens of thousands of children's lives had been saved by the shunt procedure.<ref name=":11" />

== Further career ==
As a physician, Taussig pioneered the use of [[x-ray]]s and [[fluoroscopy]] simultaneously to examine changes in a baby's heart and lungs in a less invasive manner,<ref name="Bailey">{{cite book|last=Bailey|first=Martha J.|url=https://archive.org/details/americanwomenins00bail_0/page/387|title=American Women in Science|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=1994|isbn=0-87436-740-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/americanwomenins00bail_0/page/387 387]}}</ref> and was very skilled in diagnosing heart conditions by feeling the heartbeat with her fingertips, rather than listening with a [[stethoscope]].<ref name=":8" />

As well as her day to day clinical work as a paediatrician, Taussig was also an accomplished academic clinician. She published 100 academic articles over her career, considering various aspects of cardiology including biomedical ethics<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Wanzer|first1=Sidney H.|last2=Adelstein|first2=S.James|last3=Cranford|first3=Ronald E.|last4=Federman|first4=Daniel D.|last5=Hook|first5=Edward D.|last6=Moertel|first6=Charles G.|last7=Safar|first7=Peter|last8=Stone|first8=Alan|last9=Taussig|first9=Helen B.|last10=Eys|first10=Jan van|date=1984-04-12|title=The Physician's Responsibility toward Hopelessly Ill Patients|journal=New England Journal of Medicine|volume=310|issue=15|pages=955–959|doi=10.1056/nejm198404123101505|pmid=6700692|issn=0028-4793}}</ref> and the evolutionary origins of heart disease.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Taussig|first=Helen B.|date=1988|title=Evolutionary origin of cardiac malformations|journal=Journal of the American College of Cardiology|volume=12|issue=4|pages=1079–1086|doi=10.1016/0735-1097(88)90479-2|pmid=3047192|issn=0735-1097|doi-access=}}</ref> In her research into the long-term outcomes of recipients of the shunt, Taussig remained in touch with many of her patients as they grew to adulthood and middle age.<ref name=":12" />

In 1947, after a decade of gathering material,<ref name=":9" /> Taussig published her magnum opus, ''Congenital Malformations of the Heart'',<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674335837|title=Congenital Malformations of the Heart, Volume I: General Considerations — Helen B. Taussig {{!}} Harvard University Press|website=www.hup.harvard.edu|date=January 1960 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=9780674335837 |access-date=2020-03-22}}</ref> considered to be the foundational text of pediatric cardiology as an independent field.<ref name="Ogilvie" /> The book was expanded into two volumes for a second edition published in 1960.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Doyle|first=E. F.|date=1961-05-01|title=Congenital Malformations of the Heart: Vol. I: General Considerations|url=https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/27/5/771|journal=Pediatrics|language=en|volume=27|issue=5|pages=771|doi=10.1542/peds.27.5.771 |s2cid=70575222 |issn=0031-4005}}</ref>

Taussig later became an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; she was promoted to full professor in 1959. At the time, she was only the second woman to reach full professor status at the university.<ref name="auto"/> She continued to serve as the director of the Harriet Lane Home (the children's treatment and research centre at Johns Hopkins) until her retirement in 1963. Most paediatric clinics at the time focussed on [[rheumatic fever]], which was the major source of child mortality, but because of Taussig's experience, the Harriet Lane Home was also able to provide specialist care for children with congenital heart disease.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Evans|first=William N.|date=2010|title=Helen Brooke Taussig and Edwards Albert Park: the early years (1927–1930)|journal=Cardiology in the Young|language=en|volume=20|issue=4|pages=387–395|doi=10.1017/S1047951110000259|issn=1047-9511|pmid=20444313|s2cid=43180329}}</ref> It became a world-leading centre that aspiring surgeons flocked to.<ref name=":8" />

Together with the cardiologist [[Richard Bing]], Taussig was in 1949 the first to describe a heart condition now known as [[Taussig–Bing syndrome|Taussig-Bing syndrome]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Konstantinov|first=Igor E.|date=2009|title=Taussig-Bing Anomaly|journal=Texas Heart Institute Journal|volume=36|issue=6|pages=580–585|issn=0730-2347|pmc=2801930|pmid=20069085}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last1=Taussig|first1=Helen B.|last2=Bing|first2=Richard J.|date=1949|title=Complete transposition of the aorta and a levoposition of the pulmonary artery|journal=American Heart Journal|language=en|volume=37|issue=4|pages=551–559|doi=10.1016/0002-8703(49)91133-3|pmid=18114947}}</ref> This is the second most common type of [[Double outlet right ventricle|double-outlet right ventricle]] (DORV),<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Griselli|first1=Massimo|last2=McGuirk|first2=Simon P.|last3=Ko|first3=Chung-Sen|last4=Clarke|first4=Andrew J. B.|last5=Barron|first5=David J.|last6=Brawn|first6=William J.|date=2007-02-01|title=Arterial switch operation in patients with Taussig–Bing anomaly — influence of staged repair and coronary anatomy on outcome|journal=European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery|language=en|volume=31|issue=2|pages=229–235|doi=10.1016/j.ejcts.2006.11.034|pmid=17223568|issn=1010-7940|doi-access=free}}</ref> a set of rare congenital heart conditions in which the [[aorta]], which is supposed to carry oxygen-rich blood from the left [[Ventricle (heart)|ventricle of the heart]], instead is connected to the right ventricle and supplies oxygen-poor blood to the body.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/007328.htm|title=Double outlet right ventricle : MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia|website=medlineplus.gov|language=en|access-date=2020-03-22}}</ref> Several alternative methods for surgically correcting this defect have been tried over the decades since the problem was first described, and survival rates following surgical intervention are greatly improved in recent decades.<ref name=":0" />

