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• 1 2022-04-22T16:26:22+00:00 Historical Figures and Trailblazers 24 Containing historical figures who broke barriers and achieved greatness in the health sciences plain 2024-04-10T18:02:22+00:00

  Historical Figures and Trailblazers

  Yellapragada SubbaRow (1896 - 1948) - Yellapragada SubbaRow was an influential Indian biochemist whose pioneering work laid the foundations for modern cellular biochemistry and cancer treatment. Born on January 12, 1895, in Bhimavaram, SubbaRow faced economic hardships early in life after his father, a government revenue officer, retired due to illness. SubbaRow's academic journey began with challenges, including multiple failures in entrance exams, before he pursued medical studies at Madras Medical College. His commitment to serving humanity led him to the Harvard School of Tropical Medicine in 1923. At Harvard, he collaborated with Cyrus Fiske, developing the Fiske-SubbaRow method for phosphorus measurement in solutions, a technique that became a biochemistry staple. His major scientific contributions include explaining the roles of phosphocreatine and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in muscle energy transactions and pioneering the use of folic acid analogs in cancer treatment. His collaborative work with Sidney Farber on the folic acid antagonist methotrexate marked a significant advance in chemotherapy, particularly for leukemia. Despite his untimely death in New York on August 9, 1948, SubbaRow's legacy endures in his profound impacts on biochemistry and medicine.
  Adler R. Yellapragada SubbaRow. In: Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia; 2022.
  
  Margaret Chung, MD (1899 - 1959) - Margaret Chung was the first American-born Chinese woman to become a physician in the United States. Born on October 2, 1889, in Santa Barbara, California, to Chinese immigrants, Chung faced significant racial and economic challenges from a young age. She managed to finance her own education through scholarships and various jobs, eventually graduating from the University of Southern California’s College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1916. After her residency, she worked as a staff surgeon at the Santa Fe Railroad Hospital and later opened private practices in Los Angeles and San Francisco. She was a founding physician of the Chinese Hospital in San Francisco’s Chinatown, providing much-needed medical care to the community there. During World War II, Chung became a pivotal figure in supporting U.S. military efforts. She was crucial in recruiting pilots for the Flying Tigers, a volunteer group that aided China against Japanese forces. Chung also organized the shipping of emergency supplies following the attack on Pearl Harbor and was an influential advocate for establishing the Naval Women’s Reserve, known as WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service). Recognized for her contributions with the People's Medal from the Chinese government and acknowledgments from U.S. President Harry S. Truman, Chung's impact transcended her medical achievements, marking her as a significant figure in American history. 
  Woodbury M. Margaret Chung. In: Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia; 2023.
  
  Min Chueh Chang, Ph.D. (1908 - 1991) - Dr. Chang was a reproductive biologist born in China in 1908. He emigrated to England and received a degree in animal husbandry from the University of Edinburgh in 1939 and later a doctorate at Cambridge University in 1945. In 1945 he went to the United States, joining the Worcester Foundation, where he was to spend the decisive years of his career. He worked with Dr. Gregory Pincus and Dr. John Rock on the creation of an oral contraceptive for women. Dr. Chang is also credited with discovering in vitro fertilization through work he conducted in the 1950s and a process known as the capacitation of sperm. 
  Florman, H. M. (2016). Min Chueh Chang, in context. Molecular Reproduction & Development, 83(10): 843.
  
  Tetsuko Akutsu, MD, Ph.D. (1922 - 2007) - Dr. Tetsuzo Akutsu was a world expert in artificial heart development. Born in Japan in 1922, Akutsu received his M.D. degree in 1947 from Nagoya University School of Medicine. In 1954 he was awarded the first Ph.D. in Japan in extracorporeal circulation and then placed in charge of hypothermia and artificial hibernation in the Department of Surgery until 1957. Dr. Akutsu joined the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in 1957 as a research fellow and a member of Willem Kolff ’s artificial heart team at the Cleveland Clinic. The team implanted a total artificial heart in an animal that lived for 90 minutes, the first successful experimental implant of a total artificial heart in the United States. Dr. Akutsu was recognized as a chief collaborator on this team. His monumental contributions are well described in leading to the first total artificial heart implanted in a human being by Dr. Denton A. Cooley.  
  Frazier, O. H. (2008). In memorium: Tetsuko Akutsu, 1922-2007. Texas Hearth Institute Journal, 35(1): 4.
  
