• “[I am proud to be a role model] not
because I have done so much, but to
say to young people that it can be
done."
-Dr. Dorothy Lavinia Brown
(First African American female surgeon in the South)
Onesimus
• In 1721, Onesimus, a slave in Boston,
informed his master about an
inoculation procedure practiced in
Africa to fight smallpox.
• The technique, practiced throughout
Africa, involved extracting fluid from
the pustule of an infected person and,
using a thorn to inoculate an
unaffected person, thus granting
immunity.
• Onesimus' recollection of a traditional
African medical practice saved
numerous lives and sparked the
introduction of smallpox inoculation in
the United States.
• http://blackhistorypages.net/pages/on
esimus.php
Dr. James Derham
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Former slave who operated a
successful medical practice in New
Orleans in the 1780’s.
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First practicing African American
physician although he never
received an MD degree.
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Acquired his medical knowledge as
a slave from his three former
owners who were physicians.
Mabel Keaton Staupers
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Mabel Keaton Staupers was born in Barbados,
West Indies, in 1890. In 1917 she graduated from
Freedmen's Hospital School of Nursing in
Washington, D.C. and went on to work as a private
duty nurse in New York. Staupers helped black
women nurses get into the mainstream of American
nursing.
She also helped to integrate black nurses into the
Armed Forces and the American Nurses
Association.
From 1934 to 1946 Mabel Keaton Staupers was
executive secretary of the National Association of
Colored Graduate Nurses, NACGN.
She organized the Booker T. Washington
Sanatorium, which became the first medical facility
in the Harlem area where black doctors could treat
their patients. For twelve years she was the
executive secretary of the Harlem Committee of the
New York Tuberculosis and Health Association.
In 1951 Staupers was the recipient of the Springarn
Medal, an award for the outstanding woman leader
of the century.
Black Red Cross Nurses
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During the first World War Black women served with
the American Red Cross. The number of Black
women enlisted by the Red Cross is not known
because the Red Cross enrolled workers regardless
of color, race or creed.
In some areas of the North, Black and White
women worked together. In the South, Black
women had their own Black auxiliaries. This was
also true for some Northern cities. In some cities,
Black women weren't permitted to work at the
soldiers' canteens. So, they provided services for
Black troop trains passing through Chicago .
In June 1918 Black nurses were fully allowed to
participate in medical services to Black troops. At
this time hundreds were dispatched to camps.
The Red Cross Nursing Division continued to do
recruiting for nurses to provide services in military
hospitals. Black nurses played a vital role in the
success of this organization.
Dr. James McCune Smith
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Dr. James McCune Smith is the
first African American to hold a
university degree in medicine.
He was a tireless physician, writer,
a leader in the abolition
movement, a community organizer
involved in African American
education, orphanages, and
healthcare
At about age 22 Smith chose to
leave the United States when no
American university would offer
him, a free negro, a place to
pursue higher studies. He set sail
for Glasgow, Scotland..
Acquired a university education in
Scotland and France.
Dr. Charles B. Purvis
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1865 graduate of what is now Case Western
Reserve School of Medicine.
He worked as a Union surgeon during the
American Civil War, then taught medicine for
several decades at Howard University.
On 2 July 1881, Purvis happened to be
nearby when President James Garfield was
shot twice by Charles Guiteau. Despite the
strict segregation of his era, Dr Purvis was
"allowed" to offer medical services until
white doctors arrived at the scene, thus
becoming the first African-American to
provide medical care for an American
President.
From 1883-93 he was chief surgeon at
Freedman's Hospital, a medical facility for
colored patients and affiliated with Howard
University, making Purvis the first AfricanAmerican to head a civilian hospital in
America.
Still, he was denied membership in the
American Medical Association on account of
his race.
Dr. Rebecca Crumpler
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First African American woman to
graduate with a medical degree.
In 1860, she was admitted to the New
England Female Medical College.
When she graduated in 1864,
Crumpler was the first African
American woman in the United States
to earn an M.D. degree, and the only
African American woman to graduate
from the New England Female Medical
College, which closed in 1873.
Author of ‘Book of Medical
Discourses’, one of the very first
medical publications by an African
American.
Dr. Rebecca J. Cole
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2nd African American woman to
graduate from medical school. (1867).
Dr. Cole graduated from the Woman's
Medical College of Pennsylvania in
1867.
went to work at Elizabeth Blackwell's
New York Infirmary for Women and
Children to gain clinical experience
after medical school.
in 1873 opened a Women's Directory
Center to provide medical and legal
services to destitute women and
children.
In January 1899, she was appointed
superintendent of a home run by the
Association for the Relief of Destitute
Colored Women and Children in
Washington, D.C.
Major Alexander T. Augusta
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Alexander Thomas Augusta was the highestranking black officer in the Union Army during the
Civil War . He was also the first African American
head of a hospital (Freedmen’s Hospital) and the
first black professor of medicine (Howard
University).
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Surgeon of the 7th U.S. Colored Troops during the
Civil War, he was the first black Major in the United
States Army
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He eventually received a medical degree from
Trinity Medical College in Toronto
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The first African American to head a hospital in the
United States when he directed Lincoln Hospital,
an army hospital in Savannah Georgia and later
Howard University’s Freedmen's Hospital from
1863-1864.
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Believed to be the first African American to serve on
the faculty of a US medical school, Howard
University 1869-1877
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During 1868-1876, Dr. Augusta taught in the
Medical Department. His subject areas were
"Practical Anatomy," "Descriptive and Surgical
Anatomy," and "Descriptive Microscopial and
Surgical Anatomy." Professor Augusta was also a
"Clinical Lecturer on Diseases of the Skin.”
Dr. Daniel Hale Williams
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He began working as an apprentice to the
physician (Dr. Henry Palmer) for two years
and in 1880 entered what is now known as
Northwestern University Medical School.
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After graduation from Northwestern in 1883,
he opened his own medical office in
Chicago, Illinois.
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Founded the Provident Hospital, the first
non-segregated hospital in the US, in
Chicago in 1891.
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Is best known for performing first successful
open-heart surgery in 1893.
In 1893, during the administration of
President Grover Cleveland, Williams was
appointed surgeon-in-chief of Freedman's
Hospital in Washington, D.C.. In addition to
organizing the hospital, Williams also
established a training school for AfricanAmerican nurses at the facility
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Dr. Eliza Ann Grier
• Emancipated slave
• 1st African American woman
licensed to practice in Georgia
– 1897
• She attended Woman's
Medical College of
Pennsylvania and graduated
seven years later.
• Financed her degree by
alternating one year of picking
cotton with one year of medical
school.
Photo credit:http://www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine
Dr. Matilda Arabella Evans
• Evans enrolled at the Woman's
Medical College of
Pennsylvania in 1893. She
received her M.D. in 1897 and
returned to Columbia, South
Carolina, where she
established a successful
practice.
• 1st African American woman
licensed to practice in South
Carolina. 1897
• Founder of the Columbia Clinic
Association and the Negro
Health Association of South
Carolina.
Photo credit:http://www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine
Dr. William Augustus Hinton
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Expert on serology of syphilis and
gonococcus infection in relation to public
health.
Entered Harvard Medical School in 1909
and earned an M.D., with honors, in 1912,
completing his degree in only three years.
At Harvard Medical School, he won the
competitive Wigglesworth Scholarship two
years in a row and the coveted Hayden
Scholarship in his last year
Dr. William A. Hinton was the first African
American to become a professor at Harvard
Medical School
Developed standard test for diagnosing
syphillis – The Hinton test in 1927.
Dr. Hinton was responsible for the discovery
of the
Davies-Hinton test of blood and spinal fluid.
Dr. Louis Wright
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1915 graduate of Harvard Medical College.
Louis Wright served in France as a
physician and Captain in the U.S. Army in
World War I. There he successfully
implemented life-saving treatments and
suffered exposure to poison gas that led to
both a Purple Heart and a lifelong
respiratory illness.
Became an expert in the treatment of head
injuries and introduced the intradermal
method of vaccination for smallpox during
WW I.
Pioneer in hospital racial integration.
During the 1930s Wright authored columns
for the NAACP magazine Crisis, where he
challenged the contention that biological
factors caused African Americans to harbor
more syphilis and infectious diseases than
the general population
Wright also founded the cancer research
center at Harlem Hospital known as the
Harlem Hospital Cancer Research
Foundation.
Dr. James W. Ames
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Ames was educated at Straight
University (now Dillard University)
in New Orleans, and then received
a degree from Howard University.
In 1918, Ames and a group of 30
black physicians, tired of asking
white doctors for permission to
admit a black patient to a white
hospital, decided to form their own
non-profit hospital for blacks.
Together they founded Dunbar
Hospital in Detroit. This hospital
was organized because no other
hospital in the city would admit
African-Americans at that time.
Dr. Leonidas H. Berry
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Graduate of the Rush Medical College of the University of Chicago in
1929. Completed a one year internship at the Freedman’s Hospital in
Washington D.C. in 1930.
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Renowned gastroenterologist and inventor of the gastrobiopsyscope.
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The first African American professor at the Cook County Graduate
School of Medicine, where he taught gastroenterology and gastroscopy
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First Black physician admitted to the staff of Chicago's Michael Reese
Hospital in 1946.
In 1975, after twenty-five years of service, Berry retired from Cook
County Hospital as chief of endoscopy services and senior attending
physician
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Autobiography- I Wouldn’t Take Nothin’ for My Journey
“[ I encourage my students to ] strive
for excellence and avoid using race as
an excuse for any lack of success.”
- Dr. LaSalle D. Lefall
(Leading oncologist and educator)
Dr. Lucy Oxley
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First African – American graduate of
the University of Cincinnati College of
Medicine in 1935.
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In Cincinnati, she started a family
practice in the mainly African American
community of Walnut Hills
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The first woman named Family
Physician of the Year by the Ohio
Academy of Family Physicians (1984)
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Maintained over 200 patients up her
death in 1991 from lung cancer.
Dr. Percy Julian
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African American research chemist
and a pioneer in the chemical
synthesis of medicinal drugs from
plants
Developed synthetic steroids to treat
arthritis and other inflammatory
disease.
Synthesized the medicines
physostigmine for glaucoma and
cortisone for rheumatoid arthritis. 1935
African American pioneer in the
industrial large-scale chemical
synthesis of the human hormones,
steroids, progesterone, and
testosterone. His work would lay the
foundation for the steroid drug
industry's production of cortisone,
other corticosteroids, and birth control
pills.
Photo credit: http://www.oprf.com/oprfhist/julianp.htm
Dr. Charles Drew
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Pioneer in the storage of blood as plasma – 1940.
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Founder and first directort of the first American Red Cross
blood bank
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Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
Charles Drew was a medical doctor and surgeon remembered
as the inventor of the blood bank.
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Although of African-American heritage in an age of rampant
racial discrimination, Drew managed to achieve an extremely
high level of education (BA from Amherst in 1926, MD and
Master of Surgery from McGill University in Montreal 1933,
and a Doctor of Science in Medicine from Columbia University
in 1940) and to become a well-respected surgeon and
professor.
He found that if he separated the plasma (the liquid part of
blood) from the whole blood (containing the red blood cells)
and then refrigerated the two separately, he could combine
them up to a week later for transfusion.
He also determined that everyone has the same type of
plasma. Thus in certain cases it was possible to give a plasma
transfusion which could be administered from anyone to
anyone, regardless of blood types
his insistence on ignoring the racial background of donors and
transfusion receivers meant that non-white soldiers no longer
bled to death waiting for a same-race donor to contribute blood
Drew himself was critically injured in a car accident in 1950 he
was refused admittance to the closest hospital because of his
race. By the time he arrived at the more distant hospital for
blacks he had lost so much blood that a transfusion was of no
avail.
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Dr. Vivien Thomas
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Vivien T. Thomas was a surgical technician
and a pioneer in the anastomosis of the
subclavian artery to the pulmonary artery.
The surgical work he performed with Alfred
Blalock paved the way for the successful
outcome of the Blalock-Taussig shunt.
