Celso-Ramón García (1922 – February 1, 2004) was an American physician who specialized in
reproductive endocrinology and infertility
Reproductive endocrinology and infertility (REI) is a surgical subspecialty of obstetrics and gynecology that trains physicians in reproductive medicine addressing hormonal functioning as it pertains to reproduction as well as the issue of infert ...
. He oversaw early clinical trials of the first
oral contraceptive pill Oral contraceptives, abbreviated OCPs, also known as birth control pills, are medications taken by mouth for the purpose of birth control. The introduction of the birth control pill ("the Pill") in 1960 revolutionized the options for contraception, ...
in Puerto Rican women and later became a professor of human reproduction at the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
.
Early life
Celso-Ramón García was born in 1922 to Spanish immigrants in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
.
He completed an undergraduate degree in chemistry at
Queens College
Queens College (QC) is a public college in the New York City borough of Queens. Part of the City University of New York system, Queens College occupies an campus primarily located in Flushing.
Queens College was established in 1937 and offe ...
and then a medical degree at
SUNY Downstate Medical Center
SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University is a public medical school and hospital in Brooklyn, New York. It is the southernmost member of the State University of New York (SUNY) system and the only academic medical center for health education, ...
, graduating in 1945. After an internship at Norwegian Hospital in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, he served in the
U.S. Army Medical Corps for two years, working at
Valley Forge General Hospital
Valley Forge General Hospital is a former military hospital in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. The hospital was near both Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Valley Forge. It was the only United States Army General Hospital named for a place.
History W ...
in
Phoenixville, Pennsylvania
Phoenixville is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia at the junction of French Creek (Schuylkill River tributary), French Creek an ...
, and at
Ladd Air Force Base
Ladd Army Airfield is the military airfield located at Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks, Alaska. It was originally called Fairbanks Air Base, but was renamed Ladd Field on 1 December 1939, in honor of Major Arthur K. Ladd, a pilot in the U.S. ...
in
Fairbanks, Alaska
Fairbanks is a Municipal home rule, home rule city and the county seat, borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, United States. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior Alaska, interior region of Alaska and the second la ...
. In 1948 he returned to Brooklyn, where he completed his residency in
obstetrics and gynecology
Obstetrics and gynaecology (also spelled as obstetrics and gynecology; abbreviated as Obst and Gynae, O&G, OB-GYN and OB/GYN) is the medical specialty that encompasses the two subspecialties of obstetrics (covering pregnancy, childbirth, and t ...
at Cumberland Hospital.
Career
In 1953, due to a lack of academic positions in the U.S., García moved to Puerto Rico to take up a position as assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the
University of Puerto Rico
The University of Puerto Rico (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Universidad de Puerto Rico;'' often shortened to UPR) is the main List of state and territorial universities in the United States, public university system in the Commonwealth (U.S. i ...
's newly established medical school. Soon afterwards he was introduced to
Gregory Pincus
Gregory Goodwin Pincus (April 9, 1903 – August 22, 1967) was an American biologist and researcher who co-invented the combined oral contraceptive pill.
Early life
Pincus was one of five siblings born in Woodbine, New Jersey, to immigrant pare ...
, who with
John Rock was preparing to commence clinical trials of the first
oral contraceptive pill Oral contraceptives, abbreviated OCPs, also known as birth control pills, are medications taken by mouth for the purpose of birth control. The introduction of the birth control pill ("the Pill") in 1960 revolutionized the options for contraception, ...
. Pincus recruited García to oversee the trials of the pill in Puerto Rico,
[ while Rock arranged for García to commence a fellowship in ]infertility
In biology, infertility is the inability of a male and female organism to Sexual reproduction, reproduce. It is usually not the natural state of a healthy organism that has reached sexual maturity, so children who have not undergone puberty, whi ...
at the Free Hospital for Women in Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline () is an affluent town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. An exclave of Norfolk County, Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton ...
