Louis Klein Diamond ( yi, לאָויס קלעין דיאַמאָנד; May 11, 1902 – June 14, 1999) was an American pediatrician, known as the "father of

pediatric Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...

hematology."

Early life and career

Diamond was born in Chişinău,

Bessarabia Governorate The Bessarabia Governorate (, ) was a part of the Russian Empire from 1812 to 1917. Initially known as Bessarabia Oblast (Бессарабская область, ''Bessarabskaya oblast'') as well as, following 1871, a governorate, it included ...

as the son of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

parents, Eliezer Dimant and Lena Klein. His family emigrated to the United States in 1904, following the

Kishinev pogrom The Kishinev pogrom or Kishinev massacre was an anti-Jewish riot that took place in Kishinev (modern Chișinău, Moldova), then the capital of the Bessarabia Governorate in the Russian Empire, on . A second pogrom erupted in the city in Octob ...

. He began his medical studies at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

in 1919 and, on graduating in 1923, entered

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

, receiving his

M.D. Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. ...

in 1927. Shortly after finishing medical school, Diamond studied briefly with

Florence Sabin Florence Rena Sabin (November 9, 1871 – October 3, 1953) was an American medical scientist. She was a pioneer for women in science; she was the first woman to hold a full professorship at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, the first woman el ...

at the Rockefeller Institute before returning to

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

, where he spent several years studying pediatrics at

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 ...

under the guidance of Dr.

Kenneth Blackfan Kenneth Blackfan (September 9, 1883 – November 29, 1941) was an American pediatrician. He took particular interest in nutrition and hematology. A childhood blood disorder, Diamond–Blackfan anemia, is partly named after him. Early in his care ...

. Diamond set up one of the first pediatric hematology research centers in the United States at Children's. Focusing on

anemias Anemia or anaemia (British English) is a blood disorder in which the blood has a reduced ability to carry oxygen due to a lower than normal number of red blood cells, or a reduction in the amount of hemoglobin. When anemia comes on slowly, th ...

, by 1930, he had succeeded in identifying thalassemia, a hereditary anemia that affected children of Italian and Greek ancestry. In 1932, along with Blackfan, he identified erythroblastosis fetalis, later called

hemolytic disease of the newborn Hemolytic disease of the newborn, also known as hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn, HDN, HDFN, or erythroblastosis foetalis, is an alloimmune condition that develops in a fetus at or around birth, when the IgG molecules (one of the five ...

, at that time a significant disorder among newborns. In 1938, Diamond and Blackfan described 4 cases of infant erythroid hypoplastic anemia and which was to become known as Diamond-Blackfan Anemia. He also discovered the blood diseases

Gardner–Diamond syndrome Painful bruising syndrome (also known as "autoerythrocyte sensitization", "Gardner–Diamond syndrome", and "psychogenic purpura") is an idiopathic trauma-induced condition seen in young to middle-aged women who sometimes manifest personality disor ...

, a painful bruising disorder, and

Shwachman–Diamond syndrome Shwachman–Diamond syndrome (SDS), or Shwachman–Bodian–Diamond syndrome, is a rare congenital disorder characterized by exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, bone marrow dysfunction, skeletal abnormalities and short stature. After cystic fib ...

, a rare genetic disorder that affects many different organs. He invented a Rhesus blood factor test with Neva Abelson (wife of physicist

Philip Abelson Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

). Diamond died at his home in Los Angeles on June 14, 1999, at the age of 97. His son

Jared Diamond Jared Mason Diamond (born September 10, 1937) is an American geographer, historian, ornithologist, and author best known for his popular science books '' The Third Chimpanzee'' (1991); ''Guns, Germs, and Steel'' (1997, awarded a Pulitzer Priz ...

is a popular science writer and Professor of Geography at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

Early life and career

References

Further reading