=== Banning of thalidomide ===
Around 1960, many more babies than usual began to be born in [[Germany]], [[Belgium]] and the [[Netherlands]] with [[phocomelia]], a previously very rare condition in which limbs are absent or small and abnormally formed. The German paediatrician [[Widukind Lenz]] was the first to draw a link to the increasing frequency of this condition and [[thalidomide]], a drug which was a popular sleeping medication at the time with the trade name [[Softenon]], and was often taken by pregnant women to counter [[morning sickness]]. However, when it is taken between days 35 and 49 of a pregnancy, it blocks normal limb development and causes phocomelia.<ref name=":8" />

After hearing about this issue from one of her students in January 1962, Taussig travelled to Germany and examined some of these children for herself. She reached the same conclusion as Lenz: that thalidomide taken during pregnancy was causing phocomelia.<ref name=":8" /> She flew back to America and launched a campaign to try to stop the pending approval of thalidomide by the [[Food and Drug Administration|FDA]], speaking at the [[American College of Physicians]], writing in journals and magazines, and testifying before Congress in 1967.<ref name="Ogilvie" /> Her and others' efforts paid off: the drug was banned in the United States and Europe.

==Retirement and death==
Taussig formally retired from Johns Hopkins in 1963, but continued to teach, give lectures, and lobby for various causes. In addition, she kept writing scientific papers (of the 129 total that Taussig wrote, 41 were after her retirement from Johns Hopkins).<ref name=":3" /> She advocated for the use of animals in medical research and for legalized abortion, as well as the benefits of [[palliative care]] and [[hospice]].<ref name="Ogilvie" /><ref name="Shearer">{{cite book|last=Callahan|first=Clara A.|title=Helen Brooke Taussig|work=Notable Women in the Life Sciences|year=1996|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=0-313-29302-3|editor=Benjamin F. Shearer|editor2=Barbara S. Shearer}}</ref>

In 1977, Taussig moved to a retirement community in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Ever active, she continued making periodic trips to the [[University of Delaware]] for research work.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.geni.com/people/Helen-B-Taussig/6000000015436465032|title=Helen B. Taussig|website=geni_family_tree|date=24 May 1898 |language=en-US|access-date=2020-02-26}}</ref> At the time of her death, she was researching the genetic basis for congenital heart defects in birds.<ref name="Ogilvie" /><ref name=":10" />

On May 20, 1986, four days short of her 88th birthday, Taussig was driving a group of friends to vote in a local election when her car collided with another vehicle at an intersection. She died about an hour later at Chester County Hospital, and donated her body to Johns Hopkins.<ref name=":11" />


==Honors==
==Honors==
In 1947, Taussig was honored by France as Chevalier (knight) of the [[Legion d'Honneur]]. In 1953, she received an honorary medal from the [[American College of Chest Physicians]]. She was honored by Italy with the Feltrinelli Award in 1954;<ref name=Ogilvie/> that same year, she was given the [[Lasker Award]] for her work. She was elected a Fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1957.<ref name=AAAS>{{cite web|title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter T|url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterT.pdf|publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences|accessdate=July 29, 2014}}</ref> In 1963, she was given the Gold Heart Award.<ref name=Bailey/> She was honored with the [[American Heart Association]]'s award of merit in 1967. An honorary fellow of the [[American College of Cardiology]] in 1960, Taussig was awarded the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] by President [[Lyndon Johnson]] in 1964, and the following year became the first female president of the [[American Heart Association]].<ref name=Ogilvie/> In 1973, Taussig was elected to the [[National Academy of Sciences]],<ref name=NAS>{{cite web|title=Helen B. Taussig|url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/49851.html|website=National Academy of Sciences|accessdate=July 29, 2014}}</ref> 27 years after Blalock was elected for their joint work on the Blalock-Taussig shunt.<ref name=Bailey/> Throughout her career, Taussig earned more than 20 honorary degrees.<ref name=Shearer/>


