Pediatrics is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends people be under pediatric care up to the age of 21. A medical doctor who specializes in this area is known as a pediatrician, or paediatrician. The word pediatrics and its cognates mean "healer of children"; they derive from two Greek words: παῖς and ἰατρός. Pediatricians work both in hospitals, particularly those working in its subspecialties such as neonatology, and as primary care physicians.
Theodor Escherich was a German-Austrian pediatrician and a professor at universities in Graz and Vienna. He discovered the bacterium Escherichia coli, which was named after him in 1919, and determined its properties.
Mary Ellen Avery, also known as Mel, was an American pediatrician. In the 1950s, Avery's pioneering research efforts helped lead to the discovery of the main cause of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in premature babies: her identification of surfactant led to the development of replacement therapy for premature infants and has been credited with saving over 830,000 lives. Her childhood, mentors, drive, and education inspired Avery to be the visionary that she was. In 1991 President George H.W. Bush conferred the National Medal of Science on Avery for her work on RDS.
Ola Didrik Saugstad is a Norwegian pediatrician and neonatologist noted for his research on resuscitation of newborn children and his contribution to reduce child mortality. He is Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics at the University of Oslo and was Director of the Department of Pediatric Research at Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet from 1991 to 2017. From 2017 he is a Research Professor at Oslo University Hospital.
Berthold Epstein was a pediatrician, professor, and scientist who was conscripted as a doctor in the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II.
Ralph David Feigin was an American pediatrician whose influential book Textbook of Pediatric Infectious Diseases was in its sixth printing at the time of his death.
Melvin Malcolm Grumbach was an American pediatrician and academic who specialized in pediatric endocrinology. Called Edward B. Shaw Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics, Emeritus at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, Grumbach was noted for his research and writing on the effect of hormones and the central nervous system on growth and puberty and their disorders; the function of the human sex chromosomes; and disorders of sexual development.
Karthik Nagesh is a neonatologist in India. He has been practicing neonatal intensive care since 1992 at the Manipal Hospital in Bangalore. He is currently the Chairman of the Manipal Advanced Children's Center and Chairman of Neonatology and Neonatal ICUs at the Manipal Hospitals Group as well as an Adjunct professor of paediatrics, KMC at Manipal University.
Sverre Olaf Lie is a Norwegian pediatrician. He was head of the Pediatric Research Institute at University of Oslo from 1975 till 1989 and Chairman and Professor at the Department of Pediatrics at the National Hospital of Norway, Rikshospitalet from 1989 till 2006.
Maria Iandolo New is a professor of Pediatrics, Genomics and Genetics at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. She is an expert in congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), a genetic condition affecting the adrenal gland that can affect sexual development.
Dagfinn Aarskog was a Norwegian physician.
Stefan Kutzsche is a Norwegian paediatrician, anaesthesiologist, ethicist, and educationalist in the health professions.
Jochen H.H. Ehrich is a German pediatric doctor in the fields of nephrology and tropical medicine, professor emeritus and Former Head of the Department of Paediatric Kidney, Liver and Metabolic Diseases at the Children’s Hospital, Hannover Medical School, in Hannover, Germany.
Clement Andrew Smith was an American pediatrician and the editor-in-chief of the journal Pediatrics. Though he did not consider himself to be a neonatologist, much of his work concerned the care of the newborn infant. He was associated with Harvard Medical School for several decades and served a term as president of the American Pediatric Society.
Renee Rosalind Jenkins is an African-American pediatrician known for her work in adolescent medicine. She is the first African-American president of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Society of Adolescent Medicine.
Mohammad Rafi Khan was a Bangladeshi pediatrician. In 1994, he was selected the National Professor of Bangladesh. He was awarded Ekushey Padak in 2009 and Independence Day Award in 2016 by the Government of Bangladesh. He was a Fellow of Bangladesh Academy of Sciences since 1975.
Thor Willy Ruud Hansen is a Norwegian pediatrician and neonatologist. He is a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Oslo and a former President of the Norwegian Society of Pediatricians (2009–2011). He is currently chairman of the clinical ethics committee at Oslo University Hospital. His research interests are neonatal medicine, including the neurotoxicology of neonatal jaundice, as well as clinical ethics.
Alf Endre Meberg is a Norwegian pediatrician, mainly known for his work on congenital heart defects. He was Secretary-General of the Nordic Pediatric Society from 1981 and Vice President of the Norwegian Society of Pediatricians 1988–1991. He is a former editor of the Journal of the Norwegian Perinatal Society and a former associate editor of Acta Paediatrica.
Rustin McIntosh was an American pediatrician. From 1930 until 1960, he was the chief of pediatrics at the Babies Hospital of NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital and the Reuben S. Carpentier Professor of Pediatrics at Columbia University. He received the John Howland Award in 1961.
