CHPA is pleased to recognize and celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month. We will feature five Hispanic pioneers throughout the month who have changed the course of medicine.
CHPA Celebrates National Hispanic Heritage Month: Honoring Carlos Juan Finlay, MD (1833-1915)
We are pleased to spotlight Carlos Juan Finlay, MD, a Cuban epidemiologist who is recognized as a pioneer in the research of yellow fever, determining that the disease was spread through mosquitoes. Finlay was born Juan Carlos in Puerto Príncipe (now Camagüey), Cuba. After completing grade school in France, Finlay enrolled at and graduated from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia.
After graduating, he returned to Havana to establish an ophthalmology practice in 1857. In 1881, he was the first to theorize that a mosquito was a carrier of yellow fever. He theorized that a mosquito that bites a person sick with yellow fever and then bites a healthy person can transmit yellow fever to a healthy person. He presented his theory at the 1881 International Sanitary Conference, which was well received. He was followed by the recommendation to control the mosquito population to control the spread of the disease.
As a result of his work, Finlay was nominated seven times for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, although he never won. He received the National Order of the Legion of Honour of France in 1908.
Join us in celebrating the life and work of Carlos Juan Finlay, MD!
Honoring Ildaura Murillo-Rohde, PhD, RN (1920-2010)
We are pleased to spotlight Ildaura Murillo-Rohde, PhD, RN, a Panamanian nurse, professor, and founder of the National Association of Hispanic Nurses. Murillo-Rohde was born in Panama and moved to the United States at 25 years old. She completed a nursing program at the Medical and Surgical Hospital School of Nursing in 1948 and became the first Hispanic nurse awarded a PhD from New York University in 1971.
Murillo-Rohde became an associate dean at the University of Washington and was the first Hispanic nursing dean at NYU. Murillo-Rohde founded the National Association of Spanish-Speaking Spanish-Surnamed Nurses, known as the National Association of Hispanic Nurses after 1979, and served as its first president. In 1991, David Dinkins appointed Murillo-Rohde to a commission that examined the quality of care at New York City hospitals and in 1994, she was named a Living Legend of the American Academy of Nursing.
Join us in celebrating the life and work of Ildaura Murillo-Rohde, PhD, RN!
Honoring Jane Delgado, Ph.D. (b. 1953)
We are pleased to spotlight Jane Delgado, Ph.D., a Cuban-American clinical psychologist, health care advocate, and the President and CEO of the National Alliance for Hispanic Health. Delgado was born in Havana, Cuba, and in 1955, she moved to Brooklyn. After receiving a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from SUNY Stony Brook in 1981, Delgado joined the Department of Health and Human Services. Delgado eventually became Special Assistant of Minority Affairs and was a policy staff member on the August 1985 "Report of the Secretary's Task Force on Black and Minority Health."
In 1985, Delgado became the first Hispanic Woman to serve as president and chief executive of the Coalition of Spanish-speaking Mental Health Organizations. She is also the author of numerous books in the health/wellness category, including ¡SALUD! A Latina's Guide to Total Health and The Buena Salud Guidebook series. Delgado serves on multiple boards of directors and advisory councils in the non-profit public health sector. Her work has earned many awards and honors, including the FDA Commissioner's Special Citation the Dr. Harvey Wiley Award, the highest award to a civilian.
Join us in celebrating the work of Jane Delgado, Ph.D.!
Honoring Antonia Novello, MD (b. 1944)
We are pleased to spotlight Antonia Novello, MD, a Puerto Rican physician and former United States Surgeon General. Antonia Novello was born in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, and received her bachelor of science at the University of Puerto Rico in Rio Piedras. In 1970, she moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, and began a pediatric internship at the University of Michigan Medical School. She became the first woman to receive the “University of Michigan Pediatrics Department Intern of the Year” award.
In 1979, Novello joined the Public Health Service and received a commission in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC). Her first placement was as a project officer at the National Institute of Arthritis, Metabolism and Digestive Diseases of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Novello held various positions at NIH before being appointed deputy director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in 1986. Novello was appointed Surgeon General in 1990 by President George H. W. Bush and was the first woman and Hispanic to hold the position. As Surgeon General, Novello focused on women’s, children’s, and minorities’ health and underage drinking, smoking, and AIDS.
Join us in celebrating the work of Antonia Novello, MD!