Judith Ann Pachciarz (born 1941) is an American pathologist. She is the first deaf woman in the United States to obtain an M.D. and a Ph.D. [1]
Raised in Danville, Illinois, Pachciarz lost her hearing at the age of two, due to encephalomeningitis, an inflammation of the brain which caused extensive nerve damage. [2] From an early age she wanted to become a physician. She attended Schlarman High School and was named an Illinois State Scholar. [2] After graduating from high school, she went on to earn a Master of Science degree at the University of Illinois in 1965 and a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology at St. Louis University in 1971. As a scientist, she conducted academic research at the University of Minnesota and the University of Florida. From 1974 to 1979 she taught veterinary science at the University of Kentucky and worked with horses. [3]
However, her deafness long proved a bar to her medical ambitions. It was not until 1979, that she was finally accepted by a medical school, the University of Louisville School of Medicine. [1] [3]
Following her graduation from medical school in 1983, Dr. Pachciarz completed a five year residency in pathology at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in West Los Angeles, serving as chief resident in pathology for the final year. [2] In 1985 Dr. Pachciarz served as medical director for the World Games for the Deaf in Los Angeles, supervising a staff of 200 caring for 2,100 athletes from 32 nations. [3]
Dr. Pachciarz then completed a fellowship in transfusion medicine and blood banking, and became board certified in anatomic and clinical pathology, and in transfusion medicine. [3] She practiced as a pathologist and director of the blood transfusion service for Los Angeles County hospitals at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles. [3] [2] Dr. Pachciarz retired in 2007. [2]
Known to friends and family as "Dr. Judy", she has had a lifelong love of sports, participating in basketball and softball in her early years. She ran the 1978 New York City Marathon, and continues to bicycle and compete in senior women's golf tournaments. [2] Dr. Judy loves dogs and is partial to greyhounds, because "they depend on their sight". [2]
Dr. Pachciarz has distinguished herself in many ways during her lifetime as a scientist, practicing physician, mentor, and athlete. Many deaf persons who are now in medical school or are practicing physicians have cited her as an inspiration. [4]
Pathology is the study of disease. The word pathology also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in the context of modern medical treatment, the term is often used in a narrower fashion to refer to processes and tests that fall within the contemporary medical field of "general pathology", an area that includes a number of distinct but inter-related medical specialties that diagnose disease, mostly through analysis of tissue and human cell samples. Idiomatically, "a pathology" may also refer to the predicted or actual progression of particular diseases. The suffix pathy is sometimes used to indicate a state of disease in cases of both physical ailment and psychological conditions. A physician practicing pathology is called a pathologist.
Anatomical pathology (Commonwealth) or anatomic pathology (U.S.) is a medical specialty that is concerned with the diagnosis of disease based on the macroscopic, microscopic, biochemical, immunologic and molecular examination of organs and tissues. Over the 20th century, surgical pathology has evolved tremendously: from historical examination of whole bodies (autopsy) to a more modernized practice, centered on the diagnosis and prognosis of cancer to guide treatment decision-making in oncology. Its modern founder was the Italian scientist Giovanni Battista Morgagni from Forlì.
Forensic pathology is pathology that focuses on determining the cause of death by examining a corpse. A post mortem examination is performed by a medical examiner or forensic pathologist, usually during the investigation of criminal law cases and civil law cases in some jurisdictions. Coroners and medical examiners are also frequently asked to confirm the identity of remains.
Transfusion medicine is the branch of medicine that encompasses all aspects of the transfusion of blood and blood components including aspects related to hemovigilance. It includes issues of blood donation, immunohematology and other laboratory testing for transfusion-transmitted diseases, management and monitoring of clinical transfusion practices, patient blood management, therapeutic apheresis, stem cell collections, cellular therapy, and coagulation. Laboratory management and understanding of state and federal regulations related to blood products are also a large part of the field.