* 1947: Chevalier (knight) of the [[Legion d'Honneur]]<ref name=":4" />
Blalock and Taussig were jointly awarded the [[Gairdner Foundation International Award]] in Canada.<ref name=Shearer>{{cite book|last=Callahan|first=Clara A. |title=Helen Brooke Taussig|work=Notable Women in the Life Sciences|editors=Benjamin F. Shearer and Barbara S. Shearer|isbn=0-313-29302-3|year=1996}}</ref>
* 1948: Passano Foundation Award for an outstanding contribution to medical science, shared with [[Alfred Blalock]]- the first time this award was shared, and the first time it was awarded to a woman<ref name=":7" />
* 1953: Honorary medal from the [[American College of Chest Physicians]]
* 1954: Feltrinelli Award<ref name="Ogilvie" />
* 1954: Albert Lasker Award for Outstanding Contributions to Medicine<ref name="NIH" />
* 1957: Fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]<ref name="AAAS">{{cite web|url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterT.pdf|title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter T|publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences|access-date=July 29, 2014}}</ref>
* 1957: Eleanor Roosevelt Achievement Award<ref name=":4" />
* 1960: Honorary fellow of the [[American College of Cardiology]]
* 1963: Gold Heart Award<ref name="Bailey" />
* 1963: Achievement Award from the [[American Association of University Women]]
*'''1964: Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded by President [[Lyndon B. Johnson|Lyndon Johnson]]'''<ref name=":4" />
* 1965: The [[University of Göttingen]] named its cardiac clinic in honor of Taussig<ref name="Ogilvie" />
* '''1965: First woman and first pediatrician to be elected president of the [[American Heart Association]]'''<ref name="Ogilvie" />
* 1970: Blackwell Award from [[Hobart and William Smith Colleges]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hws.edu/about/blackwell.aspx|title=HWS: The Blackwell Award|website=www.hws.edu|access-date=2020-03-22|archive-date=2022-01-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220126010244/https://www.hws.edu/about/blackwell.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* 1971: Howland Award from the [[American Pediatric Society]]
* 1973: Elected to the [[National Academy of Sciences]],<ref name="NAS">{{cite web|url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/49851.html|title=Helen B. Taussig|website=National Academy of Sciences|access-date=July 29, 2014}}</ref> 27 years after Blalock was elected for their joint work on the Blalock-Taussig shunt<ref name="Bailey" />
* 1973: Elected to the [[American Philosophical Society]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Helen+Brooke+Taussig&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2022-08-11 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>
* 1973: Inducted into the [[National Women's Hall of Fame]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.womenofthehall.org/inductee/helen-brooke-taussig/|title=Taussig, Helen Brooke|website=National Women's Hall of Fame}}</ref>
* 1976: Awarded the Milton S. Eisenhower Medal for Distinguished Service by [[Johns Hopkins Hospital|Johns Hopkins]]<ref name="Shearer" />
* 1982: Elizabeth Blackwell Medal awarded by the American Medical Women's Association<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.amwa-doc.org/|title=AMWA|website=American Medical Women's Association|language=en-US|access-date=2020-03-22}}</ref>
* 2005: [[Johns Hopkins School of Medicine]] named one of its four colleges in her honor,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/som/admissions/md/faculty/advising.html#Taussig|title=College Advising Program|access-date=25 July 2012|archive-date=5 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105121013/http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/som/admissions/md/faculty/advising.html#Taussig|url-status=dead}}</ref> as well as the Helen B. Taussig Congenital Heart Disease Center
* 2018: The Helen B. Taussig Research Award began to be given out to postdoctoral fellows holding appointments in the Basic Sciences and clinical Departments at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hopkinsyidp.org/awards-by-award/|title=Awards – by Award – YIDP – Young Investigators Day}}</ref>


Taussig was a member of several prestigious professional societies during her career. She was a member of the [[American Pediatric Society]], the [[Society for Pediatric Research]], and the [[American College of Physicians]].<ref name=Bailey/> The American Pediatric Society honored her with the Howland Award in 1971, and Johns Hopkins awarded her the Milton S. Eisenhower Medal for Distinguished Service in 1976.<ref name=Shearer/>
Throughout her career, Taussig earned more than 20 honorary degrees.<ref name="Shearer" /> Taussig was a member of several professional societies during her career. She was a member of the [[American Pediatric Society]], the [[Society for Pediatric Research]], and the [[American College of Physicians]].<ref name="Bailey" />


==Film portrayals==
==Film portrayals==
In the 2004 HBO movie ''[[Something the Lord Made]]'', Dr. Taussig was portrayed by [[Mary Stuart Masterson]].
In the 2004 HBO movie ''[[Something the Lord Made]]'' about the life of [[Vivien Thomas]], Dr. Taussig was portrayed by [[Mary Stuart Masterson]]. The movie was nominated for many awards and won several.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386792/awards?ref_=tt_awd|title = Something the Lord Made - IMDb| website=[[IMDb]] }}</ref>


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}
*{{Citation|pmid=10323553|last=Neill|first=C A|last2=Clark|first2=E B|publication-date=Jan 1999|year=1999|title=The Paediatric Cardiology Hall of Fame: Helen Brooke Taussig MD. May 24, 1898 to May 20, 1986|volume=9|issue=1|periodical=Cardiology in the young|pages=104–8|doi=10.1017/S1047951100007526}}
*{{Citation|pmid=9294954|last=Friedman|first=M|publication-date=Sep 1997|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|pmid=8071766|last=Neill|first=C A|publication-date=Sep 1994|year=1994|title=Helen Brooke Taussig|volume=125|issue=3|periodical=J. Pediatr.|pages=499–502|doi=10.1016/S0022-3476(05)83307-4}}
*{{Citation|pmid=3305662|last=McNamara|first=D G|last2=Manning|first2=J A|last3=Engle|first3=M A|last4=Whittemore|first4=R|publication-date=Sep 1987|year=1987|title=Helen Brooke Taussig: 1898 to 1986|volume=10|issue=3|periodical=J. Am. Coll. Cardiol.|pages=662–71|doi=10.1016/S0735-1097(87)80211-5|last5 = Neill|first5=CA|last6=Ferencz|first6 = C}}
*{{Citation|pmid=3546165|last=Neill|first=C A|publication-date=Feb 1987|year=1987|title=Dr. Helen Brooke Taussig May 24, 1898--May 20, 1986. International cardiologist|volume=14|issue=2|periodical=Int. J. Cardiol.|pages=255–61|doi=10.1016/0167-5273(87)90017-9}}
*{{Citation|pmid = 3544367|last=Dietrich|first=H J|publication-date=Dec 1986|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|pmid=534805|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|pmid =3891183|last=Engle|first=M A|publication-date=Jun 1985|year=1985|title=Dr. Helen Brooke Taussig, living legend in cardiology|volume=8|issue=6|periodical=Clinical cardiology|pages=372–4|doi=10.1002/clc.4960080614}}
*{{Citation|pmid=321852|last=Harvey|first=A M|publication-date=Apr 1977|year=1977|title=Helen Brooke Taussig|volume=140|issue=4|periodical=The Johns Hopkins medical journal|pages=137–41}}
*{{Citation|pmid=327568|last=Schoenberg|first=D G|last2=Schoenberg|first2=B S|publication-date=Jul 1977|year=1977|title=Eponym: Helen Brooke Taussig: in the pink|volume=70|issue=7|periodical=South. Med. J.|pages=862}}
*{{Citation|pmid=7050856|last=Engle|first=M A|publication-date=Jul 1982|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]


{{Maryland Women's Hall of Fame}}
{{Maryland Women's Hall of Fame}}
{{National Women's Hall of Fame}}
{{National Women's Hall of Fame}}


==Further reading==
{{Authority control|VIAF=45176885}}
*{{cite book|last1=Baldwin|first1=Joyce|title=To heal the heart of a child : Helen Taussig, M.D.|date=1992|publisher=Walker|location=New York|isbn=9780802781673}}
*{{cite book|last1=Yount|first1=Lisa|title=Alfred Blalock, Helen Taussig, and Vivien Thomas mending children's hearts|date=2012|publisher=Chelsea House|location=New York|isbn=9781604136586}}
*{{cite book|last1=Reynolds|first1=Moira Davison|title=American women scientists : 23 inspiring biographies, 1900-2000|date=2004|publisher=McFarland|location=Jefferson, N.C.|isbn=9780786421619|url=https://archive.org/details/americanwomensci00moir}}

{{Authority control}}


{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
| NAME = Taussig, Helen
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = American cardiologist
| DATE OF BIRTH = May 24, 1898
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], U.S.
| DATE OF DEATH = May 20, 1986
| PLACE OF DEATH = Massachusetts, USA
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taussig, Helen}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taussig, Helen}}
[[Category:1898 births]]
[[Category:1898 births]]
[[Category:1986 deaths]]
[[Category:1986 deaths]]
[[Category:American cardiologists]]
[[Category:American pediatric cardiologists]]
[[Category:Johns Hopkins Hospital physicians]]
[[Category:Johns Hopkins Hospital physicians]]
[[Category:Harvard Medical School alumni]]
[[Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni]]
[[Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni]]
[[Category:Johns Hopkins University alumni]]
[[Category:Johns Hopkins University alumni]]
[[Category:Boston University alumni]]
[[Category:Boston University alumni]]
[[Category:American women physicians]]
[[Category:20th-century American women physicians]]
[[Category:20th-century American physicians]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Road accident deaths in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Road incident deaths in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:People from Cambridge, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Physicians from Cambridge, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:American people with disabilities]]
[[Category:American scientists with disabilities]]
[[Category:Burials at Mount Auburn Cemetery]]
[[Category:Burials at Mount Auburn Cemetery]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Lasker–DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award]]
[[Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients]]
[[Category:People from Cotuit, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American College of Cardiology]]
[[Category:American deaf people]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]
[[Category:Scientists with dyslexia]]
[[Category:Physicians with disabilities]]
[[Category:Recipients of the John Howland Award]]

Latest revision as of 02:42, 5 January 2025

Helen Brooke Taussig
Born(1898-05-24)May 24, 1898
Died20 May 1986(1986-05-20) (aged 87)
Alma materBoston University
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Known forFounding figure of paediatric cardiology
Blalock-Thomas-Taussig shunt
Role in banning of thalidomide
AwardsE. Mead Johnson Award (1947)
Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award (1954)
Presidential Medal of Freedom (1964)
Elizabeth Blackwell Award (1970)
John Howland Award (1971)
Scientific career
FieldsCardiology
Notable studentsS. I. Padmavati[1]

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. She is credited with developing the concept for a procedure that would extend the lives of children born with Tetralogy of Fallot (the most common cause of blue baby syndrome). This concept was applied in practice as a procedure known as the Blalock-Thomas-Taussig shunt. The procedure was developed by Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas, who were Taussig's colleagues at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Taussig was partially deaf following an ear infection in childhood; in early adulthood this progressed to full deafness.[2] To compensate for her loss of hearing, she learned to use lip-reading techniques and hearing aids to speak with her patients. Taussing also developed a method of using her fingers, rather than a stethoscope, to feel the rhythm of their heartbeats.[3][4] Some of her innovations have been attributed to her ability to diagnose heart problems by touch rather than by sound.[3]

Taussig is also known for her work in banning thalidomide and was widely recognized as a highly skilled physician. She was the first woman to be elected head of the American Heart Association. She was more proud of the fact that she was the first pediatrician to be elected head of the AMA; and in 1964 she was awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom.[5]

Early life and education

[edit]

Helen Brooke Taussig was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 24, 1898, to F. W. Taussig and Edith Thomas Guild, the youngest of four children. Her father was an economist at Harvard University, and her mother was one of the first students at Radcliffe College, a women's college.

