The James J. Peters VA Medical Center (also known as the Bronx Veterans Hospital) is a

US Department of Veterans Affairs The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet of the United States, Cabinet-level United States federal executive departments, executive branch department of the Federal government of the United States, federal government c ...

hospital complex located at 130 West Kingsbridge Road in West

Fordham Fordham may refer to: Education * Fordham Preparatory School, an all-male, Jesuit high school in New York City * Fordham University, a Jesuit university in New York City ** Fordham Rams, athletic teams of the above university ** Fordham University ...

Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

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 ...

. The hospital is the headquarters of the Veterans Integrated Service Networks New York/New Jersey VA Health Care Network. This network is also the parent network to

VA New York Harbor Healthcare System The VA New York Harbor Healthcare System is a set of hospitals run by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs in the New York City area. It comprises three medical centers, two community outpatient clinics, and three veterans centers. Th ...

. The campus falls under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs Police and the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General.

History

During the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, the site of the medical center was the location of British '"Fort Number 6" (1777–1779). During the 19th century, the land was part of the estate of

Nathaniel Platt Bailey Nathaniel Platt Bailey (June 7, 1809 – October 12, 1891) was an American merchant and philanthropist. Early life Bailey was born on June 7, 1809, at Chateangay near Plattsburgh, New York. He was the son of William Bailey (1763–1840) and hi ...

. The site then became the property of the

Sisters of Charity of New York The Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul of New York, most often known as the Sisters of Charity of New York, is a religious congregation of sisters in the Catholic Church whose primary missions are education and nursing and who are dedicate ...

who turned it into the Bronx Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum. The hospital opened as United States Veterans' Hospital no. 81 on April 15, 1922. By the 1970s, the original hospital had deteriorated to the point that a

Life magazine ''Life'' (stylized as ''LIFE'') is an American magazine launched in 1883 as a weekly publication. In 1972, it transitioned to publishing "special" issues before running as a monthly from 1978 to 2000. Since then, ''Life'' has irregularly publi ...

article was written about it. One of the hospital's patients during this time period was

Ron Kovic Ronald Lawrence Kovic (born July 4, 1946) is an American anti-war activist, author, and United States Marine Corps sergeant who was wounded and paralyzed in the Vietnam War. His best selling 1976 memoir '' Born on the Fourth of July'' was made i ...

, who described the hospital as having "deplorable conditions". The hospital was eventually rebuilt in the late 1970s. In 2002, the Bronx Veterans hospital was renamed after James J. Peters. Peters, a US Army veteran and patient at the Bronx Veterans Hospital, founded several organizations to address the needs of patients with

spinal cord injuries A spinal cord injury (SCI) is damage to the spinal cord that causes temporary or permanent changes in its function. It is a destructive neurological and pathological state that causes major motor, sensory and autonomic dysfunctions. Symptoms of ...

, including the

United Spinal Association United Spinal Association is a nonprofit membership, disability rights and veterans service organization in the United States. It was formed in 1946 as Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association by a group of paralyzed World War II veterans from New ...

(originally known as the Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association).

Research

The hospital has been a center of medical research for decades.

Ludwik Gross Ludwik Gross (September 11, 1904 – July 19, 1999) was a Polish-American virologist who discovered two different tumor viruses—murine leukemia virus and mouse polyomavirus—capable of causing cancers in laboratory mice. Biography Gross wa ...

, who became the director of the Cancer Research Division, started his research at the hospital in 1944. Beginning in the 1950s,

Rosalyn Sussman Yalow Rosalyn Sussman Yalow (July 19, 1921 – May 30, 2011) was an American medical physicist, and a co-winner of the 1977 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (together with Roger Guillemin and Andrew Schally) for development of the radioimmunoass ...

and

Solomon Berson Solomon Aaron Berson (April 22, 1918 – April 11, 1972) was an American physician and scientist whose discoveries, mostly together with Rosalyn Yalow, caused major advances in clinical biochemistry.Rall JE. ''Solomon A. Berson''. In "Biographic ...

conducted research into

radioimmunoassay A radioimmunoassay (RIA) is an immunoassay that uses radioactive tracer, radiolabeled molecules in a stepwise formation of immune complexes. A RIA is a very sensitive in vitro assay technique used to measure concentrations of substances, usually m ...

. The research culminated in Yalow receiving the 1977

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine () is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, acco ...

. Her collaborator, Berson, who died in 1972, was not eligible for the prize (Nobel prizes are not awarded posthumously). In 1966, James Cimino and Michael J. Brescia developed the Cimino-Brescia fistula. In 1985, a building dedicated to

medical research Medical research (or biomedical research), also known as health research, refers to the process of using scientific methods with the aim to produce knowledge about human diseases, the prevention and treatment of illness, and the promotion of ...

was constructed and connected to the main building. The research building contains the Spinal Cord Damage Research Center, established due to the efforts of the Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association (now

) and its director James J. Peters.

Personnel

Sterling and Yalow receiving Middleton Award 1973

–

Nobel laureate The Nobel Prizes (, ) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make outstanding contributions in th ...

. Collaborated with Solomon Berson to develop

. *

– Collaborated with Rosalyn Sussman Yalow to develop radioimmunoassay. *

Nicholas J. Cifarelli Nicholas John Cifarelli, M.D. (August 22, 1928 – December 25, 2005) was an Italian-American physician. He is known for starting the first bioethics advisory committee in the United States. Early life Cifarelli was born in Queens, New York ...

–

Nephrology Nephrology is a specialty for both adult internal medicine and pediatric medicine that concerns the study of the kidneys, specifically normal kidney function (renal physiology) and kidney disease (renal pathophysiology), the preservation of kid ...

