American biologist and physician best known for the research and development of the first effective polio vaccine, named for him. In his later career, he devoted much energy toward the development of an AIDS vaccine. He popularly stated "Who owns my polio vaccine? The people! Could you patent the sun?"
Jonas Salk (1914-1995)
One of the founders of Ayurveda, a system of medicine developed in Ancient India. Was the first physician to present the concept of digestion, metabolism and immunity.
Charaka (c. 300 BC)
South African cardiac surgeon, famous for performing the world's first successful human-to-human heart transplant. Known for his colorful life, he also became known as the "film star surgeon."
Christiaan Barnard (1922-2001)
French neurologist and professor of anatomical pathology whose work greatly impacted the developing fields of neurology and psychology. He was nicknamed "the Napoleon of the neuroses." He is just as famous for his students who included Sigmund Freud, Joseph Babinski, Pierre Janet, William James, Albert Londe, Georges Gilles de la Tourette, and Alfred Binet.
Jean-Martin Charcot (1825-1893)
An English physician, who is credited with being the first to correctly describe, in exact detail, the systemic circulation and properties of blood being pumped around the body by the heart. Although Ibn al-Nafis and Michael Servetus had described pulmonary circulation before him, all but three copies of Servetus' manuscript 'Christianismi Restitutio' were destroyed and as a result, the secrets of circulation were lost until he rediscovered them nearly a century later.
William Harvey (1578-1657)
American physician who specialised in anesthesia and pediatrics best known as the developer of a test that was a method of assessing the health of newborn babies that has drastically reduced infant mortality over the world.
Virginia Apgar (1909-1974)
American physician primarily known for the invention of '___ Maneuver' - Since 1976 the American Heart Association and American Red Cross choking rescue guidelines have taught rescuers to perform the it (often referred to by the technical term "abdominal thrusts") as part of the standard procedure for clearing airway obstructions.
Henry Heimlich (1920- )
Physician who was also a Founding Father of the United States. He is today most famous as the man who, in 1812, helped reconcile two of the largest minds of the early Republic: Thomas Jefferson and John Adams.
Benjamin Rush (1745-1813)
Cuban doctor who became famous for his work in identifying the mosquito as a carrier of the organism causing yellow fever, now known as a disease vector. This discovery helped reduce the incidence and prevalence of mosquito-borne diseases in Panama during the American campaign from 1903 onwards to construct the Panama Canal. The UNESCO prize for Microbiology is named in his honor.
Carlos Finlay (1833-1915)
Prominent ancient Greek physician, whose theories dominated Western medical science for over a millennium. The translation of his works into Arabic by Hunayn ibn Ishaq and his assistants, and in particular his insistence on a rational systematic approach to medicine, set the template for Islamic medicine, which rapidly spread throughout the Arab Empire.
Galen (129-ca. 200 or 216)
German psychiatrist and neuro-pathologist credited with the first published case of "presenile dementia", which Kraepelin would later identify as ___'s disease.
Alois Alzheimer (1864-1915)
French surgeon, the great official royal surgeon for kings Henry II, Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III, is considered by some as one of the Fathers of Surgery. He was a leader in surgical techniques, especially the treatment of wounds. He was also an anatomist as well as the inventor of several surgical instruments.
Ambroise Pare (1510-1590)
German-born Austrian surgeon who is generally regarded as the founding father of modern abdominal surgery. He was directly responsible for a number of landmarks in surgery, including the first esophagectomy (1871), the first laryngectomy (1873), and most famously, the first successful gastrectomy (1881) for gastric cancer, after many an ill-fated attempt. As a musician, he was a close friend and confidante of Johannes Brahms.
Theodor Billroth (1829-1894)
Ancient Greek physician of the Age of Pericles, and was considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine. He is referred to as the "father of medicine" in recognition of his lasting contributions to the field.
Hippocrates (c. 460-370 BCE)
Dutch doctor who was a pioneer of hemodialysis as well as in the field of artificial organs. He is considered as the Father of Artificial Organs, and is now regarded one of the most important physicians of the twentieth century.
Willem Johan Kolff (1911- )
English scientist famous as the first doctor to introduce and study the smallpox vaccine, although Benjamin Jesty, a farmer, earlier had vaccinated with cowpox to induce immunity to smallpox. It is believed that he discovered it independently.
Edward Jenner (1749-1823)
Pioneering American heart surgeon who performed the first successful human heart transplant in the United States in 1968. In 1969, he became the first heart surgeon to implant an artificial heart designed by Dr Domingo Liotta in a man.
Denton Cooley (1920- )
Renowned American medical researcher who worked with Jonas Salk and is best-known for having developed the hugely successful oral vaccine for polio.