She spent summers as a child in Cotuit, Massachusetts,[6] and later in life had a home there.[7]

When Taussig was 11 years old, her mother died of tuberculosis.[8] Helen also contracted the disease and was ill for several years, severely affecting her ability to do schoolwork. She also struggled with severe dyslexia through her early school years and was partially deaf.[9] Despite this, she did well at school due to diligent work and extensive tutoring from her father.[10]

She graduated from Cambridge School for Girls in 1917,[3][11] then studied for two years at Radcliffe College before earning a bachelor's degree and Phi Beta Kappa membership[12] from the University of California, Berkeley in 1921.[3]

After graduating, Taussig wished to study at Harvard Medical School, but the medical program did not accept women (this was the case until 1945, though the first woman had applied nearly 100 years earlier, in 1847); [13][2] the program accepted women in theory but would not give them a degree. When Taussig was told this by the dean of the medical school, she asked why anyone would want to attend without any hope of getting a degree, to which the dean replied, "That is what we are hoping." Taussig responded, "Well, I shall not be the first to disappoint you", and left.[14] Instead she considered applying to study public health, partially because her father thought it a more suitable field for women,[15] [15]

Taussig ended up taking classes at Boston University in histology, bacteriology, and anatomy, without expecting to receive a degree.[9] She was required to sit at the rear of the lecture hall apart from the male students and not speak to them.[2] As an anatomy student at Boston University in 1925, she published her first scientific paper on studies of ox heart muscles with her professor Alexander Begg.[16]

With Begg's encouragement, Taussig applied to transfer to the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, one of the few medical schools to admit women at the time, and was accepted as a full-degree candidate.[9][17][18] She wanted to specialise in internal medicine, but the one position available for a woman in that specialization was already taken so she opted for pediatrics and the emerging field of pediatric cardiology. After attaining her Doctorate of Medicine in 1927, Taussig remained at Johns Hopkins as a cardiology fellow for one year and two years as a pediatrics intern[3] and received two Archibald Fellowships.[9]

Blalock-Thomas-Taussig shunt

[edit]

Concept

[edit]

Taussig's early career in pediatric cardiology at Johns Hopkins consisted of studying babies with congenital heart defects and rheumatic fever,[17] an inflammation of the heart and other organs resulting from bacterial infection, which was at the time a major source of child mortality. In the early 20th century, rheumatic heart disease made up the majority of clinical cardiology work: congenital heart defects were considered hopeless curiosities as the surgical means to correct them were extremely undeveloped so relatively little could be done to prevent the early deaths of patients with these conditions.[19]

She then was hired by the pediatric department of Johns Hopkins, the Harriet Lane Home, as its chief, where she served from 1930 until 1963. Taussig made use of fluoroscopy as a diagnostic tool, and developed a particular interest in infants with cyanosis (blue-tinged appearance), often caused by the heart defect Tetralogy of Fallot.[20] Cyanosis is caused when insufficient oxygenated blood is circulating around the body; in infants it can be known as "blue baby syndrome". Taussig is most remembered for her role in the development of a surgical treatment for this condition, the Blalock-Thomas-Taussig shunt.

A new surgery first performed in 1939 by Robert Gross corrected a common pediatric heart problem: patent ductus arteriosus. The ductus arteriosus is a small blood vessel connecting the pulmonary artery to the aorta of a foetus. Since the foetus obtains oxygen via the mother's placenta and not via its own lungs, which are fluid-filled and not yet functional, this vessel provides a shortcut, bypassing the lungs and allowing more efficient delivery of oxygenated blood around the foetus' body.[21] In most infants, the ductus arteriosus closes within a few weeks of birth so that blood flows to the lungs to be oxygenated; if it remains open or 'patent', the normal flow of blood is disrupted.[22] This new surgical procedure artificially closed the blood vessel.

While this was going on, Taussig observed that infants with cyanotic heart defects such as Tetralogy of Fallot or pulmonary atresia often fared remarkably better if they also had a patent ductus arteriosus, with less severe symptoms and longer survival.[2] In general, cyanotic symptoms would often begin or worsen shortly after birth, a change which Taussig suspected was caused by the natural closure of the ductus arteriosus.[20] In cyanotic children, bloodflow from the heart to the lungs via the pulmonary artery is often compromised; Taussig thought that surgically creating an artificial ductus linking these two vessels could increase bloodflow to the lungs and alleviate this problem, increasing survival.[15] She broached the idea to Robert Gross, and he was skeptical, reportedly telling her "I have enough trouble closing the ductus arteriosus. I certainly don't want to try to make an artificial one."[5][2][23]

The first surgeries

[edit]

Two years later, Taussig obtained the collaboration of Johns Hopkins' new chief of surgery Alfred Blalock and his laboratory assistant Vivien Thomas. The three of them developed a surgery now known as the Blalock-Thomas-Taussig shunt. Originally, it was referred to as the Blalock-Taussig shunt: the critical input of Vivien Thomas was overlooked because of his non-clinical role and because of his race.[2]

Following extensive experimentation on about 200 dogs,[24] on November 9, 1944, Blalock and Thomas performed the surgery on the first human patient.[2][25] Eileen Saxon, a 15-month-old baby, had arrived at the emergency department earlier that month severely underweight at just 5 kg, purplish blue in colour and hardly able to drink a sip without gasping for breath. Taussig diagnosed her with Tetralogy of Fallot, a diagnosis which meant that without intervention she certainly would not survive to adulthood.[2] The procedure was an immediate success: Eileen's colour quickly returned to normal, she could drink milk more easily and gained a few kilograms. Two months after the surgery she was discharged from hospital.[2] However, she became cyanotic again a few months later and died shortly before her second birthday.[26] Despite Eileen's death, the operation was proof that the Blalock-Thomas-Taussig shunt could in principle be used to extend the lives of children with cyanotic heart disease.

