Misplaced Pages

Patricia Bath: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editContent deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 14:15, 12 April 2013 editCannolis (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers40,036 editsm Reverted edits by 168.190.80.40 (talk) to last revision by Widr (HG)← Previous edit Latest revision as of 09:24, 17 November 2024 edit undoGreenC bot (talk | contribs)Bots2,547,818 edits Move 1 url. Wayback Medic 2.5 per WP:URLREQ#time.com 
(851 intermediate revisions by more than 100 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{short description|First African American woman doctor to receive a patent for a medical invention}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person {{Infobox person
| name = Patricia Era Bath | name = Patricia Era Bath
| image = patriciabath.jpg | image = Patriciabath.jpg
| alt = | caption =
| caption = | birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1942|11|4}} | birth_date = {{Birth date|1942|11|4}}
| birth_place = ], ] | birth_place = New York City, U.S.
| alma_mater = ] (])<br />] (])
| death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date then birth date) -->
| death_date = {{death date and age|2019|5|30|1942|11|4}}
| death_place =
| death_place = San Francisco, California, U.S.
| nationality =
| nationality =
| other_names =
| other_names =
| known_for =Invention of Laserphaco Probe
| occupation = ] Inventor Humanitarian | occupation = ], ]
}} }}
'''Patricia Era Bath''' (November 4, 1942 &ndash; May 30, 2019) was an American ] and humanitarian. She became the first female member of the ], the first woman to lead a post-graduate training program in ], and the first woman elected to the honorary staff of the ]. Bath was the first African-American to serve as a resident in ophthalmology at ]. She was also the first African-American woman to serve on staff as a surgeon at the UCLA Medical Center. Bath was the first African-American woman doctor to receive a ] for a medical purpose.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Genzlinger |first=Neil |date=June 4, 2019 |title=Dr. Patricia Bath, 76, Who Took On Blindness and Earned a Patent, Dies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/04/obituaries/dr-patricia-bath-dead.html |access-date=February 14, 2024 |website=New York Times}}</ref> A holder of five patents,<ref name="patents_list">, Google patent search. Retrieved February 24, 2019.</ref> she founded the non-profit American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness in Washington, D.C.<ref name="AmericanInstitute"/>

'''Patricia Era Bath''' (born November 4, 1942, ]) is an American ], ] and ]. She has broken ground for women and African Americans in a number of areas. Prior to Bath, no woman had served on the staff of the ], headed a post-graduate training program in ] or been elected to the honorary staff of the ] (an honor bestowed on her after her retirement). Before Bath, no black person had served as a resident in ophthalmology at ] and no black woman had ever served on staff as a surgeon at the UCLA Medical Center. Bath is the first ] woman doctor to receive a ] for a medical purpose. Her Laserphaco Probe is used to treat ]s. The holder of four patents, she is also the founder of the ] in ]


==Early life and education== ==Early life and education==
Born 1942, in ], New York, Patricia Bath was the daughter of Rupert and Gladys Bath.<ref name="Wilson"/> Her father was an immigrant from ], a newspaper columnist, a ] and the first black man to work for the ] as a ].<ref name="NIMH"/><ref name=Lambert/> Her father inspired her love for culture and encouraged her to explore different cultures.<ref name=Biocom/> Her mother was descended from ] and ] Native Americans.<ref name="NIMH"/> Throughout her childhood, Bath was often told by her parents to "never settle for less than best" and had been encouraged by their support of her education. Her mother, encouraging her dreams and love of science, had bought her her first chemistry set. By the time she had reached high school, Bath was already a ] scholar. This led to her cancer research earning a front-page feature in the ]<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ground breaking African American female doctor says she had to 'shake off haters' on her way to success|url=https://goodmorningamerica.com/wellness/story/revolutionary-ophthalmologist-dr-patricia-bath-shake-off-haters-53357320|access-date=March 11, 2021|website=ABC News|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Genzlinger|first=Neil|date=June 4, 2019|title=Dr. Patricia Bath, 76, Who Took On Blindness and Earned a Patent, Dies|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/04/obituaries/dr-patricia-bath-dead.html|access-date=March 24, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Patricia and her brother attended ] where both students excelled in science and math.<ref name="Pioneers"/>
Born in Harlem on November 4, 1942, Bath was the daughter of Rupert and Gladys Bath.<ref name="BIO">"Patricia Bath" (Black Inventor On-Line Museum.</ref> Her father, an immigrant from ], was a newspaper ], a ] and the first black man to work for the ] as a ].<ref name="BIO"/><ref name="Lambert70">Lambert (2007), p. 70.</ref> Raised in Harlem, Bath was encouraged academically by her parents.