. Later pioneered the first

Bioethics Bioethics is both a field of study and professional practice, interested in ethical issues related to health (primarily focused on the human, but also increasingly includes animal ethics), including those emerging from advances in biology, me ...

Advisory Committee in the United States. * James Cimino – Developed the Cimino-Brescia fistula with Michael J. Brescia. *

Paul R. Cunningham Paul Raymond Goldwyn Cunningham (born 1949) is a Jamaican American surgeon and medical educator known for pioneering as one of the few African American medical Deans existing in the United States. Their number becomes even smaller when only cons ...

- Surgeon. Later dean of

Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University The Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University (BSOM) is a Public university, public medical school located in Greenville, North Carolina, Greenville, North Carolina, United States. It offers a Doctor of Medicine program, combined Doctor ...

. * Shimon Glick - Worked in the laboratory of Berson and Yalow. Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at

Ben Gurion University Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) (, ''Universitat Ben-Guriyon baNegev'') is a public research university in Beersheba, Israel. Named after Israeli national founder David Ben-Gurion, the university was founded in 1969 and currently has f ...

. *

– Director of the Cancer Research Division. Isolated

murine polyomavirus Murine polyomavirus (also known as mouse polyomavirus, ''Polyomavirus muris'', or ''Mus musculus'' polyomavirus 1, and in older literature as SE polyoma or parotid tumor virus; abbreviated MPyV) is an unenveloped double-stranded DNA virus of the ...

. *

Victor Herbert Victor August Herbert (February 1, 1859 – May 26, 1924) was an American composer, Cello, cellist and conducting, conductor of English and Irish ancestry and German training. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and co ...

–

Hematologist 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 ...

. Worked in the Nutrition Research Laboratory. Known for

folate Folate, also known as vitamin B9 and folacin, is one of the B vitamins. Manufactured folic acid, which is converted into folate by the body, is used as a dietary supplement and in food fortification as it is more stable during processing and ...

and

megaloblastic anemia Megaloblastic anemia is a type of macrocytic anemia. An anemia is a red blood cell defect that can lead to an undersupply of oxygen. Megaloblastic anemia results from inhibition of DNA replication, DNA synthesis during red blood cell production. ...

research. * David B. Levine –

Orthopaedic surgeon Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternative spelling orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

. Various positions at the

Hospital for Special Surgery Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) is an academic medical center and research institution headquartered in New York City that specializes in the treatment of orthopedic and rheumatologic conditions. Its main campus is located at 535 East 70th S ...

. *

Charles S. Lieber Charles Saul Lieber (February 13, 1931 – March 1, 2009) was a Belgian-American clinical nutritionist who established that excess alcohol consumption can cause cirrhosis of the liver even in subjects who have an adequate diet, contradicting th ...

– Clinical

nutritionist A nutritionist is a person who advises others on matters of food and Human nutrition, nutrition and their impacts on health. Some people specialize in particular areas, such as sports nutrition, public health, or animal nutrition, among other disci ...

. Known for research into excess alcohol consumption and

cirrhosis Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, chronic liver failure or chronic hepatic failure and end-stage liver disease, is a chronic condition of the liver in which the normal functioning tissue, or parenchyma, is replaced ...

of the

liver The liver is a major metabolic organ (anatomy), organ exclusively found in vertebrates, which performs many essential biological Function (biology), functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of var ...

. * Giulio Maria Pasinetti – Director of the Translational Neuroscience Laboratories. Known for

neurology Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix wikt:-logia, -logia, "study of") is the branch of specialty (medicine) , medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous syst ...

at the

Icahn School of Medicine The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS or Mount Sinai), formerly the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, is a private medical school in New York City, New York, United States. The school is the academic teaching arm of the Mount Sinai H ...

. *

Jesse Roth Jesse Roth (born August 5, 1934) is an American physician and endocrinologist, currently at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research. He received his BA in 1955 from Columbia University, his MD in 1959 from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. ...

–

Insulin Insulin (, from Latin ''insula'', 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the insulin (''INS)'' gene. It is the main Anabolism, anabolic hormone of the body. It regulates the metabol ...

researcher. *

Kenneth Sterling Kenneth J. Sterling (July 29, 1920 – January 12, 1995) was a medical doctor and prominent researcher on the topic of Thyroid hormones, thyroid hormone and human metabolism. He made significant discoveries on thyroid hormone activation and treat ...

– Director of the protein research laboratory. Later made significant discoveries on thyroid hormone activation. * Larry J. Siever –

Psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

known for his contributions to the study of

personality disorder Personality disorders (PD) are a class of mental health conditions characterized by enduring maladaptive patterns of behavior, cognition, and inner experience, exhibited across many contexts and deviating from those accepted by the culture. ...

Deaths of notable people

Eric Burroughs Eric Burroughs (November 6, 1911 – November 12, 1992) was an American stage and radio actor whose career spanned the 1930s to the early 1960s. He appeared in Orson Welles's all-Black Federal Theatre Project production of ''Macbeth''. Burroughs ...

– American stage and radio actor. *

Isaac Woodard Isaac Woodard Jr. (March 18, 1919 – September 23, 1992) was an American soldier and victim of racial violence. An African-American World War II veteran, on February 12, 1946, hours after being honorably discharged from the United States Army ...

– African-American World War II veteran and victim of racial violence. *

Timothy Wright Timothy Wright (June 17, 1947 – April 24, 2009), generally credited as Rev. Timothy Wright or Reverend Timothy Wright on recordings, was an American gospel singer and pastor. Biography Timothy Wright started on piano at age 12, and sang and ...

–

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

-nominated gospel singer and pastor. Peters VA hosp chapel jeh

References

External links