By 1945, this operation had been performed on a total of three infants with pulmonary stenosis and pulmonary atresia. As Alfred Blalock and Helen Taussig wrote in Journal of the American Medical Association, "Heretofore there has been no satisfactory treatment for pulmonary stenosis and pulmonary atresia. A "blue" baby with a malformed heart was considered beyond the reach of surgical aid. During the past three months we have operated on 3 children with severe degrees of pulmonary stenosis and each of the patients appears to be greatly benefited. In the second and third cases, in which there was deep persistent cyanosis, the cyanosis has greatly diminished or has disappeared and the general condition of the patients is proportionally improved."[27] Following this report, and lectures given by Blalock and Taussig at conferences around Europe and America, the procedure quickly gained worldwide acceptance.[2][20]

Legacy

[edit]

With the international fame this surgery drew, parents worldwide began coming to Baltimore to have their "blue babies" treated by Blalock and Taussig. The rapid influx of prospective patients was so great that the clinic struggled to cope, and medical visitors from around the world came to assist and to share knowledge.[23] By 1951, the team had operated on over 1,000 children and the surgery had a mortality rate of only 5%.[2]

One of the major benefits of this surgery was that children gained the ability to play actively without the rapid exhaustion and frequent loss of consciousness that usually results from cyanotic heart defects. Helen Taussig reportedly kept a letter on her mantelpiece from twelve year old Jean-Pierre Cablan, written after undergoing the procedure: "Je suis maintenant un tout autre petit garcon ... je vais pouvoir aller jouer avec mes petits camarades."[20] ("I am now a completely new boy... I will be able to play with the other children.") Often, an immediate improvement in the level of cyanosis could be seen as well. Taussig later recalled, "I suppose nothing would ever give me as much delight as seeing the first patient change from blue to pink in the operating room... bright pink cheeks and bright lips."[5]

Nowadays, the Blalock-Thomas-Taussig shunt is useful for prolonging life and improving health in infants before heart defects can be definitively repaired, commonly as the first stage of the three-step Norwood Procedure.[28] It allows infants to survive and gain weight before more complex surgeries are later attempted, and is used in the care of patients with Tetralogy of Fallot, pulmonary atresia, and more rare and complex abnormalities.[29]

At the time of Taussig's death, tens of thousands of children's lives had been saved by the shunt procedure.[24]

Further career

[edit]

As a physician, Taussig pioneered the use of x-rays and fluoroscopy simultaneously to examine changes in a baby's heart and lungs in a less invasive manner,[30] and was very skilled in diagnosing heart conditions by feeling the heartbeat with her fingertips, rather than listening with a stethoscope.[2]

As well as her day to day clinical work as a paediatrician, Taussig was also an accomplished academic clinician. She published 100 academic articles over her career, considering various aspects of cardiology including biomedical ethics[31] and the evolutionary origins of heart disease.[32] In her research into the long-term outcomes of recipients of the shunt, Taussig remained in touch with many of her patients as they grew to adulthood and middle age.[23]

In 1947, after a decade of gathering material,[18] Taussig published her magnum opus, Congenital Malformations of the Heart,[33] considered to be the foundational text of pediatric cardiology as an independent field.[9] The book was expanded into two volumes for a second edition published in 1960.[34]

Taussig later became an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; she was promoted to full professor in 1959. At the time, she was only the second woman to reach full professor status at the university.[19] She continued to serve as the director of the Harriet Lane Home (the children's treatment and research centre at Johns Hopkins) until her retirement in 1963. Most paediatric clinics at the time focussed on rheumatic fever, which was the major source of child mortality, but because of Taussig's experience, the Harriet Lane Home was also able to provide specialist care for children with congenital heart disease.[35] It became a world-leading centre that aspiring surgeons flocked to.[2]

Together with the cardiologist Richard Bing, Taussig was in 1949 the first to describe a heart condition now known as Taussig-Bing syndrome.[10][36] This is the second most common type of double-outlet right ventricle (DORV),[37] a set of rare congenital heart conditions in which the aorta, which is supposed to carry oxygen-rich blood from the left ventricle of the heart, instead is connected to the right ventricle and supplies oxygen-poor blood to the body.[38] Several alternative methods for surgically correcting this defect have been tried over the decades since the problem was first described, and survival rates following surgical intervention are greatly improved in recent decades.[10]

Banning of thalidomide

[edit]

Around 1960, many more babies than usual began to be born in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands with phocomelia, a previously very rare condition in which limbs are absent or small and abnormally formed. The German paediatrician Widukind Lenz was the first to draw a link to the increasing frequency of this condition and thalidomide, a drug which was a popular sleeping medication at the time with the trade name Softenon, and was often taken by pregnant women to counter morning sickness. However, when it is taken between days 35 and 49 of a pregnancy, it blocks normal limb development and causes phocomelia.[2]

After hearing about this issue from one of her students in January 1962, Taussig travelled to Germany and examined some of these children for herself. She reached the same conclusion as Lenz: that thalidomide taken during pregnancy was causing phocomelia.[2] She flew back to America and launched a campaign to try to stop the pending approval of thalidomide by the FDA, speaking at the American College of Physicians, writing in journals and magazines, and testifying before Congress in 1967.[9] Her and others' efforts paid off: the drug was banned in the United States and Europe.

