Selna Lucille Kaplan (April 8, 1927 – July 21, 2010) was an American pediatric endocrinologist and a professor of pediatrics at the

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedic ...

. She led the first American clinical trials of

growth hormone treatment Growth hormone therapy refers to the use of growth hormone (GH) as a prescription medication—it is one form of hormone therapy. Growth hormone is a peptide hormone secreted by the pituitary gland that stimulates growth and cell reproduction. ...

Early life

Kaplan was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York City, on April 8, 1927. Her parents were first cousins from Lithuania who migrated to the United States as teenagers; she had one younger sister who died from

erysipelas Erysipelas () is a relatively common bacterial infection of the superficial layer of the skin ( upper dermis), extending to the superficial lymphatic vessels within the skin, characterized by a raised, well-defined, tender, bright- red rash, ...

when Selna was four years old. She attended

Midwood High School Midwood High School is a high school located at 2839 Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn, New York City, administered by the New York City Department of Education. It has an enrollment of 3,938 students. Its H-shaped building, with six Ionic order, Ioni ...

, where she excelled in biology. She continued to study biology at

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls nearly 14,000 students on a campus in the Midwood and Flatbush sections of Brooklyn as of fall ...

, graduating in 1948. She did not favor her chances of being admitted to medical school because she was female, Jewish, and from a city college, and so she applied to graduate school at

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

to study anatomy. She completed a Master's degree and finished her PhD, with a thesis on

vitamin E Vitamin E is a group of eight compounds related in molecular structure that includes four tocopherols and four tocotrienols. The tocopherols function as fat-soluble antioxidants which may help protect cell membranes from reactive oxygen speci ...

abnormalities in pregnant rats, in 1953. She then transferred to the

Washington University School of Medicine Washington University School of Medicine (WashU Medicine) is the medical school of Washington University in St. Louis, located in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1891, the School of Medicine shares a ca ...

, and received an MD in 1955.

Career

After graduating from medical school, Kaplan returned to New York City, where she completed an internship at

Bellevue Hospital Bellevue Hospital (officially NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and formerly known as Bellevue Hospital Center) is a hospital in New York City and the oldest public hospital in the United States. One of the largest hospitals in the United States ...

and a residency in pediatrics at Kings County Hospital. Upon completion of her pediatric training in 1958, she began a postdoctoral fellowship with Melvin M. Grumbach in pediatric endocrinology at

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 1966, Kaplan followed Grumbach to

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, where Grumbach had been appointed the chair of pediatrics at the

(UCSF). Kaplan later became a professor of pediatrics at UCSF, a position that she held for almost 40 years, and was given emeritus status in 2000. During her career at UCSF, Kaplan authored more than 200 publications. She specialized in children's growth disorders, and when artificial

growth hormone Growth hormone (GH) or somatotropin, also known as human growth hormone (hGH or HGH) in its human form, is a peptide hormone that stimulates growth, cell reproduction, and cell regeneration in humans and other animals. It is thus important in ...

was first engineered in the 1980s, she served as the principal investigator in the first clinical trials of

in the United States. Her report on the success of these initial trials was published in ''

The Lancet ''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal, founded in England in 1823. It is one of the world's highest-impact academic journals and also one of the oldest medical journals still in publication. The journal publishes ...

'' in 1986. Together, Kaplan and Grumbach developed numerous biochemical tests to measure hormone levels in children, babies, and fetuses. The

Endocrine Society The Endocrine Society is a professional, international medical organization in the field of endocrinology and metabolism, founded in 1916 as The Association for the Study of Internal Secretions. The official name of the organization was changed t ...

awarded Kaplan the Ayerst Award for Distinguished Service in 1987 and the Fred Conrad Koch Award, its highest honor, shared with Grumbach, in 1992.

Death

Kaplan died in San Francisco on July 21, 2010, after a long period of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaplan, Selna 1927 births 2010 deaths American pediatric endocrinologists American women endocrinologists American medical researchers American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Brooklyn College alumni Physicians from Brooklyn Physicians from New York (state) UCSF School of Medicine faculty Washington University School of Medicine alumni American women pediatricians Scientists from New York (state) Washington University in St. Louis alumni