Inspired by the French ] laureate ]'s work in medicine,<ref name="Lambert"/> Bath applied for and won a ] Scholarship while attending high school; this led her to a research project at ] and ] studying connections between cancer, nutrition, and stress.<ref name="Henderson" /><ref name="Williams" /> In this summer program, led by Rabbi ], Bath had studied the effects of ] residue on bacteria. Through this, she was able to conclude that cancer, itself, was a ] disease and tumor growth was a symptom.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Osmundsen |first1=John S |title=28 Science-Minded Teen-Agers Report on Summer of Research: Such Heady Stuff as the Metabolism of Tritiated Thymidine in Mice Fails to faze Special Yeshiva Group. |agency=Proquest |work=The New York Times |date=August 31, 1959}}</ref><ref name="Ten Young Women">{{Cite news |date=December 31, 1960 |title=Teen-age Scientist Is Named One of 'The Ten Young Women of the Year' |language=en-US |publisher=Atlanta Daily World |agency=Proquest |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/491214922 |id={{ProQuest|491214922}} |url-access=subscription}}</ref> She had also discovered a mathematical equation that could be used to predict cancer cell growth.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}} The head of the research program realized the significance of her findings and published them in a scientific paper.<ref name="Biocom" /> Her discoveries were also shared at the International Fifth Congress of Nutrition in the fall of 1960.<ref name="Ten Young Women" />
Inspired by ]<ref name="Lambert70"/>for his work in medicine,Bath applied for and won a ] Scholarship while attending ]; this led her to a research project at ] and ] on cancer that piqued her interest in medicine.<ref name="Henderson9">Henderson (1998), p. 9.</ref><ref name="Williams45">Williams (2011), p. 45.</ref> In 1960, still a teenager, Bath won the "Merit Award" of '']'' magazine for her contribution to the project.<ref name="Lambert70"/>


In 1960, at the age of eighteen years old, Bath won a "Merit Award" of '']'' magazine for her contribution to the project.<ref name="Lambert"/>
After graduating high school early, Bath received her ] in ] from New York's ] in 1964.<ref name="Wilson25">Wilson and Wilson (2003), p. 25.</ref> She relocated to ] to attend ], from which she received her ] in 1968.<ref name="Lambert72">Lambert (2007), p. 72.</ref> During her time at Howard, she was president of the ] and received fellowships from the ] and the ].<ref name="Lambert71">Lambert (2007), p. 71.</ref>


Bath received her Bachelor of Arts in ] from Manhattan's ] in 1964.<ref name="Wilson"/> She then relocated to Washington, D.C. to attend ].<ref name="Lambert"/> Her first year at Howard coincided with the ]. She co-founded the ] and became its first woman president in 1965.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}} At Howard, she was awarded a ] National Government Fellowship Award to do research in ], in the summer of 1967, where her research focused on ].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Patricia Bath {{!}} The Black Inventor Online Museum|url=https://blackinventor.com/patricia-bath/|last=Chamberlain|first=Gaius|date=November 26, 2012|language=en-US|access-date=May 10, 2020}}</ref> The highlight of the award ceremony was the meeting of ], chief justice of the ], at the US Embassy in Belgrade.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}} Bath graduated with honors from Howard University College of Medicine in 1968.<ref name="Lambert"/> She was awarded the Edwin Watson Prize for Excellence in Ophthalmology by her mentor, Lois A. Young.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}}
Bath ] at Harlem Hospital Center, subsequently serving as a ] at ].<ref name="Williams45"/> During this period, from 1968 to 1970,<ref name="NIMH"/> Bath became aware that the practice of eye care was uneven among racial minorities and poor populations, with much higher incidence of blindness amongst her black and poor patients.<ref name="Lambert71"/><ref name="NIMH"/> She determined that, as a physician, she would help address this issue.<ref name="Lambert71"/> She persuaded her professors from Columbia to operate on blind patients at Harlem Hospital Center, which had not previously offered eye surgery, at no cost.<ref name="NIMH"/> Bath pioneered the worldwide discipline of "community ophthalmology", a volunteer-based outreach to bring necessary eye care to underserved populations.<ref name="NIMH"/>


