Armand James Quick (1894 – January 26, 1978) was an American

haematologist Hematology ( spelled haematology in British English) is the branch of medicine concerned with the study of the cause, prognosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases related to blood. It involves treating diseases that affect the production ...

and expert on

blood clotting Coagulation, also known as clotting, is the process by which blood changes from a liquid to a gel, forming a thrombus, blood clot. It results in hemostasis, the cessation of blood loss from a damaged vessel, followed by repair. The process of co ...

, having developed the original

prothrombin time The prothrombin time (PT) – along with its derived measures of prothrombin ratio (PR) and international normalized ratio (INR) – is an assay for evaluating the Coagulation#Extrinsic pathway, extrinsic pathway and Coagulation#Common pathway, ...

test.

Early life and education

Quick was born in

Theresa, Wisconsin Theresa is a village in Dodge County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,255 at the 2020 census. The village is surrounded by the Town of Theresa. History Theresa was founded by Solomon Juneau along with his Metis wife, Josett ...

in 1894, the son of a hardware merchant and housewife. At the age of five, Quick developed

Pott disease Pott's disease, or Pott disease, named for British surgeon Percivall Pott who first described the symptoms in 1799, is tuberculosis of the vertebral column, spine, usually due to haematogenous spread from other sites, often the lungs. The lowe ...

: his father soon died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

and his mother opened a dressmaking shop in the home while she taught her son. Quick graduated from the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

in 1918, receiving a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

in 1922 and an

M.D. A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of physician. This ge ...

from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

in 1928.

Medical career

Quick began researching at Cornell and Fifth Avenue Hospital in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. While at the hospital, he developed the

test (also known as the Quick test), which is used in the regulation of blood-thinning drugs. He also developed the prothrombin consumption time test, which became useful in diagnosing

haemophilia Haemophilia (British English), or hemophilia (American English) (), is a mostly inherited genetic disorder that impairs the body's ability to make blood clots, a process needed to stop bleeding. This results in people bleeding for a long ...

. He later moved to

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

and joined the faculty of

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It was established as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, by John Henni, the first Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Ar ...

(now the Medical College of Wisconsin), where he served as associate professor of

pharmacology Pharmacology is the science of drugs and medications, including a substance's origin, composition, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, therapeutic use, and toxicology. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur betwee ...

from 1935. He was chair of the Department of Biochemistry from 1944 until 1964. In 1944, Quick received the

American Medical Association The American Medical Association (AMA) is an American professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. This medical association was founded in 1847 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was 271,660 ...

's gold medal. In 1950, the Wisconsin State Medical Society awarded him the Council Award for his "attainments in the science and art of medicine and surgery". He received the Modern Medicine Award in 1954.

Personal life

Quick was married to Margaret Koll, and they had a daughter named Edith. He died on January 26, 1978, at the age of 83.

Legacy

The Medical College of Wisconsin named an award after Quick, which is "given to honor the senior students who, in the opinion of the faculty of the Department of Biochemistry, have demonstrated outstanding scholarship in Biochemistry and research with a dedication to future medical research". Helen Payling Wright described Quick as "distinguished" in a review of his 1957 book ''Haemorrhagic Diseases''. In a review of his 1970 book ''Bleeding Problems in Clinical Medicine'', M. C. G. Israels wrote that "no one has done more to develop the scientific analysis of clinical problems involving excessive bleeding than Professor Quick".

Selected works

Books

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quick, Armand J. 1894 births 1978 deaths American hematologists University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni Cornell University alumni Medical College of Wisconsin faculty