Evarts Ambrose Graham (1883–1957) was an American

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

, and

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

Early years and military service

Born in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

to a surgeon, Dr. David Wilson Graham, and Ida Ansbach Barned Graham, Evarts attended college at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

( A.B., 1904) and received his M.D. degree from

Rush Medical College Rush Medical College is the medical school of Rush University, located in the Illinois Medical District, about 3 km (2 miles) west of the Loop in Chicago. Offering a full-time Doctor of Medicine program, the school was chartered in 1837, a ...

in 1907. Graham then trained as a surgery resident at Presbyterian Hospital in Chicago, and subsequently as a graduate student in chemistry at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

. There, he met his wife, Helen Tredway, Ph.D. (1890-1971), a biochemist and pharmacologist. Evarts served as a Major (O4) in the

U.S. Army Medical Corps The Medical Corps (MC) of the U.S. Army is a staff corps (non-combat specialty branch) of the U.S. Army Medical Department (AMEDD) consisting of commissioned medical officers – physicians with either an M.D. or a D.O. degree, at least one ...

from 1917 to 1919, and was initially posted to Camp Lee (now Fort Lee, Virginia). He completed revolutionary new work on surgical technique for the treatment of

empyema An empyema () is a collection or gathering of pus within a naturally existing anatomical cavity. For example, pleural empyema is empyema of the pleural cavity. It must be differentiated from an abscess, which is a collection of pus in a newly fo ...

, which had become important following the

influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptom ...

pandemic of 1918. Afterwards, Dr. Graham served in France as commander of U.S. Army Evacuation Hospital 34.

Career at Washington University

Following his discharge from military service, he was recruited to Washington University in St. Louis, MO as the Bixby Professor of Surgery. An expert

thoracic surgeon Cardiothoracic surgery is the field of medicine involved in surgical treatment of organs inside the thoracic cavity — generally treatment of conditions of the heart (heart disease), lungs (lung disease), and other pleural or mediastinal struc ...

, he was best known for collaborating with Drs. Jacob J. Singer, Kenneth Bell, and William Adams on the first successful removal of a lung for the treatment of

bronchogenic carcinoma Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, maligna ...

in 1933. The patient was another physician (an

obstetrician Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgic ...

gynecologist Gynaecology or gynecology (see spelling differences) is the area of medicine that involves the treatment of women's diseases, especially those of the reproductive organs. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, forming the combined ...

from

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

), Dr. James Lee Gilmore. In 1924, together with fellow surgeon

Warren Henry Cole Warren Henry Cole (24 July 1898 – 25 May 1990) was an American surgeon, a pioneer in the field of adjunctive treatments for surgical cancer patients. With Evarts Ambrose Graham he co-developed in 1924 the process of visualizing the gall bladder w ...

, Graham developed the technique of

cholecystography Oral cholecystography is a radiological procedure used to visualize the gallbladder and biliary channels, developed in 1924 by American surgeons Evarts Ambrose Graham Evarts Ambrose Graham (1883–1957) was an American academic, physician, and ...

, the first procedure for imaging the gallbladder and detecting the presence of

cholelithiasis A gallstone is a stone formed within the gallbladder from precipitated bile components. The term cholelithiasis may refer to the presence of gallstones or to any disease caused by gallstones, and choledocholithiasis refers to the presence of mig ...

. Dr. Graham was instrumental in founding the

American Board of Surgery The American Board of Surgery (ABS) is an independent, non-profit organization located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded for the purpose of certifying surgeons who have met a defined standard of education, training and knowledge. Surgeons certi ...

in 1937 and he was active as a medical editor and author. Graham was Editor-in-Chief of the ''Yearbook of Surgery'' & the ''Journal of Thoracic Surgery'', and Co-Editor-in-Chief of ''Annals of Surgery''.''Op cit''., ref. 5 Graham served as the chairman of the department of surgery at

Washington University School of Medicine Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM) is the medical school of Washington University in St. Louis in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1891, the School of Medicine has 1,260 students, 604 of which are pursuing a medical degree with ...

(WUSM) from 1919 to 1951, and the chief of surgery at Barnes Hospital, the teaching medical center of WUSM now known as

Barnes-Jewish Hospital Barnes-Jewish Hospital is the largest hospital in the U.S. state of Missouri. Located in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis, it is the adult teaching hospital for the Washington University School of Medicine and a major component ...

. Graham and Dr.

Ernst Wynder Ernst Ludwig Wynder (April 30, 1922 – July 14, 1999) was an American epidemiology and public health researcher who studied the health effects of smoking tobacco. His and Evarts Ambrose Graham's joint publication of "Tobacco Smoking as a Poss ...

conducted the first systematic research on the carcinogenic effects of cigarette smoking that was done on a large scale, and they published their results in a 1950 paper in the ''

Journal of the American Medical Association ''The Journal of the American Medical Association'' (''JAMA'') is a peer-reviewed medical journal published 48 times a year by the American Medical Association. It publishes original research, reviews, and editorials covering all aspects of b ...

'' (JAMA).

Illness and death

Graham himself had been a long-time cigarette smoker until his own research, known as the

1950 Wynder and Graham Study The 1950 Wynder and Graham Study was conducted by Ernest Wynder and Evarts Graham and was entitled "Tobacco Smoking as a Possible Etiologic Factor in Bronchiogenic Carcinoma: A Study of Six Hundred and Eighty-Four 84Proved Cases". It was publish ...

, supported a link between smoking and disease, and he ironically died from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, mali ...

in 1957. Dr. Graham was survived by his wife and two sons—Evarts A. Graham Jr. (1921-1996)-- an editor, and Dr. David Tredway Graham (1918-1999) – an internist. Dr. Evarts Graham's seminal lung cancer surgery patient in 1933, Dr. Gilmore, also outlived him by six years, dying in 1963 at the age of 78.

Honors and awards

Dr. Graham was elected to the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nat ...

in 1941, and was awarded the

Lister Medal __NOTOC__ The Lister Medal is an award presented by the Royal College of Surgeons of England in recognition of contributions to surgical science. It is named after the English surgeon Joseph Lister (1827-1912), whose work on antiseptics establi ...

in 1942 for his contributions to surgical science. The corresponding Lister Oration, given at the

Royal College of Surgeons of England The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) is an independent professional body and registered charity that promotes and advances standards of surgical care for patients, and regulates surgery and dentistry in England and Wales. T ...

, was not delivered until 1947, and was titled 'Some Aspects of Bronchogenic Carcinoma'. His other awards included the gold medal of the

Radiological Society of North America The Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) is a non-profit organization and an international society of radiologists, medical physicists and other medical imaging professionals representing 31 radiologic subspecialties from 145 countries a ...

; the Leonard Research Prize of the

American Roentgen Ray Society The American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) is the first and oldest radiology society in the United States. It was founded in 1900, in the early days of X-ray and radiation study. Headquartered in Leesburg, Virginia, the society publishes a monthly p ...

; the gold medal of the St. Louis Medical Society; the gold medal of the Southern Medical Society; and presidency of the International Congress of Surgeons in 1953-1954.''Op cit''., ref. 3. Dr. Graham received honorary doctorates from the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,0 ...

Western Reserve University Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

, the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...

, and the

. Named lectureships included the Harvey, Mutter, McArthur, Shattuck, Alvarez, Joyce, Arthur Dean Bevan, Caldwell, Balfour, and Judd Lectures.

References

External links

National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Evarts Ambrose 1883 births 1957 deaths Washington University in St. Louis faculty People from Chicago United States Army Medical Corps officers Deaths from lung cancer Princeton University alumni Military personnel from St. Louis United States Army personnel of World War I Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences