Soylu E, Athanasiou T, Jarral OA. Vivien Theodore Thomas (1910–1985): An African-American laboratory technician who went on to become an innovator in cardiac surgery. J Med Biogr. 2017;25(2):106-113. doi:10.1177/0967772015601566

Kennedy DM. In search of Vivien Thomas. Texas Hear Inst J. 2005;32(4):477-478.

Ng CT in. J. Vivien Thomas (1910-1985): the backstage pioneer and educator. J Invest Surg. 2014;27(3):131-138. doi:10.3109/08941939.2013.865817

Taussig, a pioneering pediatric cardiologist, was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She earned an A.B. from the University of California in 1921 and an M.D. from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1927. Following graduation, Taussig served as an Archibald Fellow in Medicine at Johns Hopkins and worked at the hospital’s heart station until 1928.

She then interned in pediatrics at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. In 1930, Edwards Park appointed Taussig physician-in-charge of the Harriet Lane Cardiac Clinic.  In 1959, she became the second woman at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine to be appointed full professor.  In 1963, Taussig stepped down as physician-in-charge and became professor emeritus of pediatrics.

Taussig was a leader in the diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart disease. In 1944, along with surgeon Alfred Blalock and surgical technician Vivien Thomas, she developed the surgical procedure commonly known as the “blue baby” operation to correct a debilitating and life-threatening congenital heart defect that exhibited blue skin pigmentation, or cyanosis, in children. In addition to saving thousands of lives, the procedure was a major contribution toward the establishment of open heart surgery. Taussig also helped to avert a thalidomide birth defect crisis in the United States, testifying to the Food and Drug Administration on the terrible effects the drug had caused in Europe.

In 1954, she received the prestigious Lasker Award for her work on the “blue baby” operation. In 1964, Taussig received the Medal of Freedom from President Lyndon Johnson. She was elected president of the American Heart Association in 1965.

http://portraitcollection.jhmi.edu/portraits/taussig-helen-brooke-2

Dunn PM. Dr Helen Taussig (1898-1986): Pioneering American paediatric cardiologist. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2008;93(1):2006-2009. doi:10.1136/adc.2006.095398

Taegtmeyer H. Helen taussig. Texas Hear Inst J. 2010;37(2):254.

Robays J Van. Helen B . Taussig (1898-1986 ). Facts, Views Vis OBGYN. 2016;8(3):183-187.

Edith Irby entered the University of Arkansas School of Medicine in September 1948, becoming the first African American to desegregate a Southern medical school. Seventy years later, she has become a hidden figure in the history of medical education.The author provides a brief biography of Irby (later Jones) and analyzes the factors that led the University of Arkansas to admit Irby, most notably her scholastic excellence and an innovative legal strategy launched by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to eliminate racial inequalities in graduate and professional education. Irby’s admission prompted intensified efforts by medical civil rights activists to desegregate all U.S. medical schools.The author concludes that the 70th anniversary of Irby’s groundbreaking accomplishment provides an opportunity to acknowledge her significant contribution to the history of medical education and to recognize the continued need to erase persistent racial inequalities in the physician workforce.

Gamble, VN (2013)

Gamble VN. No struggle, no fight, no court battle: The 1948 desegregation of the university of arkansas school of medicine. J Hist Med Allied Sci. 2013;68(3):377-415. doi:10.1093/jhmas/jrs025

Gamble VN. Edith Irby: A Hidden Figure in the History of Medical Education. Acad Med. 2019;94(11):1670-1674. doi:10.1097/ACM.0000000000002772

Willem Einthoven (1860–1927), known as the creator of the electrocardiograph, won a Nobel Prize in 1924 for his contributions to the field of electrocardiography. He was dedicated to research and learning. In developing the electrocardiograph, Einthoven built on the work of earlier physiologists who had studied the electrical mechanisms of the heart.

(Rivera-Ruiz et al., 2008)

Ershler I. Willem Einthoven \ p = m- \ TheMan The String Galvanometer Electrocardiograph. 2015:6-8.

Rivera-Ruiz M, Cajavilca C, Varon J. Einthoven’s String Galvanometer: The first electrocardiograph. Texas Hear Inst J. 2008;35(2):174-178.

Cajavilca C, Varon J. Willem Einthoven: The development of the human electrocardiogram. Resuscitation. 2008;76(3):325-328. doi:10.1016/j.resuscitation.2007.10.014

Barold SS. Willem Einthoven and the birth of clinical electrocardiography a hundred years ago. Card Electrophysiol Rev. 2003;7(1):99-104. doi:10.1023/A:1023667812925

Dr. Bernadine Healy was a cardiologist with a diverse career spanning the government, nonprofit organizations, and academia. Dr. Healy was the first female Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), serving from April 1991 to June 1993. She also served as Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy appointed by Ronald Reagan. She was President of both the American Heart Association and the American Red Cross. Dr. Healy was a Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Chair of the Research Institute at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, and Professor of Medicine at Ohio State University.  – https://www.womenofhopkins.com/healy

Shalala DE. Retrospective. Bernadine Healy (1944-2011). Science. 2011;333(6051):1836. doi:10.1126/science.1213786

Healy B. Bernadine Healy, M.D. August 4, 1944 – August 6, 2011. 2012;(1):2012.