The assassination of ], in 1968, caused Bath to dedicate herself to achieving one of the dreams of King, namely the empowerment of people through the ]. She organized and led Howard University medical students in providing volunteer health care services to the Poor People's Campaign in Resurrection City in the summer of 1968.<ref>{{Cite journal |pmc = 2611562|year = 1968|last1 = Mazique|first1 = E. C.|title = Health services and the Poor People's Campaign|journal = Journal of the National Medical Association|volume = 60|issue = 4|pages = 332–333|pmid = 5661208}}</ref>
She served her residency in ophthalmology at ] from 1970 to 1973, the first African American to do so in her field.<ref name="Lambert71"/><ref name="NIMH"/>


Bath returned to her Harlem community and ] at ], which had just become affiliated with ]. During her internship, she observed large proportions of blind patients at Harlem Hospital in comparison to patients at the Columbia University Eye Clinic. Prior to beginning her ophthalmology residency study at NYU in 1970, Bath was awarded a one-year fellowship from Columbia University to study and contribute to eye care services at Harlem Hospital. She began collecting data on blindness and visual impairment at Harlem Hospital, which did not have any ophthalmologists on staff. Her data and passion for improvement persuaded her professors from Columbia to begin operating on blind patients, without charge, at Harlem Hospital Center.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.influential-women.com/health/patricia-bath|title=Patricia Bath {{!}} Influential Women|work=Influential Women|access-date=April 19, 2017|language=en-US}}</ref> Bath was proud to be on the Columbia team that performed the first eye surgery at Harlem Hospital in November 1969.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}}
== Career ==
After completing her education, Bath served briefly as an assistant professor at Jules Stein Eye Institute at UCLA and ] before becoming the first woman on faculty at the Eye Institute.<ref name="Lambert71"/><ref name="Lambert71"/><ref name="NIMH">"Dr. Patricia E. Bath" (NIMH)</ref><ref>Henderson (1998), p. 10.</ref> In 1978, Bath co-founded the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness, for which she served as president.<ref name="NIMH"/><ref name="Henderson13">Henderson (1998), p. 13.</ref><ref name="Jet">"Modern Black Inventorys" (''Jet'', 2002), p. 55.</ref> In 1983, she became the head of a residency in her field at Charles R. Drew, the first woman ever to head such a department.<ref name="Lambert71"/><ref name="NIMH"/> In 1993, she retired from UCLA, which subsequently elected her the first woman on its honorary staff.<ref name="BIO"/><ref name="Lambert71"/>
She served as a professor of Ophthalmology at Howard University's School of Medicine and as a professor of ] and Ophthalmology at ].<ref name="Jet"/><ref name="Ebony">"Modern Black Inventors" (''Ebony'', 1998), p. 158.</ref> She was among the co-founders of the ] ophthalmology training program.<ref name="IT">''U.S. Black Engineer & IT'' (1997), p. 42.</ref>


Bath served her residency in ] at ], from 1970 to 1973, the first African American to do so.<ref name=Lambert/><ref name="NIMH"/> She gave birth to her daughter, Eraka, in 1972.<ref name="NIMH" />
Bath has lectured internationally and authored over 100 papers.<ref name="IT"/>