Instrumental to the success of thousands of
“blue baby” operations. (1940s)
Blalock and Thomas worked closely in the
surgical laboratories. Thomas was a major
contributor in the development of operative
techniques. He and Blalock also
collaborated on the design of surgical
equipment.
Thomas supervised the surgical laboratories
at Hopkins for over 35 years, and in 1976 he
was appointed instructor in surgery at the
Johns Hopkins University School of
Medicine. In 1979, upon his retirement, he
became instructor emeritus of surgery.
Vivien Thomas's achievements were widely
recognized by his colleagues. In 1976, he
was awarded the honorary degree Doctor of
Laws, by the Johns Hopkins University.
Dr. Dorothy Lavinia Brown
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First African American female surgeon in the South. 1948
Former chief of surgery of Nashville’s Riverside Hospital.
1957 – 1983
She was also the first African American woman to be made a
fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
Attended Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina.
She received her B. A. in 1941
She enrolled at Meharry Medical College, in Nashville,
Tennessee. She graduated in 1948.
Completed year's internship at Harlem Hospital before
returning to Tennessee
Brown worked through a five-year residency at Meharry and
George W. Hubbard Hospital to become Assistant Professor
of Surgery in 1955
When a young, unmarried patient implored the orphanageraised physician to adopt her newborn daughter, Brown
became the first single adoptive mother in Tennessee, in
1956.
Then, in 1966, when redistricting opened the door for a black
candidate, Brown was asked to run for a seat in the state
legislature. She ran, and she won, becoming the first black
woman representative to the state legislature in Tennessee.
Brown would later resign after the bitter defeat of an
expanded abortion rights bill she sponsored, frustrated in her
belief that it had the potential to save the lives of many
women in Tennessee.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine/physicians/biography_46.html
Dr. Dorothy Lavinia Brown
• As she often said, she was proud to be a
role model, "not because I have done so
much, but to say to young people that it
can be done."
Dr. Edith Irby Jones
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First African-American student to attend and
graduate from the University of Arkansas
School of Medicine in 1952.
Her enrollment in the previously segregated
southern medical school made news
headlines across the nation, 9 years before
the “Little Rock Nine” intergreated Little
Rock Central High School.
At that time she was not allowed to use the
same dining, lodging, or bathroom facilities
as other students.
1st female president of the NMA, established
for black doctors who were not allowed to
join the American Medical Association..
1985
She has also been active in the American
Medical Women's Association and Planned
Parenthood, as well as other groups.
In 1991 she sponsored the establishment of
a medical clinic in Haiti.
Photo credit www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine/physicians/biography_175.html
Dr. Samuel Lee Kountz Jr.
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Samuel Lee Kountz Jr. was a physician and pioneer in organ
transplantation, particularly renal transplant research and
surgery.
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Performed first successful kidney transplant between a non-twin
donor and recipient. 1961
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Developed technique to detect and treat the rejection of
transplant kidneys.
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MD degree was conferred in 1958 from the University of
Arkansas Medical Center’s School of Medicine in Little Rock
(now the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences).
He completed an internship at the prestigious Stanford Service,
a San Francisco hospital, followed during the next two years. He
completed a rigorous surgical residency there in 1965.
Throughout his career, he performed more than 500 kidney
transplants.
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In 1965, he performed the first renal transplant in Egypt as a
visiting Fulbright professor in the United Arab Republic.
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Kountz made the breakthrough observation that high doses of a
steroid hormone, methylprednisolone, arrested the rejection of
transplanted kidneys. This discovery led directly to the current
drug regimens that make organ transplants using donations from
unrelated donors routine.
• “For my future I hope to be one of the best
doctors in the world in my day and time. I
believe that it is my calling and highest
ambition and I am going to make every
effort to make it a success."
Dr. Samuel Lee Kountz, July 15, 1948
(Performed first kidney transplant between non-twin donor
and recipient – 1964)
Dr. Clarice D. Reid
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Photo credit:http://www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine
3rd African American to graduate from
UCCOM in 1959.
