Lawson Wilkins

Lawson Wilkins (born March 6, 1894 in Baltimore , Maryland , † September 27, 1963 ) was an American doctor. He is considered the nestor of pediatric endocrinology in the United States.

Lawson Wilkins as a young soldier, ca.1919

Wilkins was the son of a Baltimore general practitioner who practiced until he was 86. Lawson Wilkins earned a bachelor's degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1914 and an MD in 1917 with a medical degree. He served as a soldier in World War I. He completed his specialist training in New Haven , Connecticut, among others . Wilkinins initially ran a pediatric practice in Baltimore and, from 1935, an endocrinology clinic in the Harriet Lane Home in Baltimore, the first university children's hospital in the United States. Here he was particularly concerned with the relationship between endocrinology and growth .

In 1946, Wilkins left his private practice entirely to treat, research and teach patients at Johns Hopkins University . Among other things, he made an outstanding contribution to the understanding of the phenomenon of intersexuality . His book The Diagnosis and Treatment of Endocrine Disorders in Childhood and Adolescence was considered a standard work, the third edition of which appeared in 1965. Wilkins promoted the development of the field of psycho (neuro) endocrinology . In 1959 he retired .

In 1954, Wilkins received the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Amory Prize "in recognition of his important contributions to the basic understanding of the growth and development of secondary sexual characteristics in men and for his ingenious use of adrenal hormones in the treatment of disorders in this area." he received the Fred Conrad Koch Award from the Endocrine Society , of which he was president in 1956/57. In 1963 he was awarded the John Howland Award of the American Pediatric Society , of which he was president in 1961/62.

Wilkins was married to Lucile Mahol († 1959) since 1926. The couple had a daughter and son who died in a traffic accident in 1944 at the age of 17. In 1960 Wilkins suffered a first heart attack , but initially recovered and in 1961 married Catrina Anderson Francis. In 1963 he died of a second heart attack.

The Pediatric Endocrine Society was named the Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society in his honor from 1972 to 2010 . A Lawson Wilkins Professorship of Pediatric Endocrinology has existed at Johns Hopkins University since 2006 .

Sources and References

literature

• Alfred M. Bongiovanni: Lawson Wilkins: Memorial . In: The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism . tape 24 , no. 1 , January 1964, p. 1-3 , doi : 10.1210 / jcem-24-1-1 .
• Robert M. Blizzard: Lawson Wilkins (1894-1963) . In: The Journal of Pediatrics . tape 133 , no. 4 , October 1998, p. 577 , doi : 10.1016 / S0022-3476 (98) 70074-5 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Delbert A Fisher: A Short History of Pediatric Endocrinology in North America. In: Pediatric Research. 55, 2004, p. 716, doi : 10.1203 / 01.PDR.0000113824.18487.9B .
2. ↑ Recipients of the Amory Prize ( Memento of the original from January 16, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (amacad.org); accessed on March 16, 2018. 
3. ^ Fred Conrad Koch Lifetime Achievement Award - Endocrine Society. In: endocrine.org. December 31, 2017, accessed March 16, 2018 . 
4. ^ APS Awards: John Howland Award - Past Recipients. In: aps-spr.org. Retrieved March 16, 2018 . 
5. ↑ AM Bongiovanni: Presentation of the John Howland Medal and Award of the American Pediatric Society to Dr. Lawson Wilkins. In: The Journal of Pediatrics . Volume 63, October 1963, pp. SUPPL803-SUPPL807, ISSN  0022-3476 . PMID 14070486 .
6. ^ Pediatric Endocrine Society - History of the Society. In: pedsendo.org. Retrieved March 17, 2018 . 
7. ^ Lawson Wilkins Professorship of Pediatric Endocrinology - Named Deanships, Directorships, and Professorships. In: professorships.jhu.edu. Retrieved March 17, 2018 .