Pediatricians
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A pediatrician is a doctor who specializes in the treatment of infants and children. Pediatricians deal a child’s problem which makes it one of the most medically-challenging and delicate professions in the world. Pediatricians understand that their medical attention and care has to be extremely different than the ones offered to adults. Until the late 20th century, many serious ailments caused infant mortality and some pediatricians became experts in diseases which other doctors could almost never identify. With advanced medical treatment options, pediatricians have a wide knowledge regarding the various illnesses in children ranging from hemophilia to cancers and respiratory problems to a common fever. Pediatricians, being some of the most highly-demanded doctors around the world, work in close quarters with doctors and medical experts from other departments such as rheumatology, diabetology, surgery, gynecology, psychology, neurology, cardiology and many more! Although many would love to believe that a pediatrician’s job is extremely rewarding, it is extremely challenging as well, as the job of handling the lives of children, could be extremely worrisome. Here is a collection of some of the most famous pediatricians. To learn more fascinating facts and details about them, read their biographies that include trivia, interesting facts, timeline and life history.
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Birthdate: February 24, 1985
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Braintree, Massachusetts, United States
Pediatrician and philanthropist Priscilla Chan, wife of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, was born to Chinese-Vietnamese refugees. She met Zuckerberg while studying at Harvard. They launched the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in 2015, pledging to transfer 99 percent of their shares in Facebook. Their philanthropy focuses on healthcare, science, and education.
2
Robert Leckie
(American Writer and US Marine Who Authored Sports Books, Children's Books, Autobiographies, and Fiction Books)
Birthdate: December 18, 1920
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Philadelphia
Died: December 24, 2001
Robert Leckie was an American writer and US Marine. He is best remembered for authoring sports books, children's books, autobiographies, fiction books, and books about the history of the United States military. One of Robert Leckie's memoirs, Helmet for My Pillow, became the basis for the popular war drama miniseries The Pacific.
3
Benjamin Spock(Pediatrician Whose 1946 Book 'Baby and Child Care' Revolutionized Parental Upbringing)
Birthdate: May 2, 1903
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: New Haven, Connecticut, United States
Died: March 15, 1998
American paediatrician Benjamin Spock was the first paediatrician who studied psychoanalysis to comprehend needs of children and family dynamics. He penned Baby and Child Care, a best-seller book of the twentieth-century. His concepts of child-rearing influenced generations of parents. Spock was also an Olympic gold-medallist in rowing and ran during the 1972 United States presidential election as People's Party nominee.
Birthdate: February 18, 1906
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Vienna
Died: October 21, 1980
Hans Asperger, who lent his name to Asperger’s syndrome, is remembered as a pioneer in autism research and was earlier believed to have saved children with disabilities from being killed by the Nazis. However, later evidence suggested he had sent two mentally disabled children for experiments under the Third Reich.
5
Janusz Korczak
(Former educator, children's author, pedagogue)
Birthdate: July 22, 1878
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Warsaw, Poland
Died: August 7, 1942
A reputed Polish doctor, Henryk Goldszmit was better known by his pseudonym, Janusz Korczak, which he used to write several children’s books. Apart from working as a pediatrician and a military doctor, he also owned a Jewish orphanage and stayed with the children while the Germans deported him and other staff to Treblinka.
6
Joycelyn Elders
(15th Surgeon General of the United States (1993 -1994))
Birthdate: August 13, 1933
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Schaal, Arkansas, United States
The second female U.S. surgeon general, Joycelyn Elders is a renowned pediatrician and one of the first Black women to reach the pinnacle of the medical field in the U.S. She has been dragged into multiple controversies, one of them being a result of her support for sex education and masturbation.
Birthdate: November 27, 1911
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Intramuros
Died: August 6, 2011
Fe del Mundo was a Filipina paediatrician who achieved international recognition in 1977 when she was honored with the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service. In 1980, she was named National Scientist of the Philippines, becoming the first woman to be named so. Del Mundo is credited with founding Philippines' first pediatric hospital.
8
C. Everett Koop
(13th Surgeon General of the United States (1982 - 1989))
Birthdate: October 14, 1916
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: New York, New York, United States
Died: February 25, 2013
C. Everett Koop was a pediatric surgeon and public health administrator who served as the 13th Surgeon General of the United States under President Ronald Reagan. Previously, he had been a vice admiral in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. He was well-known for his support of the rights of children with disabilities and his work with AIDS patients.