She completed a rotating internship and
pediatric residency at Jewish Hospital with
pediatric training at the Children's Hospitals
Medical Center, both in Cincinnati.
Only African American pediatrician in private
practice in Cincinnati from 1962 - 1968.
In 1969, she became director of Pediatric
Education at Jewish Hospital, and in 1970
was named chairman of the hospital's
Pediatrics Department.
She joined the National Heart, Lung and
Blood Institute in the National Sickle Cell
Disease Program in 1973. Under her
leadership, the institute made many
important advances in sickle cell disease
research and hematology, including
preventing infections in infants and young
children with sickle cell disease with
prophylactic penicillin, describing the clinical
course of sickle cell disease, using
hydroxyurea to reduce painful episodes in
adult sickle cell disease patients, exploring
the potential for transplantation with
umbilical cord blood, and improving the
nation's blood supply.
Dr. Jane Cook Wright
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Daughter of Dr. Louis Wright, who was the first
African American doctor appointed to a staff
position at a municipal hospital in New York City
and, in 1929, became the city's first African
American police surgeon. He also established the
Cancer Research Center at Harlem Hospital. He
was also one of the first AA to graduate from
Harvard Med
She is most known because she analyzed a wide
range of anti-cancer agents, explored the
relationship between patient and tissue culture
response, and developed new techniques for
administering cancer chemotherapy.
In 1949 Jane joined her father, director of the
Cancer Research Foundation at Harlem Hospital.
Dr. Louis Wright worked in the lab and Dr. Jane
Wright would perform the patient trials. In 1949, the
two began testing a new chemical on human
leukemias and cancers of the lymphatic system.
in 1952, Dr. Jane Wright was appointed head of the
Cancer Research Foundation, at the age of 33.
Dr. Jane Wright was named professor of surgery,
head of the Cancer Chemotherapy Department, and
associate dean at New York Medical CollegeNew
York Medical College, the highest post ever
attained by an African American women in medical
administration. At that time 1967
First woman president of the American Cancer
Society. 1971
Photo credit:http://www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine
Dr. Marilyn Hughes Gaston
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First African-American woman to direct a
Public Health Service Bureau when she
became become director of the Bureau of
Primary Health Care in the U.S. Health
Resources and Services Administration in
1990.
Her 1986 study of sickle-cell disease led to a
nationwide screening program to test
newborns for immediate treatment.
Former associate professor of pediatrics at
UCCOM.
She studied zoology at Miami University,
and when she graduated in 1960, she
enrolled at the University of Cincinnati
College of Medicine. When she began
medical school, she was one of only six
women, and the only African-American
woman in her year.
In 1976 she began a long association with
the National Institutes for Health as a
medical expert, and later, as deputy branch
chief of the Sickle Cell Disease Branch.
Photo credit:http://www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine
“But I have realized that what you learn
from a mentor is at least as important
as what you learn in the classroom."
- Dr. Marilyn Hughes Gaston
Dr. Alexa Canady
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1st female African American pediatric
neurosurgeon.
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Alexa Irene Canady had almost
dropped out of college as an
undergraduate, but after recovering
her self-confidence she went on to
qualify as the first African American
woman neurosurgeon in the United
States.
earned a B.S. and M.D. degree from
the University of Michigan in 1971, and
1975 respectively
Chief of neurosurgery at the Children’s
Hospital of Michigan from 1987 – 2001
Throughout her twenty-year career in
pediatric neurosurgery, Dr. Canady
has helped thousands of patients,
most of them age ten or younger.
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http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/aframsurgeons/canady.html
Dr. Donna Christian-Christensen
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Photo credit:http://www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine
1st woman physician in the history of
Congress.
As a Member serving her seventh term, she
is the first woman to represent an offshore
Territory, the US Virgin Islands and the first
female Delegate from the United States
Virgin Islands.
Delegate Christensen has just been elected
Second Vice-chair of the Congressional
Black Caucus.
Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus’s
Health Braintrust which oversees and
advocates minority health issues nationally
and internationally.
Dr. Gloria Wilder-Braithwaite
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Pediatrician, humanitarian, and anti-poverty
activist.