  Har Gobind Khorana, Ph.D. (1922 - 2011) - Dr. Har Gobind Khorana was an organic chemist born in Pakistan before coming to the US in 1960. Dr. Khorana began working at the University of Wisconsin in 1960 and complimented the work of Marshall W. Nirenberg at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Khorana's expertise in chemical synthesis allowed him to synthesize more and larger nucleic acids, which were crucial steps in the final "cracking" of the genetic code by mid-decade. Nirenberg, Khorana, and Robert W. Holley shared a Nobel Prize in 1968 due to this work. His work significantly advanced the general scientific conception of many biological processes.
  Vigue, C. L. (2021). Har Gobind Khorana. Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia.
  
  Ayub Khan Ommaya (1930 - 2008) - Dr. Ommaya was a neurosurgeon and authority on brain injuries. Dr. Ommaya was born in Pakistan in 1930 before studying at Oxford University. In Oxford, Dr. Ommaya developed an interest in the mechanism of brain injury. As a result, he received an opportunity at the US National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in 1966, where he developed the first comma scale and the Ommaya reservoir. Dr. Ayub Ommaya was a professor of neurosurgery at George Washington University and chief medical adviser to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. One of his patients was the daughter of a congressman who chaired the Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee. He told him of the shortage of funds for injury research, which led to the creation of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.
  Watts, G. (2008). Ayub Khan Ommaya. The Lancet, 372: 1540.
  
  
  David Da-i Ho, MD (1952 - Present) - Dr. David Ho is a Taiwanese-American AIDS researcher, physician, and virologist. Ho was born in Taiwan in 1952 before immigrating to the United States, where he grew up in Los Angeles. His series of high-profile papers in AIDS research, specifically on viral replication and dynamics, gave the first significant insights into the dynamics of HIV infection in humans. At age 37, Dr. Ho was chosen to run the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center (ADARC). Dr. Ho is perhaps best known for showing in 1996 that combining antiretroviral drugs can drive HIV down to undetectable levels. In 1996, he edged out Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, and Mother Teresa to become Time's Person of the Year.
  Mandavilli, A. (2004). Profile: David Ho. Nature Medicine, 10(11): 1150.
  
  Katherine Luzuriaga, MD - Dr. Luzuriaga is a board-certified Filipino-American physician and pediatric immunologist. She completed her undergraduate and master’s degrees in Biochemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and her medical degree at Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. Luzuriaga was named one of Time 100’s most influential people in the world in 2013 for being a member of a team that found a breakthrough that “functionally cures” newborns of AIDS when it is transmitted to them from their mother during birth. She has been at the forefront of pediatric HIV/AIDS research. She has received numerous accolades for her life-changing research, including a Scholar Award and the Elizabeth Glaser Scientist Award from the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.
  ABIM. (2017). Notable Asian/Pacific American physicians in U.S. history. ABIMBlog. 
  
  Marjorie K. Leimomi Mala Mau, MD, MS, MACP, FRCP - Dr. Marjorie Mau, a Native Hawaiian health professor at the University of Hawaiʻi, is the first Native Hawaiian woman to be recognized as a "master" physician by the American College of Physicians. Dr. Mau is a top-funded researcher at the University of Hawaiʻi John A. Burns School of Medicine. She is also the principal investigator and director of the Center for Native and Pacific Health Disparities Research and holds the Myron P. Thompson Endowed Chair for Native Hawaiian Health. In 2010, Dr. Mau was featured by the National Institutes of Health as a worthy mentor for young scientists through the BioMedical Faces of Science program. She has served as the medical officer on Hōkūle’a, a traditional voyaging canoe in the Pacific, and written about the health benefits of ocean voyaging.
  Shelton, T. (2016.) Marjorie Mau first Native Hawaiian woman ranked master physician. University of Hawai'i News.