Lauren Ackerman
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Lauren Vedder Ackerman (March 12, 1905 – July 27, 1993) was an American
physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...
and
pathologist 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 treatme ...
, who championed the subspecialty of surgical pathology in the mid-20th century.


Early life

Ackerman was born in March 1905 in
Auburn, New York Auburn is a city in Cayuga County, New York, United States. Located at the north end of Owasco Lake, one of the Finger Lakes in Central New York, the city had a population of 26,866 at the 2020 census. It is the largest city of Cayuga County, the ...
, to Bertha (née Vedder) and John Ackerman. Both of his parents were college graduates. His father was a civil and mechanical engineer, who later became city manager of Watertown, New York. Despite growing up in a learned family environment, Lauren was an indifferent student with mediocre grades. After high school graduation in 1923 Ackerman began his college studies at St. Lawrence University (
Canton, New York Canton is an incorporated Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The population was 11,638 at the time of the 2020 census. The town contains two Administrative divisions of New York#Villa ...
), later transferring to, and graduating from, Hamilton College ( Clinton, New York) in 1927 with a B.S. degree in engineering. He worked for the next year in that profession, but then decided to pursue a medical career.


Education

Lauren was accepted to the
University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...
School of Medicine (
Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...
), then a new facility. Its faculty provided virtually individual attention to the students, a practice that Ackerman was to adopt himself in the future. After obtaining his M.D. in 1932, he served as an intern and resident in
internal medicine Internal medicine, also known as general medicine in Commonwealth nations, is a medical specialty for medical doctors focused on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases in adults. Its namesake stems from "treatment of diseases of ...
at the University of California-San Francisco (UCSF) under the chairmanship of William Kerr. A year's sabbatical from training was necessary because Ackerman had contracted
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 ...
as a medical student. As a patient in a local sanitarium, he helped to pass the time by assisting at autopsies performed on less fortunate cohorts. After completion of his medicine residency, Lauren pursued specialty training in pathology. He returned to the University of Rochester, where he worked under the direction of George Whipple. After a year, Ackerman moved to
Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
as a resident working principally at the Pondville State Cancer Hospital. He completed his studies there in 1938, and married Elizabeth Fitts the same year.


Career

With no available pathology positions in the offing, Ackerman accepted a position as assistant professor of medicine back at UCSF in 1939. There he was responsible for performing autopsies on patients who had died of pulmonary diseases. In 1940, a job in pathology was offered to Ackerman at the Ellis Fischel Cancer Hospital (EFCH) in
Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in Missouri, United States. It was founded in 1821 as the county seat of Boone County, Missouri, Boone County and had a population of 126,254 as recorded in the 2020 United States census, making it the List of cities in Misso ...
, a state-run center for indigent patients with malignancies. Because of his background in clinical medicine, he also had duties in
electrocardiography Electrocardiography is the process of producing an electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG), a recording of the heart's electrical activity through repeated cardiac cycles. It is an electrogram of the heart which is a graph of voltage versus time of t ...
and
radiotherapy Radiation therapy or radiotherapy (RT, RTx, or XRT) is a treatment using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of cancer therapy to either kill or control the growth of malignant cells. It is normally delivered by a linear particle ...
. After several years of experience there, Ackerman authored his first book, ''Cancer: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prognosis'', with Juan Del Regato, a radiotherapist. A progressively closer professional relationship grew with surgeons at nearby Barnes Hospital and Washington University in St. Louis, several of whom also had appointments at EFCH. In 1948, Ackerman was offered a position at Barnes Hospital as the chief surgical pathologist and associate professor of surgery, under the chairmanship of Evarts Ambrose Graham (it was then a common practice for surgical pathologists to be part of surgery faculties). Ackerman accrued experience in diagnostic surgical pathology over the succeeding several years. In the early 1950s, he decided to apply that knowledge to the formulation of a textbook, which was and published in 1953 with the title ''Surgical Pathology''. Although other texts on the topic did exist—notably one by Dr. William Boyd—Ackerman's monograph focused on differential diagnosis and the clinical significance of morphologic findings. Accordingly, it rapidly drew attention and acclaim from other practicing pathologists. Ackerman wrote peer-reviewed publications about surgical pathological subjects throughout the early and mid-1950s. Consequently, he received and accepted many invitations to present seminars around the world. During those travels, Ackerman was introduced to the best young pathologists that many countries had to offer, and several such individuals were invited to St. Louis to further their training with him. American physicians wishing to become surgical pathologists were also increasingly drawn to Barnes Hospital. A steady stream of Ackerman-trained surgical pathology fellows emerged during the next 20 years, many of whom became renowned practitioners and educators. The Ackerman "method" involved thorough morphologic analysis, correlation of pathologic findings with detailed clinical information, and active consultation with attending physicians to assure optimal patient care. After a 25-year tenure, Ackerman retired as a professor at the Washington University School of Medicine in 1973.


Post-retirement

Ackerman moved back to New York state with his wife, and took an adjunct faculty position at the
State University of New York at Stony Brook Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public university, public research university in Stony Brook, New York, United States, on Long Island. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is on ...
(SUNY-SB). He continued to lecture actively at an international level, but he assigned editorship of his surgical pathology textbook to Juan Rosai, who continued to oversee ''Rosai & Ackerman's Surgical Pathology'' through its 10th edition.


Recognition

Ackerman received the Janeway Medal of the American Radium Society; the Fred W. Stewart Award from
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a oncology, cancer treatment and research institution in Manhattan in New York City. MSKCC is one of 72 National Cancer Institute–NCI-designated Cancer Center, designated Comprehen ...
of New York City; the Gold-Headed Cane Award from the American Association of Pathologists; the Distinguished Service Award from Washington University; the Prix de Paris Award from the Institute Gustave-Roussy in Villejuif, France; and the City of Paris Award from
Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
.


Personal life

Ackerman was a skilled pool player; an avid fisherman and golfer; a lover of art, literature, and classical music; and a connoisseur of fine food and wine. He had three daughters and a son and 13 grandchildren. His first wife, Elizabeth, died of complications of plasmacytic myeloma in 1981. Late in life, Ackerman married Carol Blum, a professor of French and Italian at SUNY-SB.


Death

In mid-1993, Ackerman developed abdominal complaints and was found to have peritoneal carcinomatosis from a colonic cancer. He died on July 27 of that year.''Ibid''.


See also

* Juan Rosai *
Pathology 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 treatme ...
*
List of pathologists A list of people notable in the field of pathology. A * John Abercrombie, Scottish physician, neuropathologist and philosopher. * Maude Abbott (1869–1940), Canadian pathologist, one of the earliest women graduated in medicine, expert in c ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ackerman, Lauren 20th-century American physicians 20th-century American women physicians American pathologists 1905 births 1993 deaths Physicians from New York (state) University of Rochester alumni 20th-century American male writers Washington University School of Medicine faculty Hamilton College (New York) alumni