The 20th century was a time of great improvements in public
health. Vaccinations were developed to prevent many infectious
diseases, and antibiotics controlled the bacterial infections
that had previously made injuries, surgery, childbirth, and
childhood diseases so deadly. Social and behavioral interventions
reduced workplace accidents and cigarette smoking. Better
treatments for common diseases such as atherosclerosis and cancer
have helped millions to lead longer, healthier lives. Today, the
average life expectancy in the United States is approximately 80
years, compared to only 47 years in 1900, and public health
specialists continue to work to spread these benefits worldwide.
- Virginia Apgar
Virginia Apgar (1909-1974) was an American physician best known for the Apgar Score, a simple, rapid method for assessing
newborn viability. Apgar was also a leader in the emerging field of anesthesiology during the 1940s and in the new field of
teratology (the study of birth defects) after 1960.
(Available July 2006; press release, updated December 2006, May 2007, March 2008, January 2010, July 2011, January 2012)
- Clarence Dennis
American surgeon Clarence Dennis (1909-2005) invented one of the first heart-lung bypass machines, and in 1951 was the first
to use it to perform open-heart surgery. He was also an outstanding medical educator, first at the University of Minnesota,
then at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, and finally at SUNY Stony Brook.
(Available July 2011; announcement, updated January 2012)
- Charles R. Drew
Charles R. Drew (1904-1950) was an African-American surgeon who has been called "the father of the blood bank." While
best known for the blood bank work, Drew devoted much of his career to raising the standards of African American medical education
at Howard University, and worked to break through the barriers that segregation imposed on black physicians.
(Available December 2010; announcement, updated July 2011, January 2012)
- Edward D. Freis
Edward D. Freis (1912-2005) was an American cardiologist best known as the father of the first double-blind, multi-institutional
controlled clinical trial of cardiovascular drugs which demonstrated that treating hypertension with medication could dramatically
reduce disability and death from stroke, congestive heart failure, and other cardiovascular diseases.
(Available February 2006, updated July 2006, December 2006, May 2007, March 2008, January 2010, July 2011, January 2012)
- C. Everett Koop
C. Everett Koop (b. 1916) is an American pediatric surgeon who during a forty-year medical career pioneered important improvements
in the surgical treatment of children. As U.S. Surgeon General from 1981 to 1989, he turned the office into an authoritative
platform from which to educate the nation on major public health concerns including smoking, violence, and, most urgently,
AIDS.
(Available September 2004, updated August 2005, December 2005, July 2006, December 2006, May 2007, March 2008, January 2010, July 2011, January 2012)
- Wilbur A. Sawyer
Wilbur A. Sawyer (1879-1951) was an American public health administrator who played a key role in preventive medicine and
international public health during the first part of the twentieth century. He developed the first effective yellow fever
vaccine, and was one of the architects of the World Health Organization.
(Available September 2004, updated August 2005, December 2005, July 2006, December 2006, May 2007, March 2008, January 2010, July 2011, January 2012)
- Fred L. Soper
Fred Soper (1893-1977), was an American epidemiologist and public health administrator who won a Lasker Award in 1946 for
organizing successful campaigns to eradicate yellow fever and malaria between 1927 and 1945.
(Available May 2003; press release, updated August 2005, December 2005, July 2006, December 2006, May 2007, March 2008, January 2010, July 2011, January 2012)
- Reports of the Surgeon General
The Reports of the Surgeon General contains official reports, conference and workshop reports, and proceedings from the Office
of the Surgeon General. Included are the 1964 Report on Smoking and Health, reports on AIDS, smoking, disease prevention,
violence, and children's health, among others.
(Available February 2002, updated August 2005, December 2005, July 2006, December 2006, May 2007, March 2008, January 2010, July 2011, January 2012)
- Henry Swan
American surgeon Henry Swan II (1913-1996) pioneered the use of hypothermia--cooling patients to a very low body temperature--to
make possible the first open-heart surgeries. Swan performed hundreds of successful cardiac repairs using hypothermia to
temporarily stop the heart. Swan was also an outstanding medical educator and the first full-time chair of the Department
of Surgery at the University of Colorado.
(Available January 2012; announcement)
- Visual Culture and Health
Images play a role in health education and disease prevention, and tell us about the history of health care and the world
we live in.
(Available November 2003, updated August 2005, December 2005, July 2006, December 2006, May 2007, March 2008, January 2010, July 2011, January 2012)
U.S. National Library of Medicine, 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20894
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