Retirement and death

[edit]

Taussig formally retired from Johns Hopkins in 1963, but continued to teach, give lectures, and lobby for various causes. In addition, she kept writing scientific papers (of the 129 total that Taussig wrote, 41 were after her retirement from Johns Hopkins).[5] She advocated for the use of animals in medical research and for legalized abortion, as well as the benefits of palliative care and hospice.[9][39]

In 1977, Taussig moved to a retirement community in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Ever active, she continued making periodic trips to the University of Delaware for research work.[40] At the time of her death, she was researching the genetic basis for congenital heart defects in birds.[9][25]

On May 20, 1986, four days short of her 88th birthday, Taussig was driving a group of friends to vote in a local election when her car collided with another vehicle at an intersection. She died about an hour later at Chester County Hospital, and donated her body to Johns Hopkins.[24]

Honors

[edit]

Throughout her career, Taussig earned more than 20 honorary degrees.[39] Taussig was a member of several professional societies during her career. She was a member of the American Pediatric Society, the Society for Pediatric Research, and the American College of Physicians.[30]

Film portrayals

[edit]

In the 2004 HBO movie Something the Lord Made about the life of Vivien Thomas, Dr. Taussig was portrayed by Mary Stuart Masterson. The movie was nominated for many awards and won several.[49]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Who was Dr SI Padmavati, India's first woman cardiologist who died at 103 - IBTimes India". International Business Times. 2023-08-06. Archived from the original on 2023-08-06. Retrieved 2023-08-06.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Van Robays, J (2016). "Helen B. Taussig (1898-1986)". Facts, Views & Vision in ObGyn. 8 (3): 183–187. ISSN 2032-0418. PMC 5172576. PMID 28003874.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Changing the Face of Medicine: Dr. Helen Brooke Taussig". National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  4. ^ "Helen Brooke Taussig | American physician". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
  5. ^ a b c d Swaby, Rachel. (2015). Headstrong : 52 Women Who Changed Science - and the World. Broadway Books (A Division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group Inc). pp. 20–21. ISBN 978-0-553-44679-1. OCLC 903952884.
  6. ^ a b c d Taussig, Helen Brooke (1898–1986) - Dictionary definition of Taussig, Helen Brooke (1898–1986) | Encyclopedia.com: FREE online dictionary Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  7. ^ ENTINE vs. REILLY, MISC 13-477228 Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  8. ^ Yount, Lisa (1994). Contemporary Women Scientists. New York: Facts on File. p. 2. ISBN 0-8160-2895-8. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harvey, Joy; Ogilvie, Marilyn (2000). The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-92038-8.
  10. ^ a b c Konstantinov, Igor E. (2009). "Taussig-Bing Anomaly". Texas Heart Institute Journal. 36 (6): 580–585. ISSN 0730-2347. PMC 2801930. PMID 20069085.
  11. ^ Edwards, Todd. "Helen B Taussig - a Founder of Pediatric Cardiology". www.womeninmedicinemagazine.com. Archived from the original on 2020-02-26. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
  12. ^ "Helen Brooke Taussig | Jewish Women's Archive". jwa.org.
  13. ^ "Hard-earned gains for women at Harvard". Harvard Gazette. 2012-04-26. Retrieved 2020-03-22.
  14. ^ grand niece Margo Taussig Pinkerton from first-hand accounts from her great aunt.
  15. ^ a b c d Stevenson, Jeanne Hackley (1977). "Helen Brooke Taussig, 1898: The 'Blue Baby' Doctor". Notable Maryland Women. Cambridge, MD: Tidewater.
  16. ^ Taussig, Helen B.; Meserve, Faith L. (1925-03-01). "Rhythmic Contractions in Isolated Strips of Mammalian Ventricle". American Journal of Physiology. Legacy Content. 72 (1): 89–98. doi:10.1152/ajplegacy.1925.72.1.89. ISSN 0002-9513.
  17. ^ a b Kelly, Evelyn B (December 2000). "Helen Brook Taussig". Science and Its Times. 6: 1900 to 1949: 387–388 – via Gale In Context: Global Issues.
  18. ^ a b Evans, William N. (2008). "The relationship between Maude Abbott and Helen Taussig: connecting the historical dots". Cardiology in the Young. 18 (6): 557–564. doi:10.1017/S1047951108002771. ISSN 1467-1107. PMID 18842160. S2CID 13549398.
  19. ^ a b "Helen Taussig: founder and mother of pediatric cardiology | Hektoen International". hekint.org. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  20. ^ a b c d Neill, C A; Clark, E B (1994). "Tetralogy of Fallot. The first 300 years". Texas Heart Institute Journal. 21 (4): 272–279. ISSN 0730-2347. PMC 325189. PMID 7888802.
  21. ^ Marieb, Elaine Nicpon; Hoehn, Katja (2019). Human anatomy & physiology (Eleventh ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey: Pearson. ISBN 9780134580999. OCLC 1004376412.
