Childhood and Education

Helen Brooke Taussig was born on May 24, 1898, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She was the youngest of four children born to Frank William Taussig and Edith Thomas Guild. Helen Brooke Taussig came from a family of renowned academics and professionals. Her father was a famous professor of “economics at Harvard University. Her mother was the first female biologist to graduate from Radcliffe College. Helen’s paternal grandfather, William Taussig, worked to establish the” William Taussig School in Saint Louis, Missouri, to care for children with visual impairments.

Helen Brooke Taussig began her education at the girls’ school in Cambridge. In 1917, she entered Radcliffe College to continue her studies, following in her mother’s footsteps. After two years, she enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley, where she graduated in 1921. Helen Brooke Taussig wanted to study medicine, but Harvard and Boston University did not allow women to enter medical school, so she could only take courses in anatomy, physiology, and pharmacology. In 1924, she enrolled at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, one of the few universities accepting women for medical courses, and she obtained her Doctor of Medicine degree in 1927. During these years, Helen Brooke Taussig became increasingly interested in cardiology. She devoted most of her time to research and clinical practice.

Career

Helen Brooke Taussig applied for a medical internship at Johns Hopkins University to complete her practical training, but she failed, as it was a competition reserved for only one woman per year. With the medical internship position filled, she managed to secure a pediatric internship. In 1930, she was appointed to the pediatric cardiology department at Johns Hopkins. During her 57-year career in pediatrics, Helen Brooke Taussig was an instructor in pediatrics from 1930 to 1946, associate professor from 1946 to 1959, professor of pediatrics from 1959 to 1963, and professor emeritus from 1963 to 1986.

In her pediatric practice, Dr. Helen Brooke Taussig frequently encountered babies with a certain type of congenital heart defect, with bluish skin due to decreased blood flow to the lungs. This congenital heart defect, called blue baby syndrome, could lead to permanent disability or death, and there was no treatment. Dr. Helen Brooke Taussig’s research work allowed for an in-depth analysis of the pathology of congenital heart defects, revealing the cause of symptoms, how to diagnose them, and how to treat them. Inspired by previous heart surgeries performed by Doctors Robert Gross and John Hubbard, she proposed a creative and bold idea to address congenital cardiovascular malformations causing low blood oxygen levels. Dr. Helen Brooke Taussig shared her thoughts with Dr. Alfred Balock, Chief of Surgery and cardiac surgeon at Johns Hopkins, and persuaded him to help bring her conceptual idea to fruition to treat patients with congenital heart defects. Dr. Balock, with the help of his experienced technician, Vivien Thomas, performed the surgical procedure on animal models for three years before attempting it on a newborn. In 1944, the surgical technique, called “the Blalock-Taussig shunt”, was successfully performed on Eileen Saxon, a 15-month-old child suffering from blue baby syndrome. Following this success, other surgical interventions were performed on infants with this heart defect, allowing them to save their lives. From 1945, Doctors Taussig and Balock reported their results in the Journal of the American Medical Association and gave several worldwide lectures. Since then, this surgical procedure has been commonly used with some modifications to the original technique. In 1947, Dr. Helen Brooke Taussig published a manual titled “Congenital Malformations of the Heart”, which compiled her observations on congenital heart defects.

Among Dr. Helen Brooke Taussig’s other major contributions to the medical world was her study on thalidomide, a drug used to combat morning sickness. Her findings revealed a significant correlation between limb malformations in newborns and the use of thalidomide by pregnant women in Europe. She widely communicated her observations to raise awareness among the public, organizations, and governments. As a result, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, banned the use of thalidomide in the United States, and other government laws were introduced to thoroughly test drugs before bringing them to market.

In 1963, Dr. Helen Brooke Taussig retired at “the age of 65. However, she was granted an honorary position and continued her academic work on cardiac malformations. From 1971 to 1977, she published several articles on the outcomes of patients who had undergone the Blalock-Taussig shunt. Dr. Helen Brooke Taussig died in a car accident at” the age of 79, on May 21, 1986, three days before her birthday.

Distinctions for Her Work

Throughout her career, Dr. Helen Brooke Taussig received international and national awards for her contribution to medicine. She was awarded the French Legion of Honor (1947), the Passano Award (1948), and the Lasker Award (1955). In 1964, she received the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Lyndon B. Johnson. She was also the first woman to be appointed professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine after starting as an instructor.

Challenges and Difficulties Throughout Her Career

Helen Brooke Taussig faced various challenges throughout her life. As a child, she encountered problems with spelling, writing, and reading at school due to her dyslexia. Her father provided educational support to help her cope with her difficulties. In her thirties, Dr. Helen Brooke Taussig suffered from an ear infection that led to severe hearing loss and made it difficult to use her stethoscope to listen to the heart. She creatively overcame this challenge by learning to use her fingertips to feel the rhythm of babies’ heartbeats. At the same time, she developed the ability to read lips, which allowed her to more easily follow lectures or discussions. Although from a highly educated family, Dr. Helen Brooke Taussig encountered obstacles as a medical student. As a young adult woman, she was denied access to the medical schools at Harvard and Boston University. Additionally, the number of medical internships available to women was limited. She was denied promotions at Johns Hopkins. She waited 16 years before being promoted to associate professor. However, with the support of her mentors and colleagues, Dr. Helen Brooke Taussig became a pioneer in pediatric cardiology. Passionate, hardworking, and eager to save lives, Dr. Helen Brooke Taussig succeeded in accomplishing incredible feats and breaking barriers for future generations.

References

J. Van Robay et al.; Facts Views Vis Obyn; Helen B. Taussig (1898-1986)

Patricia Meisol; Cardiology; Helen B. Taussig, MD (1898-1986)

Richard D. Mainwaring and Stephanie Mainwaring; Cardiology in the Young; The Retirement Years of Doctor Helen B. Taussig: An Intersection of Art and Medicine

Jody Bart; Purdue University Press Book; Women Succeeding in the Sciences: Theories and Practices Across Disciplines

Zillia, N. Evans; Cardiology in the Youth; The Blalock-Taussig Shunt: The Social History of an Eponym

Written by Akila. R and edited by Alizée M