. He soon moved to Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
to work at Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...
with Rock, commuting frequently to Puerto Rico to manage the contraceptive pill trials. Rock and García moved their practice briefly to Faulkner Hospital before returning to the Free Hospital for Women. García was hired by Pincus as a senior scientist at the Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research The Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research (WFBR) was a non-profit biomedical research institute based in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, United States.
History
The foundation was established as an independent research center under the name Worces ...
in 1960 and became chief of the infertility clinic at Massachusetts General Hospital
Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is a teaching hospital located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the original and largest clinical education and research facility of Harvard Medical School/Harvar ...
in 1962. Although the Puerto Rican oral contraceptive trials had finished by this time, García continued to visit Puerto Rico regularly to perform post-trial surveillance on women who had participated in the trial and through this process published important research on long-term side effects of the pill and how well it was accepted by patients.[
García left Boston for ]Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
in 1965, when he was appointed chair of the obstetrics and gynecology department at the University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
. In Pennsylvania, he pioneered what he called "conservational surgery" for fallopian tube
The fallopian tubes, also known as uterine tubes, oviducts or salpinges (: salpinx), are paired tubular sex organs in the human female body that stretch from the Ovary, ovaries to the uterus. The fallopian tubes are part of the female reproduct ...
defects, which in the pre- IVF era was the only fertility-preserving treatment for women with tubal disease.[ After a sabbatical in Germany with Kurt Semm, García established one of the first programs for minimally invasive ]laparoscopic
Laparoscopy () is an operation performed in the abdomen or human pelvis, pelvis using small Surgical incision, incisions (usually 0.5–1.5 cm) with the aid of a camera. The laparoscope aids diagnosis or therapeutic interventions with a few ...
surgery in the United States. He also used a novel approach to prevent intra-abdominal adhesions
Adhesions are fibrous bands that form between tissues and organs, often as a result of injury during surgery. They may be thought of as internal scar tissue that connects tissues not normally connected.
Pathophysiology
Adhesions form as a nat ...
: intraperitoneal
The peritoneum is the serous membrane forming the lining of the abdominal cavity or coelom in amniotes and some invertebrates, such as annelids. It covers most of the intra-abdominal (or coelomic) organs, and is composed of a layer of mesothe ...
corticosteroid
Corticosteroids are a class of steroid hormones that are produced in the adrenal cortex of vertebrates, as well as the synthetic analogues of these hormones. Two main classes of corticosteroids, glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids, are invo ...
s and antihistamine
Antihistamines are drugs which treat allergic rhinitis, common cold, influenza, and other allergies. Typically, people take antihistamines as an inexpensive, generic (not patented) drug that can be bought without a prescription and provides ...
s.[ He served on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania for 39 years, ultimately in the position of William Shippen, Jr. Professor of Human Reproduction.][
]
Affiliations
García served as president of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine
The American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) is a nonprofit, multidisciplinary organization for advancement of the science and practice of reproductive medicine. The society has its headquarters in Washington, D.C., and its administrat ...
, the American Association of Planned Parenthood
The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is an American nonprofit organization Physicians, the National Medical Committees of Planned Parenthood of America, and the Society of Reproductive Surgeons.[ He was a fellow of the ]American College of Surgeons
The American College of Surgeons (ACS) is a professional medical association for surgeons and surgical team members, founded in 1913. It claims more than 90,000 members in 144 countries.
History
The ACS was founded in 1913 as an outgrowth of ...
.[
]
Death
García died from cardiovascular disease
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina, heart attack), heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, rheumati ...
on February 1, 2004, in Boston, four weeks after his wife, Shirley Stoddard, had died.[ The Celso-Ramón García Professorship of Obstetrics & Gynecology was established at the ]Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
The Perelman School of Medicine (commonly known as Penn Med) is the medical school of the University of Pennsylvania, a Private university, private, Ivy League research university located in Philadelphia. Founded in 1765, the Perelman School of M ...
in 1994.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Celso-Ramon
1922 births
2004 deaths
American people of Spanish descent
Queens College, City University of New York alumni
SUNY Downstate Medical Center alumni
Fellows of the American College of Surgeons
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania faculty
University of Puerto Rico faculty
American gynecologists
American obstetricians