Medical Director, Mobile Health Programs at
Children's National Medical Center in
Washington, D.C., which operates mobile
pediatric clinics in some of the most
impoverished cities in Washington D.C.
Initially thought to be autistic, WilderBraithwaite was, in fact, a gifted student.
After graduating from the New York City
public school system, she received a
scholarship to Howard University, where she
majored in microbiology and chemistry.
She then earned her master’s degree in
public health and then doctor of medicine
degree from the Georgetown University.
In 2002, she received the “Use Your Life
Award” from Oprah’s Angel Network, which
recognizes organizations and individuals
that are reaching out to others and making a
difference.
Dr. Levi Watkins Jr.
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First African-American admitted to and
graduate from Vanderbilt University School
of Medicine in 1970.
Dr. Watkins went onto become the first black
chief resident in cardiac surgery at the
Johns Hopkins Hospital
Conducted cardiac research at the Harvard
Medical School of Physiology from 19731975. At Harvard, he investigated the
relationship between congestive heart failure
and the renin angiotensis system.
Performed the world's first implantation of
the automatic defibrillator in a human. 1980
He also developed the cardiac arrhythmia
service at Johns Hopkins. He has done
research on coronary heart disease in
blacks through the Minority Health
Commission and Panel for Coronary Artery
Bypass Surgery.
Instrumental in increasing the number of
minority students attending Johns Hopkins
University School of Medicine, by 400% in
four years.
In 1992, Vanderbilt University established a
Professorship and Associate Deanship in
Dr. Watkins' name to honor his work for
diversity in medical education.
Dr. Jeanne Spurlock
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Psychiatrist
First woman to receive the Edward M.
Strecker M.D. Award for excellence in
pyschiatric care and treatment 1971
In 1974 she became deputy medical director
of the American Psychiatric Association, a
position she held until 1991.
Lobbyist for funding minority medical and
post-medical education.
As a psychiatrist, she made significant
contributions in focusing the medical
community's attention on the stresses of
poverty, sexism, racism, and discrimination
that effect women, minorities, gays, and
lesbians.
She was particularly concerned with
addressing the unique challenges faced by
single women, children of absent fathers,
and African Americans experiencing what
she called "survivor guilt," —having
ambivalent feelings about their own
success.
She co-authored the influential text,
Culturally Diverse Children and Adolescents:
Assessment, Diagnosis, and Treatment,
published in 1994.
Dr. Clive O. Callender
• 1st Black member of
the National Organ
Transplant Task
Force
• Established a kidney
transplant program at
Howard University in
1973.
Photo credit: http://www.mottep.org/founder.shtml
Dr. Alfred L. Goldson
• Pioneered the use of
radioactive material
and electron
radiotherapy to
combat prostate
cancer. 1975
• These techniques are
now commonly used
for many forms of
cancer.
Photo credit:
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=Dr.%20Alfred%20L.%20Goldson&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi
Dr. LaSalle D. Lefall
• First African American
President of the
American Cancer
Society. 1978
• First African American
President of the
American College of
Surgeons. 1979
•http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/aframsurgeons/leffall.html
Dr. Louis Sullivan
• 1st president of
Morehouse Medical
School in 1981.
• 1st African American
physician to attain a
presidential cabinet
post.
Photo credit: http://www.thebody.com/african_american/movers/lsullivan.html
Dr. Mae C. Jemison
• Graduated with a
medical degree from
Cornell University in
1981.
• 1st African American
woman and doctor to
travel into outer
space. 1992
Photo credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mae_Jemison
“…experienced physicians and surgeons
have a responsibility to pass the torch
and share their knowledge with
younger physicians and surgeons.”
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Dr. Claude H. Organ Jr.
(Former president of the Society of Black Academic Surgeons)
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/aframsurgeons/organ.html
Dr. Janice G. Douglas
• First woman
appointed to the role
of Professor of
Medicine at Case
Western Reserve
University Medical
School in the 150
year history of the
institution. 1984
•http://www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine/physicians/biography_89.html
Dr. Yvonne Thornton
• Established and
developed the program
for chorionic villus
sampling at the New York
Hospital.
