LATINOS IN MEDICINE

 Finlay was born in Cuba on December 3, 1833. His father, Edward, a Scottish-born physician, and his mother, Eliza, a native of France, educated him at home and later enrolled him in school in France. Bouts of childhood illness interrupted his schooling, but he was able to enroll in the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, where he earned his medical degree on March 10, 1855. Eschewing the chance for a lucrative practice in the States, he returned home to Cuba to begin his career.  Finlay spent much of his free time on scientific investigation, including the study of yellow fever. He was appointed to work with the U.S. National Health Board Yellow Fever Commission when it traveled to Cuba in 1879. The commission found that "the agent capable of transmitting the disease must be in the air." That conclusion and microscopic slides of tissue from yellow fever victims led Finlay to focus on the blood vessels and the biting insect that accesses them.     

 Finlay spent the next 20 years trying to prove his hypothesis, conducting 102 experimental inoculations on human volunteers. But his mosquito theory would not gain acceptance until the dawn of the new century.mosquitoes hatched from his eggs to test the hypothesis that the insects transmitted the disease and after a series of experiments, showed that Finlay had been correct. The head of the board, Walter Reed, noted that "it was Finlay's theory, and he deserves much for having suggested it." William Crawford Gorgas, who later spearheaded a public health campaign that protected the Panama Canal project from the disease, said of Finlay: "His reasoning for selecting the Stegomyia [mosquito] as the bearer of yellow fever is the best piece of logical reasoning that can be found in medicine anywhere."  

Finlay discovered that the disease was carried by mosquitos. Finlay experienced a great deal of resistance whenever he presented his ideas. In fact, in his early years, Finlay was only able to get one person on his side, a Cuban physician named Claudio Delgado.

Finlay was subsequently appointed chief sanitary officer of Cuba, a position he held into his 70s until his retirement in 1909. During that period, his work contributed to a reduction in the country's mortality rate of infantile tetanus. After his death on August 20, 1915, his achievements lived on in Cuba, which produced a flattering biography in 1985, requested by Cuban president Fidel Castro, and with the Finlay Medical Society, an organization of medical professionals.

 He was fluent in French, German, Spanish, and English, and could read Latin.

 Finlay was born in Cuba on December 3, 1833. His father, Edward, a Scottish-born physician, and his mother, Eliza, a native of France, educated him at home and later enrolled him in school in France. Bouts of childhood illness interrupted his schooling, but he was able to enroll in the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, where he earned his medical degree on March 10, 1855. Eschewing the chance for a lucrative practice in the States, he returned home to Cuba to begin his career.  Finlay spent much of his free time on scientific investigation, including the study of yellow fever. He was appointed to work with the U.S. National Health Board Yellow Fever Commission when it traveled to Cuba in 1879. The commission found that "the agent capable of transmitting the disease must be in the air." That conclusion and microscopic slides of tissue from yellow fever victims led Finlay to focus on the blood vessels and the biting insect that accesses them.     

 Finlay spent the next 20 years trying to prove his hypothesis, conducting 102 experimental inoculations on human volunteers. But his mosquito theory would not gain acceptance until the dawn of the new century.mosquitoes hatched from his eggs to test the hypothesis that the insects transmitted the disease and after a series of experiments, showed that Finlay had been correct. The head of the board, Walter Reed, noted that "it was Finlay's theory, and he deserves much for having suggested it." William Crawford Gorgas, who later spearheaded a public health campaign that protected the Panama Canal project from the disease, said of Finlay: "His reasoning for selecting the Stegomyia [mosquito] as the bearer of yellow fever is the best piece of logical reasoning that can be found in medicine anywhere."  

Finlay discovered that the disease was carried by mosquitos. Finlay experienced a great deal of resistance whenever he presented his ideas. In fact, in his early years, Finlay was only able to get one person on his side, a Cuban physician named Claudio Delgado.