Albert Sabin (1906-1993)
Persian Muslim polymath and foremost physician and philosopher of his time. He is regarded as a father of early modern medicine, particularly for his introduction of systematic experimentation and quantification into the study of physiology among several other seminal achievements.
Avicenna (c.980-1037)
US Physician best known for his work in abating the transmission of yellow fever and malaria by controlling the mosquitoes that carry them at a time when he met with considerable skepticism and opposition to such measures. Institute bearing his name at the University of Alabama carries on the tradition of research, service and training in tropical medicine.
William C. Gorgas (1854-1920)
English surgeon who promoted the idea of sterile surgery while working at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary. He successfully introduced carbolic acid (phenol) to sterilize surgical instruments and to clean wounds.
Joseph Lister (1827-1912)
Popular American sex therapist and author best known as Dr. 'Her First Name.' Author of Sex for Dummies.
Ruth Westheimer (1928- )
French obstetrician, most famous as the developer of the method of "natural childbirth" that bears his name. After visiting the Soviet Union in 1951, where he studied the techniques of Ivan Pavlov, he developed a new approach to modern obstetrics, emphasizing paternal involvement and support for the birthing mother as well as techniques of relaxation and breathing.
Fernand Lamaze (1891-1957)
German physician who became famous for isolating Bacillus anthracis (1877), the tuberculosis bacillus (1882) and the cholera vibrio (1883). Was awarded the Nobel Prize for his tuberculosis findings in 1905. He is considered one of the founders of microbiology - he inspired such major figures as Paul Ehrlich and Gerhard Domagk.
Robert Koch (1843-1910)
Renowned surgeon of ancient India, and the author of a book in which he described over 120 surgical instruments, 300 surgical procedures and classifies human surgery in 8 categories. He lived and taught and practiced his art on the banks of the Ganga in the area that corresponds to the present day city of Varanasi in North India.
Sushruta (c. 6th century BC)
Austrian pediatrician who described a syndrome, now named for him, in which children who appeared to have normal intelligence but lacked nonverbal communication skills, failed to demonstrate empathy with their peers, and were physically clumsy.
Hans Asperger (1906-1980)
Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist who founded the psychoanalytic school of psychology and is best known for his theories of the unconscious mind and the defense mechanism of repression.
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
French doctor who invented the stethoscope in 1816. Cirrhosis of the liver is occasionally still called '___'s cirrhosis' after his last name, as he was one of the first to recognize this problem as a disease entity.
Rene Laennec (1781-1826)
French physician who is credited as the "father of modern dentistry." He is widely known for his book, Le chirurgien dentiste, "The Surgeon Dentist" 1728, where he described the basic oral anatomy and function, signs and symptoms of oral pathology, operative methods for removing decay and restoring teeth, periodontal disease (pyorrhea), orthodontics, replacement of missing teeth, and tooth transplantation.
Pierre Fauchard (1678-1761)
Was the first pediatrician to study psychoanalysis to try to understand children's needs and family dynamics. His ideas about childcare influenced several generations of parents to be more flexible and affectionate with their children. His book 'Baby and Child Care', published in 1946, is one of the biggest best-sellers of all time.
Benjamin Spock (1903-1998)
Pioneering American cardiovascular surgeon and researcher who during his term in military service proposed a series of mobile field medical units called Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals, or M.A.S.H. units, which allowed experienced medical personnel quick access to the wounded. He was one of the first to perform coronary artery bypass surgery, and in 1953 he performed the first successful carotid endarterectomy.
Michael E. DeBakey (1908- )
Pioneer in the field of neurosurgery. In addition to training numerous neurosurgeons, his "ingenuity in adapting advanced technologies" saved many lives and even influenced a television program, Ben Casey. Among other innovations, he created the first intensive care unit dedicated to neurosurgery, and helped define the fields of pediatric neurosurgery and neuroradiology.
Joseph Ransohoff (1915-2001)
Canadian medical scientist, doctor and Nobel laureate noted as one of the co-discovers of insulin.
Frederick Banting (1891-1941)
U.S. Army physician who in 1900 led the team which confirmed the theory (first set forth in 1881 by Cuban doctor/scientist Carlos Finlay) that yellow fever is transmitted by mosquitoes, rather than by direct contact. A General Hospital bearing his name was opened in Washington, D.C. on May 1, 1909.
Walter Reed (1851-1902)
British physician and a leader in the adoption of anaesthesia and medical hygiene who is considered to be one of the fathers of epidemiology, because of his work in tracing the source of a cholera outbreak in Soho, England, in 1854.
John Snow (1813-1858)