William B. Kannel
William Bernard Kannel (born December 13, 1923 in Brooklyn , New York City , † August 20, 2011 in Natick , Massachusetts ) was an American cardiologist and epidemiologist . He is best known for his scientific work on the Framingham Study .
Life
Kannel briefly studied chemistry at the City College of New York , but was then called up as a soldier in World War II . He later earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Florida and graduated from the Medical College of Georgia ( University System of Georgia ) from his medical degree in 1949 . In the same year he began to work for the United States Public Health Service , first in Staten Island , New York , from 1951 for the Framingham Study, a large-scale cohort study started in 1948 on the health and disease of several thousand residents of the small town of Framingham , Massachusetts. In 1959, Kannel earned a master's degree from the Harvard School of Public Health . From 1966 to 1979, Kannel was - as successor to Thomas R. Dawber - director of the Framingham study, from 1979 to 1987 its head of research and professor of internal medicine and health sciences at the Boston University School of Medicine . Even after his retirement in 1987 - until shortly before his death - he remained scientifically active as part of the study. Kannel remained an officer in the American armed forces throughout his professional career, most recently with the rank of captain .
Kannel was married to Rita Ruth Lefkowitz and the couple had four children. Kannell died of colon cancer .
Work and awards
Kannell published more than 600 scientific publications . The results and methods of the Framingham Study published under his leadership were groundbreaking for the field of epidemiology and helped a preventive approach in medicine to breakthrough - particularly in cardiology - by identifying the most important risk factors for cardiovascular diseases . Kannel coined the term “risk factor”, gave an early warning of the dangers of hormone replacement therapy and helped identify genetic risk factors for cardiovascular diseases with follow-up studies that included the children and grandchildren of the participants in the first study.
In 1975, Kannel was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal . In 1976 he received the Gairdner Foundation International Award “for his careful epidemiological studies that have uncovered cardiovascular risk factors and important implications for the prevention of these diseases” . Kannel received honorary doctorates from the University of Gothenburg , the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro and the Medical College of Ohio .
Kannel was a co-editor of the medical science journals Hypertension , the American Journal of Cardiology, and the American Heart Journal .
The American Society for Preventive Cardiology and the American Heart Association Council for Epidemiology and Prevention have been awarding a William B. Kannel Memorial Lectureship as a scientific honor.
literature
- James T. Willerson: In Memoriam William B. Kannel (1923-2011) PMC 3233324 (free full text)
- Emily Langer: William B. Kannel, renowned medical researcher, dead at 87. Obituary in the Washington Post, August 21, 2011.
- Margalit Fox: WB Kannel, Who Led Historic Heart Study, Dies at 87th obituary in the New York Times August 22, 2011.
- Art Jahnke: Cardiovascular Pioneer William B. Kannel Dies. Boston University Obituary in BU Today , Aug. 30, 2011.
- Nathan C. Wong: William B. Kannel MD 1923-2011: Personal Reflections of His Sixty Years of Preventive Cardiology. American Society for Preventive Cardiology Obituary . ( Memento from March 1, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
- In Memory of William B. Kannel MD at dignitymemorial.com.
Web links
- Interview: Dr. William Kannel on the Framingham Study
Individual evidence
- ↑ William B. Kannel MD, MPH, FACP, FACC at the Gairdner Foundation (gairdner.org); Retrieved July 22, 2013
- ^ William B. Kannel, MD, Memorial Lectureship Fund in Preventive Cardiology at the American Heart Association (heart.org); accessed on May 24, 2019.
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Kannel, William B. |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Kannel, William Bernard |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American cardiologist and epidemiologist |
DATE OF BIRTH | December 13, 1923 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Brooklyn , New York City |
DATE OF DEATH | August 20, 2011 |
Place of death | Natick , Massachusetts |