Finlay was subsequently appointed chief sanitary officer of Cuba, a position he held into his 70s until his retirement in 1909. During that period, his work contributed to a reduction in the country's mortality rate of infantile tetanus. After his death on August 20, 1915, his achievements lived on in Cuba, which produced a flattering biography in 1985, requested by Cuban president Fidel Castro, and with the Finlay Medical Society, an organization of medical professionals.

 He was fluent in French, German, Spanish, and English, and could read Latin.

 Domingo S. Liotta was born in the city of Diamante, Argentina, on November 29, 1924. At the National University of Córdoba, Argentina, he graduated as a medical doctor in July 1949 and he received a doctorate in Medicine and Surgery in 1953. At the University of Córdoba he developed a method for the Early Radiological Diagnosis of the Tumor of the Pancreas and Ampulla of Vater (1954-55), which he later continued extensively at the University of Lyon and extended its clinical application in Europe. In the period 1956-59, Dr. Liotta carried on his General and Thoracic Surgical Residency (Assistant Étranger) in the University of Lyon in France. During the residency he started his work on the Total Artificial Heart (1959). He continued this research at the National University of Córdoba (1960).  From July 1961 Dr. Liotta Dr. Liotta went on his studies in Baylor University, Houston, Texas and entered Dr. Michael E.DeBakey´s Department of Cardiovascular Surgery as an Assistant Professor.  In 1961 Dr. Liotta discovered the Cardiocirculatory Assistance (LVASs) with an incorporated artificial ventricle for the treatment of irreversible heart failure and on July 19 1963, Dr. Liotta and Dr. Crawford performed the first clinical implantation in the history of medicine with an intrathoracic pump at the Methodist Hospital in Houston.

Domingo S. Liotta was born in the city of Diamante, Argentina, on November 29, 1924. At the National University of Córdoba, Argentina, he graduated as a medical doctor in July 1949 and he received a doctorate in Medicine and Surgery in 1953. At the University of Córdoba he developed a method for the Early Radiological Diagnosis of the Tumor of the Pancreas and Ampulla of Vater (1954-55), which he later continued extensively at the University of Lyon and extended its clinical application in Europe. In the period 1956-59, Dr. Liotta carried on his General and Thoracic Surgical Residency (Assistant Étranger) in the University of Lyon in France. During the residency he started his work on the Total Artificial Heart (1959). He continued this research at the National University of Córdoba (1960).  From July 1961 Dr. Liotta Dr. Liotta went on his studies in Baylor University, Houston, Texas and entered Dr. Michael E.DeBakey´s Department of Cardiovascular Surgery as an Assistant Professor.  In 1961 Dr. Liotta discovered the Cardiocirculatory Assistance (LVASs) with an incorporated artificial ventricle for the treatment of irreversible heart failure and on July 19 1963, Dr. Liotta and Dr. Crawford performed the first clinical implantation in the history of medicine with an intrathoracic pump at the Methodist Hospital in Houston. On April 4 1969 Drs. Cooley and Liotta implanted the first Total Artificial Heart with kept the patient alive for 64 hours before he received a heart transplant.Domingo Liotta resumed his work on Total Artificial Heart (TAH) at Baylor University College of Medicine in July 1968. The straightforward objective was to use it in a patient either in irreversible cardiogenic shock postcardiotomy or in irreversible ‘stone heart’. The decisive objective was to prolong a patient’s life by means of a mechanical heart until the implant of a donor human heart could definitively replace the artificial system. The procedure is now called two-staged cardiac transplantation. The historical operation -one of the greatest medical adventures of the XX Century- was performed for the first time in the afternoon of April 4 1969. A dying human being was able to live with the Liotta-Cooley TAH until a donor human heart replaced it. That was a medical hard time, but full of glory and courage. The original clinical prototype of Liotta-Cooley TAH was selected in 2006 to be displayed prominently in the new Smithsonian Treasures of American History. In Dr. Cooley´s opinion, “this establishes it as a worthy part of human history”.

Implanted the First Total Artificial Heart (TAH) at Baylor University in 1968