Allen Oldfather Whipple (September 2, 1881 – April 6, 1963) was an American surgeon who is known for the pancreatic cancer operation which bears his name (the

Whipple procedure A pancreaticoduodenectomy, also known as a Whipple procedure, is a major surgical operation most often performed to remove cancerous tumours from the head of the pancreas. It is also used for the treatment of pancreatic or duodenal trauma, or chro ...

) as well as

Whipple's triad Whipple's triad is a collection of three signs (called Whipple's criteria) that suggests that a patient's symptoms result from hypoglycaemia that may indicate insulinoma. The essential conditions are symptoms of hypoglycaemia, low blood plasma ...

. Whipple was born to missionary parents William Levi Whipple and Mary Louise Whipple (née Allen), in Izeh, Khūzestān, Iran. He attended

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

and received his M.D. from the

Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) is the graduate medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Founded ...

(P&S) in 1908, and was licensed to practice medicine in the state of New York on February 4, 1910
NY License #10151
. He became a professor of surgery at P&S and

Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center (NYP/CUIMC), also known as the Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC), is an academic medical center and the largest campus of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. It includes Co ...

where he served from 1921 to 1946. He began work on the procedure for resection of the

pancreas The pancreas is an organ of the digestive system and endocrine system of vertebrates. In humans, it is located in the abdomen behind the stomach and functions as a gland. The pancreas is a mixed or heterocrine gland, i.e. it has both an en ...

(pancreaticoduodenectomy) in 1935 and his original technique has since been modified greatly. In 1940, he shortened the procedure into a one-stage process. During his lifetime, Whipple performed 37 pancreaticoduodenectomies. He also is known for developing the diagnostic triad for

insulinoma An insulinoma is a tumour of the pancreas that is derived from beta cells and secretes insulin. It is a rare form of a neuroendocrine tumour. Most insulinomas are benign in that they grow exclusively at their origin within the pancreas, but a mi ...

known as

. He supervised the surgical residency of

Virginia Apgar Virginia Apgar (June 7, 1909August 7, 1974) was an American physician, obstetrical anesthesiologist and medical researcher, best known as the inventor of the Apgar Score, a way to quickly assess the health of a newborn child immediately after bir ...

, later advising her to pursue her medical career in the field of anaesthesiology because he knew that surgery depended on advancements in this field to progress, and he saw in Apgar the 'energy and ability' to make a significant contribution. Apgar later devised the Apgar Score also at

, by which the health of newborns is evaluated to this day. Whipple was instrumental in founding the American Board of Surgery. He also was trustee of

and was a recipient of the 1958 Woodrow Wilson Award. Though he is not related to

George Hoyt Whipple George Hoyt Whipple (August 28, 1878 – February 1, 1976) was an American physician, pathologist, biomedical researcher, and medical school educator and administrator. Whipple shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1934 with George ...

— who named

Whipple's disease Whipple's disease is a rare systemic infectious disease caused by the bacterium '' Tropheryma whipplei''. First described by George Hoyt Whipple in 1907 and commonly considered as a gastrointestinal disorder, Whipple's disease primarily causes ma ...

and discovered '' Tropheryma whipplei'' — the two were lifelong friends. The Science Building at Wooster School in Danbury, Connecticut, is named after Whipple, who served as President of Wooster's Board of Trustees when the school's founder, Rev. Aaron Coburn, died. In the later years of his life he lived in Show Low Arizona.

References

Sources

*Whipple AO. Observations on radical surgery for lesions of the pancreas. Surg Gyn Obst 1946;82:62.
Whipple Website: Allen Oldfather WhippleWooster Chronology – Wooster School
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whipple, Allen American surgeons Columbia Medical School faculty Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni Princeton University alumni People from Urmia 1881 births 1963 deaths American expatriates in Iran 20th-century surgeons