Naomi Amir ( he, נעמי אמיר) (January 23, 1931 – January 4, 1995)
was an American-Israeli
pediatric neurologist. After earning her M.D. at
New York University School of Medicine
NYU Grossman School of Medicine is a medical school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1841 and is one of two medical schools of the university, with the other being the Long Island School of ...
in 1952, she undertook her residency at
Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem the following year. Choosing to specialize in the field of pediatric neurology, which at the time was new to Israel, she established the first pediatric neurology clinic in Israel in 1968 at
Bikur Holim Hospital
Bikur Cholim Hospital ( he, בית החולים ביקור חולים) was a 200-bed general hospital in West Jerusalem, established in the 19th century and closed due to financial difficulties in the second decade of the 21st century. Until then, ...
. She later expanded this clinic into a full-service diagnostic, evaluation, and intervention center. In 1990 she and her team moved to
Shaare Zedek Medical Center
The Shaare Zedek Medical Center ( he, מרכז רפואי שערי צדק, ''Merkaz Refu'i Sha'arei Tzedek'') (lit. "Gates of Justice") is a large teaching hospital in Jerusalem established in 1902, It affiliated with Hebrew University of Jerusal ...
. She is credited as "the founder of modern child neurology in Israel".
Early life and education
Naomi Kassan was born in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, Illinois, to Shalom Kassan, a Jewish Palestinian émigré, and Eva Dushkin, a first-generation American child of Eastern European immigrants.
She had one older sibling.
When she was four, her family moved to Palestine, where her father was a judge in the
Mandatory Palestine
Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...
legal service.
Eighteen months later her mother took the children back to the United States for a year, returning to Palestine in 1937. The following year her mother returned to New York City permanently with the children.
Naomi graduated from
The Bronx High School of Science
The Bronx High School of Science, commonly called Bronx Science, is a public specialized high school in The Bronx in New York City. It is operated by the New York City Department of Education. Admission to Bronx Science involves passing the Sp ...
. She earned her
B.A.
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
from
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, th ...
and her medical degree from the
New York University School of Medicine
NYU Grossman School of Medicine is a medical school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1841 and is one of two medical schools of the university, with the other being the Long Island School of ...
in 1952.
Desiring to live in
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, she undertook her residency at the
Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem beginning in 1953.
She completed her second M.D. at the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1957.
Career
When Amir chose to specialize in
pediatric neurology, this field was not yet recognized in Israel, and women represented a small minority of physicians in the country. Amir was mentored by Dr.
Helena Kagan, founder and head of the department of pediatrics at
Bikur Holim Hospital
Bikur Cholim Hospital ( he, בית החולים ביקור חולים) was a 200-bed general hospital in West Jerusalem, established in the 19th century and closed due to financial difficulties in the second decade of the 21st century. Until then, ...
in Jerusalem. Kagan offered her a small room separate from the pediatrics ward to use as a neurological clinic.
Before establishing her practice, Amir returned to New York for two years to take a clinical fellowship at the Neurological Institute of
Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center The NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is a nonprofit academic medical center in New York City affiliated with two Ivy League medical schools, Cornell University and Columbia University. The hospital comprises seven distinct campuses located in the New ...
.
She returned to Israel in 1968 to establish the first pediatric neurology rehabilitation daycare center in the country at Bikur Holim Hospital.
This center offered both inpatient and outpatient services, and included a rehabilitation kindergarten in which Amir and her team could evaluate interventions over the long-term.
In 1979 Amir expanded the center into a full-service diagnostic, evaluation, and intervention
day hospital.
In its first six years, the day-hospital screened more than 1,000 children.
A sleep clinic for children was installed in 1984.
In 1990 Amir and her team of seven specialists moved to
Shaare Zedek Medical Center
The Shaare Zedek Medical Center ( he, מרכז רפואי שערי צדק, ''Merkaz Refu'i Sha'arei Tzedek'') (lit. "Gates of Justice") is a large teaching hospital in Jerusalem established in 1902, It affiliated with Hebrew University of Jerusal ...
, which provided an entire wing for her day-hospital.
In 2009 the rehabilitation kindergarten moved into its own facility adjacent to the medical center. Approximately 70 children ages 3 to 7 are enrolled in the kindergarten, half of whom will eventually enter regular schools.
Amir also practiced at the Spafford Clinic in the
Old City of Jerusalem, treating
Muslim children, and the Mukassed Hospital on the
Mount of Olives
The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet ( he, הַר הַזֵּיתִים, Har ha-Zeitim; ar, جبل الزيتون, Jabal az-Zaytūn; both lit. 'Mount of Olives'; in Arabic also , , 'the Mountain') is a mountain ridge east of and adjacent to Jeru ...
.
She set up a number of satellite neurology clinics in Arab villages.
Research interests
Amir co-edited two books and co-authored numerous peer-reviewed articles. Her research interests included
cognitive development
Cognitive development is a field of study in neuroscience and psychology focusing on a child's development in terms of information processing, conceptual resources, perceptual skill, language learning, and other aspects of the developed adult bra ...
,
epilepsy
Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrica ...
, neurometabolic disorders,
aphasia
Aphasia is an inability to comprehend or formulate language because of damage to specific brain regions. The major causes are stroke and head trauma; prevalence is hard to determine but aphasia due to stroke is estimated to be 0.1–0.4% in t ...
, and
developmental disorder
Developmental disorders comprise a group of psychiatric conditions originating in childhood that involve serious impairment in different areas. There are several ways of using this term. The most narrow concept is used in the category "Specific Di ...
s.
Amir joined the staff of the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1974 as a lecturer. She became a clinical senior lecturer in 1983 and a clinical associate professor in 1993.
Honors
She received the Israeli
Women of Achievement Award in 1989.
Personal life
Naomi married Shlomo Amir in March 1955. They had two sons and one daughter.
Naomi died of
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
on January 4, 1995.
Selected bibliography
Books
* (co-edited with S. Shinnar)
* (co-edited with
Isabelle Rapin
Isabelle Juliette Martha Rapin, M.D. (born December 4, 1927 in Lausanne, Switzerland; died May 24, 2017 in Rhinebeck, New York), was a Professor of both Neurology and Pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. She was ...
)
Articles
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amir, Naomi
1931 births
1995 deaths
Pediatric neurologists
Women neurologists
Israeli women physicians
Academic staff of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School alumni
New York University Grossman School of Medicine alumni
Physicians from Chicago
Shaare Zedek Medical Center
The Bronx High School of Science alumni
Deaths from cancer in Israel