  22. ^ "Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA)". www.heart.org. Retrieved 2020-03-22.
  23. ^ a b c McNamara, Dan (1987). "Helen Brooke Taussig: 1898 to 1986". Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 10 (3): 662–671. doi:10.1016/S0735-1097(87)80211-5. PMID 3305662.
  24. ^ a b c Altman, Lawrence K. (1986-05-22). "Dr. Helen Taussig, 87, Dies; Led in Blue Baby Operation". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  25. ^ a b "OBITUARIES : 'First Lady of Cardiology' Dies in Crash : Dr. Helen Brooke Taussig Pioneered 'Blue-Baby' Operation". Los Angeles Times. 1986-05-23. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  26. ^ Vricella, Luca A.; Jacobs, Marshall L.; Cameron, Duke E. (2013). "The birth of a new era: the introduction of the systemic-to-pulmonary artery shunt for the treatment of cyanotic congenital heart disease". Cardiology in the Young. 23 (6): 852–857. doi:10.1017/S1047951113001996. ISSN 1047-9511. PMID 24401258. S2CID 37408731.
  27. ^ Blalock, Alfred; Taussig, Helen (1945). "The Surgical Treatment of Malformations of the Heart in Which There Is Pulmonary Stenosis or Pulmonary Atresia". Journal of the American Medical Association. 128 (3): 189–202. doi:10.1001/jama.1945.02860200029009.
  28. ^ "Department of Surgery - Norwood Procedure". surgery.ucsf.edu. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  29. ^ Kiran, Usha; Aggarwal, Shivani; Choudhary, Arin; Uma, B; Kapoor, Poonam Malhotra (2017). "The Blalock and Taussig Shunt Revisited". Annals of Cardiac Anaesthesia. 20 (3): 323–330. doi:10.4103/aca.ACA_80_17. ISSN 0971-9784. PMC 5535574. PMID 28701598.
  30. ^ a b c d Bailey, Martha J. (1994). American Women in Science. ABC-CLIO. p. 387. ISBN 0-87436-740-9.
  31. ^ Wanzer, Sidney H.; Adelstein, S.James; Cranford, Ronald E.; Federman, Daniel D.; Hook, Edward D.; Moertel, Charles G.; Safar, Peter; Stone, Alan; Taussig, Helen B.; Eys, Jan van (1984-04-12). "The Physician's Responsibility toward Hopelessly Ill Patients". New England Journal of Medicine. 310 (15): 955–959. doi:10.1056/nejm198404123101505. ISSN 0028-4793. PMID 6700692.
  32. ^ Taussig, Helen B. (1988). "Evolutionary origin of cardiac malformations". Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 12 (4): 1079–1086. doi:10.1016/0735-1097(88)90479-2. ISSN 0735-1097. PMID 3047192.
  33. ^ Congenital Malformations of the Heart, Volume I: General Considerations — Helen B. Taussig | Harvard University Press. Harvard University Press. January 1960. ISBN 9780674335837. Retrieved 2020-03-22. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  34. ^ Doyle, E. F. (1961-05-01). "Congenital Malformations of the Heart: Vol. I: General Considerations". Pediatrics. 27 (5): 771. doi:10.1542/peds.27.5.771. ISSN 0031-4005. S2CID 70575222.
  35. ^ Evans, William N. (2010). "Helen Brooke Taussig and Edwards Albert Park: the early years (1927–1930)". Cardiology in the Young. 20 (4): 387–395. doi:10.1017/S1047951110000259. ISSN 1047-9511. PMID 20444313. S2CID 43180329.
  36. ^ Taussig, Helen B.; Bing, Richard J. (1949). "Complete transposition of the aorta and a levoposition of the pulmonary artery". American Heart Journal. 37 (4): 551–559. doi:10.1016/0002-8703(49)91133-3. PMID 18114947.
  37. ^ Griselli, Massimo; McGuirk, Simon P.; Ko, Chung-Sen; Clarke, Andrew J. B.; Barron, David J.; Brawn, William J. (2007-02-01). "Arterial switch operation in patients with Taussig–Bing anomaly — influence of staged repair and coronary anatomy on outcome". European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. 31 (2): 229–235. doi:10.1016/j.ejcts.2006.11.034. ISSN 1010-7940. PMID 17223568.
  38. ^ "Double outlet right ventricle : MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia". medlineplus.gov. Retrieved 2020-03-22.
  39. ^ a b c Callahan, Clara A. (1996). Benjamin F. Shearer; Barbara S. Shearer (eds.). Helen Brooke Taussig. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 0-313-29302-3. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  40. ^ "Helen B. Taussig". geni_family_tree. 24 May 1898. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
  41. ^ "Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter T" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved July 29, 2014.
  42. ^ "HWS: The Blackwell Award". www.hws.edu. Archived from the original on 2022-01-26. Retrieved 2020-03-22.
  43. ^ "Helen B. Taussig". National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved July 29, 2014.
  44. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2022-08-11.
  45. ^ "Taussig, Helen Brooke". National Women's Hall of Fame.
  46. ^ "AMWA". American Medical Women's Association. Retrieved 2020-03-22.
  47. ^ "College Advising Program". Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
  48. ^ "Awards – by Award – YIDP – Young Investigators Day".
  49. ^ "Something the Lord Made - IMDb". IMDb.

Further reading

[edit]