• Her research on CVS
played an instrumental
role in the FDA’s
approval of the process.
1989
• Author of “The
Ditchdigger’s Daughters”
1995
Photo Credit: http://www.tuskegee.edu/Global/story.asp?S=1248521
Dr. Donald Wilson
• 1st African American
dean at a
predominantly white
medical school. (The
University of
Maryland SOM) 1991
• Former chair of the
American Association
of Medical Colleges.
Photo credit: http://www.medschool.umaryland.edu/minimed/Dean.htm
Dr. Barbara Ross - Lee
• 1973 graduate from th
Michigan State University
College of Osteopathic
Medicine.
• First African American
female to serve as dean
of a US medical school.
1993
• 1 of only 7 female deans
of US medical schools.
http://www.myhero.com/myhero/hero.asp?hero=B_Ross_Lee_enloe_HS_06
Dr. Jocelyn Elders
• 1st African American
U.S. Surgeon
General. 1994
• Former director of
Arkansas State
Health Department.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joycelyn_Elders
Dr. Paula Mahone / Dr. Karen
Drake
• Lead perinatologists
in the delivery of the
McCaughey
septuplets in 1997.
• Leading Iowa
authorities on highrisk pregnancies
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=Dr.%20Paula%20Mahone&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi
Dr. Keith Black
• Chairman – Dept. of
Neurosurgery
Cedars Sinai Health
System
• Pioneered research
on designing ways to
open the blood-brain
barrier.
http://www.cedars-sinai.edu/1088.html?wt.srch=1
Dr. Elizabeth Odilile Ofili
• Cited in 1997 as one
of the nations top 25
Black female doctors.
• First woman
president of the
Association of Black
Cardiologists. 2000
Dr. Claudia Thomas
• The first African American
woman orthopaedic
surgeon in the US.
• The first woman graduate
of Yale University
Orthopaedic Program.
• She assisted in recruiting
the largest number of
minorities ever to train in
orthopaedics at Johns
Hopkins.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/aframsurgeons/newfrontiers.html
Dr. Velma Scantlebury
• First African American
woman transplant
surgeon in the United
States.
• In 2002, Dr.
Scantlebury was
appointed professor of
surgery and director of
the University of South
Alabama's Gulf Coast
Regional Transplant
Center.
http://www.southalabama.edu/usahealthsystem/pressreleases/2004pr/11120
4.html
Dr. Helene D. Gayle
• One of the nation's
top epidemiologists.
• Currently tracking the
effects of AIDS
worldwide for the U.S.
Centers for Disease
Control and
Prevention as the
Chief of international
AIDS research.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine/physicians/biography_125.html
Dr. James E. Bowman
• Internationally
recognized expert in
pathology and
genetics.
• Principal Investigator
of The University of
Chicago’s
Comprehensive
Sickle Cell Center.
http://pritzker.bsd.uchicago.edu/about/bowman.shtml
Vice Admiral Regina M.
Benjamin, MD, MBA
•
is the 18th Surgeon General of the United States
Public Health Service. As America’s Doctor, she
provides the public with the best scientific
information available on how to improve their health
and the health of the nation.
•
Founder and former CEO of Bayou La Batre Rural
Health Clinic, Bayou La Batre, Alabama. 1990
•
In 1995, she was the first physician under age 40
and the first African-American woman to be elected
to the American Medical Association Board of
Trustees.
In 1998 Dr Benjamin was the United States
recipient of the Nelson Mandela Award for Health
and Human Rights. She was named by Time
Magazine as one of the “Nation’s 50 Future Leaders
Age 40 and Under.” She was featured in a New
York Times article, “Angel in a White Coat,” in
People Magazine, on the December 1999 cover of
Clarity Magazine and was on the January 2003
cover of Reader’s Digest, She was also “Person of
the Week” on ABC’s World News Tonight with Peter
Jennings, and “Woman of the Year’ by CBS This
Morning. She received the 2000 National Caring
Award which was inspired by Mother Teresa,
received the papal honor Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice
from Pope Benedict XVI and was awarded a
MacArthur Genius Award Fellowship.
•