9
Theresa Tam
(3rd Chief Public Health Officer of Canada)
Birthdate: 1965 AD
Birthplace: Hong Kong
10
Gianna Beretta Molla
(Italian Roman Catholic Pediatrician)
Birthdate: October 4, 1922
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Magenta, Italy
Died: April 28, 1962
Gianna Beretta Molla was a Roman Catholic pediatrician, canonized as a saint for saving her unborn child’s life at the expense of her own. Although she knew that the removal of only the fibroma would endanger her life, she refused have an abortion, thus upholding the Roman Catholic doctrine that even an unborn child has a fundamental right to life.
11
T. Berry Brazelton
(American Pediatrician, Author, and the Developer of the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS))
Birthdate: May 10, 1918
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Waco, Texas, United States
Died: March 13, 2018
American pediatrician T. Berry Brazelton conducted ground-breaking studies on newborn behavioral research. He is also remembered for his Emmy-winning show What Every Baby Knows and for his books such as Toddlers and Parents. He had advocated for parental and medical leaves and been part of the National Commission on Children.
12
Paul M. Fleiss
(American Author and Pediatrician Who Achieved Notoriety for Pleading Guilty to Bank Fraud)
Birthdate: September 8, 1933
Sun Sign: Virgo
Died: July 19, 2014
Paul M. Fleiss was an American author and pediatrician. Best remembered for his unorthodox medical views, Fleiss did not insist upon vaccinations for children, although he recommended them. Paul M. Fleiss achieved notoriety in 1994, when he pleaded guilty to bank fraud and conspiracy in association with his daughter Heidi's prostitution ring.
13
Leila Denmark
(Pediatrician, Author)
Birthdate: February 1, 1898
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Portal
Died: April 1, 2012
Pediatrician Leila Denmark made headlines when she retired at age 103, after a career spanning over seven decades. She was the oldest practicing pediatrician in the world and the first woman pediatrician from Georgia. She was also the third-oldest living person in the U.S. when she died.
14
Jérôme Lejeune
(Pediatrician)
Birthdate: June 13, 1926
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Montrouge, France
Died: April 3, 1994
15
Kathleen Lynn
(Politician)
Birthdate: January 28, 1874
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Killala, Ireland
Died: September 14, 1955
A clergyman’s daughter, Kathleen Lynn went against her family to participate in the Easter Rising. She was also one of the first women doctors from University College Dublin and later became the chief medical officer of the Irish Citizen Army. She devoted her life to feminism and social upliftment of the poor.
Birthdate: June 12, 1958
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Asembo, Kenya
Died: September 21, 2011
17
John O. Agwunobi
(A formally trained pediatrician and chief executive officer and executive chairman of Herbalife Nutrition)
Birthplace: Dundee, Scotland
18
Francoise Dolto
(Pediatrician)
Birthdate: November 6, 1908
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Paris, France
Died: August 25, 1988
19
Saul Krugman
(American Physician Whose Studies Resulted in the Invention of Rubella, Hepatitis and Measles Vaccines)
Birthdate: April 7, 1911
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: New York, New York, United States
Died: October 26, 1995
Saul Krugman was an American physician and pediatrician. He is best remembered for his studies of rubella, hepatitis, and measles; his studies resulted in the invention of vaccinations for these diseases. However, the results of his studies were acquired through unethical medical practices, which involved experimentation on disabled children.
20
Andrew Agwunobi
(CEO for UConn Health since 2014)
Birthdate: September 12, 1965
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Scotland
21
Liri Berisha
(Pediatrician)
Birthdate: July 5, 1948
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Tirana, Albania
Birthdate: May 11, 1968
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Uganda
Birthdate: August 25, 1916
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Auburn, Alabama, United States
Died: August 4, 2003
Nobel Prize-winning American pediatrician and virologist Frederick Chapman Robbins is best remembered for his pathbreaking research on the poliomyelitis virus, which later helped in the development of polio vaccines. He also taught pediatrics at the Case Western Reserve University and worked with the US Army’s virus and rickettsia lab.
24
Abraham Jacobi
(American Physician Who Established the First Clinic for Diseases of Children in the 'United States')
Birthdate: May 6, 1830
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Westphalia, Germany
Died: July 10, 1919
Considered the Father of American pediatrics, Abraham Jacobi was a German born American physician, who began his career in USA as a practicing doctor. Later, he took up teaching assignments at various universities, eventually establishing the first Department of Pediatrics at Mount Sinai Hospital. Also an advocate of birth control, he occupied a key position in the child healthcare movement.
