
Lissy Jarvik (née Feingold; March 17, 1924 – October 1, 2021) was a Dutch-born American geriatric psychiatrist. The
National Library of Medicine
The United States National Library of Medicine (NLM), operated by the United States federal government, is the world's largest medical library.
Located in Bethesda, Maryland, the NLM is an institute within the National Institutes of Health. I ...
featured her in their interactive "Changing the Face of Medicine" exhibit, describing her as "a pioneer in the field of neuropsychogeriatrics."
Early life and education
Jarvik was born Lissy Feingold in
the Hague
The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
, Netherlands on March 17, 1924.
Her family was Jewish.
In 1940, she and her family received a
travel visa
A visa (; also known as visa stamp) is a conditional authorization granted by a polity to a foreigner that allows them to enter, remain within, or leave its territory. Visas typically include limits on the duration of the foreigner's stay, area ...
from
Aristides de Sousa Mendes
Aristides de Sousa Mendes do Amaral e Abranches (; July 19, 1885 – April 3, 1954) was a Portuguese diplomat who is recognized in Portugal as a national hero for his actions during World War II. As the Portuguese consul-general in the French ...
, which they used to flee the Netherlands for the United States.
In 1946, she graduated ''
cum laude
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...
'' from
Hunter College
Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...
. She went on to earn her master's degree and Ph.D. in psychology from
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
in 1947 and 1950, respectively. While studying for her doctorate at Columbia, she began working on a
twin study
Twin studies are studies conducted on identical or fraternal twins. They aim to reveal the importance of environmental and genetic influences for traits, phenotypes, and disorders. Twin research is considered a key tool in behavioral genetics ...
with her mentor,
Franz Josef Kallmann
Franz Josef Kallmann, MD (July 24, 1897 – May 12, 1965), a German-born American psychiatrist, was one of the pioneers in the study of the genetic basis of psychiatric disorders. He developed the use of Twin study, twin studies in the assessm ...
, with whom she traveled around
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
to catalog medical and psychological data on twins. In 1954, she received her M.D. from
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine (CWRU SOM, CaseMed) is the medical school of Case Western Reserve University, a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. It is the largest biomedical research center in Ohio, and is primar ...
.
Academic career
After receiving her medical degree, Jarvik began working at both the psychiatry department at Columbia University and the
New York State Psychiatric Institute
The New York State Psychiatric Institute, located at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, was established in 1895 as one of the first institutions in the United States ...
. She became a professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...
(UCLA) in 1972, remaining on the faculty as an emeritus professor there until her death. While at UCLA, she founded the first in-patient
psychogeriatrics unit at the hospital there, as well as the first
behavioral science
Behavioural science is the branch of science concerned with Human behavior, human behaviour.Hallsworth, M. (2023). A manifesto for applying behavioural science. ''Nature Human Behaviour'', ''7''(3), 310-322. While the term can technically be ap ...
course for students in their first year of medical training. She also founded the first inpatient psychogeriatrics unit in the
Department of Veterans Affairs
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing lifelong healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers an ...
during this time.
In the early 1980s, she started a geriatric psychiatry fellowship, in which fellows would be trained at the Los Angeles Jewish Home for the Aging. In 1987, she was a founding co-editor-in-chief of the medical journal ''
Alzheimer Disease & Associated Disorders''.
Also in 1987, she was named a Distinguished Physician in the Department of Veterans Affairs, a position she held until 1993.
She was a fellow of the
Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences
The Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) is an interdisciplinary research institution at Stanford University designed to advance the frontiers of knowledge about human behavior and society, and contribute to the resoluti ...
at
Stanford University
Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
in 1988–89. In 1993, she was named the first recipient of the
William C. Menninger Memorial Award from the
American College of Physicians
The American College of Physicians (ACP) is a Philadelphia-based national organization of internal medicine physicians, who specialize in the diagnosis, treatment, and care of adults. With 161,000 members, ACP is the largest medical-specialty or ...
.
In 2015, she and
Bruce D. Walker were jointly awarded the Distinguished Alumni/ae Award from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.
Personal life
Jarvik (then Feingold) married
Murray Jarvik in 1954; they had two children together, Laurence and Jeffrey.
She was a heavy smoker; in contrast, he never smoked and instead co-invented the
nicotine patch
A nicotine patch is a transdermal patch that releases nicotine into the body through the skin. It is used in nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), a process for smoking cessation. Endorsed and approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, it ...
. They remained married until his death in 2008.
Jarvik was the first president and co-founder of the Sousa Mendes Foundation which honors the memory of Portuguese Consul
Aristides de Sousa Mendes
Aristides de Sousa Mendes do Amaral e Abranches (; July 19, 1885 – April 3, 1954) was a Portuguese diplomat who is recognized in Portugal as a national hero for his actions during World War II. As the Portuguese consul-general in the French ...
, who saved thousands of refugees from Hitler during World War II.
She died in
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
, on October 1, 2021, at the age of 97.
Lissy F. Jarvik M.D. Ph.D. obituary
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jarvik, Lissy Feingold
1924 births
2021 deaths
Dutch emigrants to the United States
American women psychiatrists
American psychiatrists
Physicians from The Hague
Hunter College alumni
Columbia University alumni
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine alumni
Columbia University faculty
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA faculty
American geriatricians
Women geriatricians
United States Department of Veterans Affairs officials
Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences fellows
American women academics
21st-century American women