Stella Van Praagh
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Stella Van Praagh was a pediatric cardiologist and pathologist at
Children's Hospital Boston Boston Children's Hospital formerly known as Children's Hospital Boston until 2012 is a nationally ranked, freestanding acute care children's hospital located in Boston, Massachusetts, adjacent both to its teaching affiliate, Harvard Medical S ...
. She was internationally known for her contributions to the pathology of congenital heart disease.


Early life

Stella Van Praagh was born in
Rethymnon Rethymno ( el, Ρέθυμνο, , also ''Rethimno'', ''Rethymnon'', ''Réthymnon'', and ''Rhíthymnos'') is a city in Greece on the island of Crete. It is the capital of Rethymno regional unit, and has a population of more than 30,000 inhabitants ...
, Crete, Greece. She graduated from the School of Medicine at the
University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; el, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, ''Ethnikó ke Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the Univers ...
in 1952 and undertook further training in pediatric cardiology at
Johns Hopkins Johns Hopkins (May 19, 1795 – December 24, 1873) was an American merchant, investor, and philanthropist. Born on a plantation, he left his home to start a career at the age of 17, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland where he remained for most ...
where she worked with
Helen Taussig Helen Brooke Taussig (May 24, 1898 – May 20, 1986) was an American cardiologist, working in Baltimore and Boston, who founded the field of pediatric cardiology. She is credited with developing the concept for a procedure that would extend the l ...
.


Career

In 1962, she moved to
Children's Hospital of Buffalo John R. Oishei Children's Hospital (OCH), sometimes known as simply Oishei Children's is a women's and children's hospital in Buffalo, New York, that opened on November 10, 2017, and provides pediatric specialties and subspecialties to infants, chi ...
as a pediatric cardiologist and research associate. There, she met Richard Van Praagh, and the two were married shortly afterwards, beginning a lifelong personal and professional partnership. In 1965, both Van Praaghs moved to
Boston Children's Hospital Boston Children's Hospital formerly known as Children's Hospital Boston until 2012 is a nationally ranked, freestanding acute care children's hospital located in Boston, Massachusetts, adjacent both to its teaching affiliate, Harvard Medical Scho ...
where they worked until their retirements in 2002.


Accomplishments

Stella and Richard Van Praagh were world-renowned pediatric cardiologists and pathologists. They proposed a new approach to formalize anatomic descriptions of congenital heart disease, which forms the basis of much of the current standard understanding. Specific examples include
Truncus Arteriosus The truncus arteriosus is a structure that is present during embryonic development. It is an arterial trunk that originates from both ventricles of the heart that later divides into the aorta and the pulmonary trunk. Structure The truncus arterio ...
, sinus venosus
atrial septal defect Atrial septal defect (ASD) is a congenital heart defect in which blood flows between the atria (upper chambers) of the heart. Some flow is a normal condition both pre-birth and immediately post-birth via the foramen ovale; however, when this do ...
, and
heterotaxy Situs ambiguus is a rare congenital defect in which the major visceral organs are distributed abnormally within the chest and abdomen. Clinically heterotaxy spectrum generally refers to any defect of Left-right asymmetry and arrangement of the vis ...
syndrome.


Awards

* Society for Cardiovascular Pathology Distinguished Achievement Award, 1999 *
American Heart Association The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability and death ...
Paul Dudley White Award, 2004


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Praagh, Stella 1927 births 2006 deaths People from Rethymno National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni Pediatric cardiologists