25
Clemens von Pirquet
(Scientist)
Birthdate: May 12, 1874
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Vienna, Austria
Died: February 28, 1929
26
Agnes Binagwaho
(Politician, Pediatrician)
27
Zilda Arns
(Brazilian pediatrician)
Birthdate: August 25, 1934
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Forquilhinha, Santa Catarina
Died: January 12, 2010
28
Sheila Singh Paul
(Founder and Director of Kalawati Saran Children's Hospital)
Birthdate: September 12, 1916
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Unknown
Died: January 11, 2001
29
Iqbal Mahmoud Al Assad
(Physician)
Birthdate: February 2, 1993
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Palestine
Birthdate: September 30, 1949
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Skenderaj, Kosovo
31
Fatima Abdel Mahmoud
(First Female Minister of Sudan and the First Woman Who Contested the Presidency of Sudan)
Birthdate: July 27, 1944
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Omdurman, Sudan
Died: July 22, 2018
Sudanese politician Professor Dr. Fatima Abdel Mahmoud, leader of the Sudanese Socialist Democratic Union, served as the first female minister of Sudan and is the first woman who contested the Presidency of Sudan. She was inducted as Deputy Minister of Youth, Sports, and Social Affairs in 1973. She contested for Presidency in the 2010 and 2015 general elections in Sudan.
32
Lungile Pepeta
(Cardiologist, Academic)
Birthdate: 1974 AD
Birthplace: South African
Died: August 7, 2020
South African pediatric cardiologist and professor Lungile Pepeta is remembered for his life-long struggle to improve his country’s medical facilities and to create a medical school for doctors from rural areas. Part of the advisory committee of the government’s COVID-19 taskforce, he himself died of the virus later.
33
Hattie Alexander
(American Microbiologist and Pediatrician)
Birthdate: April 5, 1901
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Died: June 24, 1968
Hattie Alexander was an American microbiologist and pediatrician. She is remembered for her service as the head of the bacterial infections program and as the lead microbiologist at Columbia-Presbyterian. Alexander occupied numerous positions at Columbia University, where she was respected for her work. She is the recipient of many awards, including the Elizabeth Blackwell Award and the E.Mead Johnson Award.
34
Thomas C. Peebles
(The First Person to Successfully Isolate the Measles Virus)
Birthdate: June 5, 1921
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Newton, Massachusetts
Died: July 8, 2010
Thomas C. Peebles was an American physician best remembered for his discoveries in the field of medicine. He was the first person to successfully isolate the measles virus. Thomas C. Peebles' research also proved that tetanus vaccine could be administered once in every 10 years as opposed to the popular belief that it must be given every year.
35
Nahid Toubia
(Plastic surgeon)
Birthdate: 1951 AD
Birthplace: Khartoum, Sudan
36
Khalida Zahir
(Physician, Women's rights activist)
Birthdate: 1927 AD
Birthplace: Omdurman, Sudan
Died: 2015 AD
37
Marie-Therese Abena Ondoa
(Politician)
Birthdate: August 10, 1942
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Douala (Cameroon)
38
Bronson Crothers
(American Pediatrician and Neurologist)
Birthdate: July 10, 1884
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Elmira, New York, United States
Died: July 17, 1959
Harvard professor and pediatric neurologist Bronson Crothers initially spent a few years practicing in Minnesota before becoming an army doctor during World War I. He is best remembered for his work on neurological injuries that cause conditions such as cerebral palsy. He also served the American Pediatric Society as its president.
39
Martha Wollstein
(Physician)
Birthdate: November 21, 1868
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: New York City, New York, United States
Died: September 30, 1939
40
Barton Childs
(American Pediatrician and Geneticist Who Defined the Field of Genetic Medicine)
Birthdate: February 29, 1916
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Hinsdale, Illinois, United States
Died: February 18, 2010
Johns Hopkins pediatrician and geneticist Barton Childs had also served the army during World War II. Apart from being the first director of genetics at Johns Hopkins, he conducted pioneering studies on the genetics of adrenal hyperplasia and Addison’s disease, and penned books such as Genetic Medicine: A Logic of Disease.
41
David Hamilton Smith
(Scientist, Pediatrician)
Birthdate: 1932 AD
Birthplace: Canton, Ohio, United States
Died: February 23, 1999
42
Harry Martin Meyer, Jr.
(American Pediatric Virologist Who Played a Key Role in the Development of German Measles Vaccine)
Birthdate: November 25, 1928
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Texas, United States
Died: August 19, 2001
Harry Martin Meyer Jr., was an American pediatric virologist best remembered for his role in defeating several infectious diseases, including German measles. He achieved national prominence when he discovered the first effective vaccine against German measles. Harry Martin Meyer Jr., is also credited with publishing over 100 scientific papers for textbooks.