海伦·陶西格1898—1986

生平

陶西格出生于美国马萨诸塞州剑桥。她于1917年自剑桥女子中学（Cambridge School for Girls）毕业，此后两年在拉德克利夫学院就读。1921年获加州大学伯克利分校学士学位。之后她曾在哈佛医学院与波士顿大学学习，后前往约翰·霍普金斯大学从事心脏病研究。

在约翰·霍普金斯大学医学院期间，她开创了小儿心脏病专业，并提出了治疗法洛四联症的布莱洛克－陶西格分流术。1944年11月29日，她与同事阿尔弗雷德·布莱洛克、维维恩·托马斯首次完成了这一手术，拯救了一位11个月大的女婴的生命。1959年，她成为了约翰·霍普金斯大学医学院最早一批女性正教授之一。

1963年她从医学院退休，不过仍从事教学工作以及撰写学术论文。她还四处进行演说，包括支持堕胎合法化，以及动物在医学研究中的应用。此外她还推动立法，促使美国禁止了沙利度胺的使用。1977年起她搬往宾西法尼亚州切斯特县定居。1986年在一场车祸中去世。

奖项和荣誉

因为对于心脏病学的重要贡献，她曾获得过拉斯克临床医学研究奖（1954年）、总统自由勋章（1964年）等荣誉，并且还是美国心脏协会首位女性会长。

Helen Brooke Taussig (May 24, 1898 – May 20, 1986) was an American cardiologist, working in Baltimore and Boston, who founded the field of pediatric cardiology. She is credited with developing the concept for a procedure that would extend the lives of children born with Tetralogy of Fallot (the most common cause of blue baby syndrome). This concept was applied in practice as a procedure known as the Blalock-Thomas-Taussig shunt. The procedure was developed by Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas, who were Taussig's colleagues at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Taussig was partially deaf following an ear infection in childhood; in early adulthood this progressed to full deafness. To compensate for her loss of hearing, she learned to use lip-reading techniques and hearing aids to speak with her patients. Taussig also developed a method of using her fingers, rather than a stethoscope, to feel the rhythm of their heartbeats. Some of her innovations have been attributed to her ability to diagnose heart problems by touch rather than by sound.

Taussig is also known for her work in banning thalidomide and was widely recognized as a highly skilled physician. She was the first woman to be elected head of the American Heart Association. In 1964, she was awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Early life and education

Helen Brooke Taussig was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 24, 1898, to F. W. Taussig and Edith Thomas Guild, the youngest of four children. Her father was an economist at Harvard University, and her mother was one of the first students at Radcliffe College, a women's college.

She spent summers as a child in Cotuit, Massachusetts, and later in life had a home there.

When Taussig was 11 years old, her mother died of tuberculosis. Helen also contracted the disease and was ill for several years, severely affecting her ability to do schoolwork.

Blalock-Thomas-Taussig shunt

Concept

Taussig's early career in pediatric cardiology at Johns Hopkins consisted of studying babies with congenital heart defects and rheumatic fever, an inflammation of the heart and other organs resulting from bacterial infection, which was at the time a major source of child mortality.

Further career

As a physician, Taussig pioneered the use of x-rays and fluoroscopy simultaneously to examine changes in a baby's heart and lungs in a less invasive manner, and was very skilled in diagnosing heart conditions by feeling the heartbeat with her fingertips, rather than listening with a stethoscope.

As well as her day to day clinical work as a paediatrician, Taussig was also an accomplished academic clinician. She published 100 academic articles over her career, considering various aspects of cardiology including biomedical ethics and the evolutionary origins of heart disease.

Retirement and death

Taussig formally retired from Johns Hopkins in 1963, but continued to teach, give lectures, and lobby for various causes. In addition, she kept writing scientific papers (of the 129 total that Taussig wrote, 41 were after her retirement from Johns Hopkins). She advocated for the use of animals in medical research and for legalized abortion, as well as the benefits of palliative care and hospice.

In 1977, Taussig moved to a retirement community in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Ever active, she continued making periodic trips to the University of Delaware for research work.

Honors

1947: Chevalier (knight) of the Legion d'Honneur

1948: Passano Foundation Award for an outstanding contribution to medical science, shared with Alfred Blalock- the first time this award was shared, and the first time it was awarded to a woman

• 1953: Honorary medal from the American College of Chest Physicians
• 1954: Feltrinelli Award
• 1954: Albert Lasker Award for Outstanding Contributions to Medicine
• 1957: Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• 1957: Eleanor Roosevelt Achievement Award
• 1960: Honorary fellow of the American College of Cardiology
• 1963: Gold Heart Award

Film portrayals

In the 2004 HBO movie Something the Lord Made about the life of Vivien Thomas, Dr. Taussig was portrayed by Mary Stuart Masterson. The movie was nominated for many awards and won several.