Charles Richard Drew was an American surgeon and medical researcher. He researched in the field of blood transfusions, developing improved techniques for blood storage, and applied his expert knowledge to developing large-scale blood banks early in World War II. This allowed medics to save thousands of Allied forces' lives during the war. As the most prominent African American in the field, Drew protested against the practice of racial segregation in the donation of blood, as it lacked scientific foundation, and resigned his position with the American Red Cross, which maintained the policy until 1950.
Clinical pathology is a medical specialty that is concerned with the diagnosis of disease based on the laboratory analysis of bodily fluids, such as blood, urine, and tissue homogenates or extracts using the tools of chemistry, microbiology, hematology, molecular pathology, and Immunohaematology. This specialty requires a medical residency.
A medical laboratory or clinical laboratory is a laboratory where tests are conducted out on clinical specimens to obtain information about the health of a patient to aid in diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease. Clinical medical laboratories are an example of applied science, as opposed to research laboratories that focus on basic science, such as found in some academic institutions.
Judith Ethel Graham Pool was an American scientist. She is best known for the discovery of cryoprecipitation, a process for creating concentrated blood clotting factors which significantly improved the quality of life for hemophiliacs around the world.
Dame Janet Maria Vaughan, Mrs Gourlay, was a British physiologist, academic, and academic administrator. She researched haematology and radiation pathology. From 1945 to 1967, she served as Principal of Somerville College, Oxford.
Dame Barbara Evelyn Clayton was an English pathologist who made a significant contribution to clinical medicine, medical research and public service. She was latterly Professor of Clinical Pathology at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London.
Robert S. Stone was an American physician. He served as the Director of The National Institutes of Health from May 29, 1973, to January 31, 1975. Stone also served as the vice president for health services and dean of the school of medicine at the University of New Mexico, dean of the School of Medicine of the University of Oregon Health Sciences Center and vice president of the Health Sciences Center, and dean of the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine.
Judith Gedney Tobin is an American medical examiner.
Lucy Meredith Bryce was an Australian haematologist and medical researcher, who worked with the Australian Red Cross Society to establish the first blood transfusion service in Australia.
Edith Louise Potter was an American physician and scientist who established the field of perinatal pathology. Potter made early contributions to the understanding of Rh disease. She established the link between a characteristic facial appearance and the absence of fetal kidneys, an association that became known as Potter sequence.
Judith Ann Whitworth is an Australian medical researcher in the areas of kidney function and blood pressure. Now an emeritus professor, she is the former director of the John Curtin School of Medical Research and Howard Florey Professor of Medical Research at the Australian National University (ANU).
Judy Melinek is an American forensic pathologist and writer. She is a pathologist at the Wellington District Health Board and Chief Executive Officer of PathologyExpert Inc.
Ludvig Hektoen was an American pathologist known for his work in the fields of pathology, microbiology and immunology. Hektoen was appointed to the National Academy of Sciences in 1918, and served as president of many professional societies, including the American Association of Immunologists in 1927 and the American Society for Microbiology in 1929. He was the founding editor of the Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in 1926 and edited several other medical journals. He was knighted to the Order of St. Olav in 1929, and in 1933, he became professor emeritus of pathology at the University of Chicago. The Hektoen Institute for Medical Research—formerly the John McCormick Institute of Infectious Diseases—now bears his name.
Dana Devine is a blood transfusion researcher and the president of AABB. She was the editor-in-chief of Vox Sanguinis from 2012 to 2020. Devine is also the Chief Scientist at Canadian Blood Services and the director of the Centre for Blood Research at the University of British Columbia. In 2015, she was elected as a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. In 2022, she was elected as the President of the Biomedical Excellence for Safer Transfusion Collaborative.
Carey-Ann Burnham is a clinical microbiologist, and a professor of Pathology and Immunology, Molecular Microbiology, Pediatrics and Medicine in Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. She is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology.
Andrea Lynn Richardson is an American pathologist and physician-scientist specialized in the molecular pathology of breast cancer. She is the Peter and Judy Kovler Professor in Breast Cancer Research and an associate professor of pathology and oncology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Richardson runs a clinic at the Sibley Memorial Hospital.