== Inventions == ==Career==
After completing her residency at NYU, Bath began a Corneal fellowship program at ], which focused on ] and ] surgery (1973 to 1974). While a fellow, she was recruited by both the ] ] and ] to co-found an ophthalmology residency program at ]. She then began her career in Los Angeles, becoming the first woman ophthalmologist on the faculty at ] at UCLA. When asked who her mentor was, Bath responded by saying her relationship with family physician Cecil Marquez inspired her to pursue this specific career.<ref name="NIMH" /> She was appointed assistant chief of the King-Drew-UCLA Ophthalmology Residency Program in 1974, and was appointed chief in 1983.<ref name="LessonsIveLearned" />
Bath holds four patents in the United States.<ref name="Wilson25"/> In 1981, she conceived of the Laserphaco Probe, a medical device that improves on the use of lasers to remove cataracts, and "for ablating and removing cataract lenses".<ref name="Wilson25"/> The device was completed in 1986 after Bath conducted research on lasers in ] and patented in 1988,<ref name="Henderson10">Henderson (1998), pp. 10, 12.</ref> making her the first African American female doctor to receive a ] for a medical purpose.<ref>Henderson (1998), p. 12.</ref> The device — which quickly and nearly painlessly dissolves the ] with a ], irrigates and cleans the eye and permits the easy insertion of a new ] — is used internationally to treat the disease.<ref name="BIO"/><ref name="Wilson25"/><ref name="Lambert73">Lambert (2007), p. 73.</ref> Bath has continued to improve the device and has successfully restored vision to people who have been unable to see for decades.<ref name="Jet"/><ref>Stewart (2005), p. 57.</ref>


At both institutions, Bath rose to the rank of associate professor. At UCLA, she founded the Ophthalmic Assistant Training Program (OATP) in 1978. The graduates of the OATP are key personnel to provide screening, health education, and support for blindness prevention strategies.<ref name="NIMH" /><ref name="Henderson" /><ref name="Jet"/>
Three of Bath's four patents relate to the Laserphaco Probe.<ref name="Jet"/> In 2000, she was granted a patent for a method she devised for using ] technology to treat cataracts.<ref name="Lambert72"/>


While at UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute, Bath established the ] Program to provide advanced surgical treatment for blind patients. The program continues today as the KPRO and thousands of patients have had their eyesight restored with this innovative technology. Based on her research and achievements with keratoprosthesis, Bath was chosen to lead the first national keratoprosthesis study in 1983.<ref>Aquavella J.; Bath, P.; Buxton, G.; Cardona, H.; Dohlman, C.; Farris, L.; Girard, L.; McNeil, J.; Polack, F.; Waring, G. and; Also, D. Willard.; Helmsen, R.; Binder, P.; Groden, L. and; Fogle, J., , ''Cornea'', September 1983, Volume 2, Issue 3, pp. 229–236.</ref>
== Honors ==
Bath has been honored by two of her universities. Hunter College placed her in its "hall of fame" in 1988 and Howard University declared her a "Howard University Pioneer in Academic Medicine" in 1993.<ref name="Lambert72"/>


In 1983, Bath was appointed Chair of the KING-DREW-UCLA Ophthalmology Residency Program, becoming the first woman in the US to head an ophthalmology residency program.<ref name=Lambert/><ref name="NIMH"/>
== Notes ==
{{Reflist|2}}


While at UCLA, Bath had wanted to pursue research, though being denied the grants and resources by the National Institutes of Health and the National Eye Institute. It was then she had decided to look further for the best laboratories in the world, to support her plans for innovation in the world of ophthalmology.<ref name="LessonsIveLearned">{{Cite web |title=Lessons I've Learned |url=https://theophthalmologist.com/business-profession/lessons-ive-learned |access-date=May 9, 2020 |website=The Ophthalmologist |date=September 7, 2016 |language=en}}</ref> In 1986, Bath elected to take a ] from clinical and administrative responsibilities and concentrate on research.<ref name="Green_Obituary">{{Cite journal |last=Green |first=Andrew |date=August 10, 2019 |title=Patricia Bath |journal=The Lancet |type=Obituary |language=English |volume=394 |issue=10197 |pages=464 |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(19)31684-8 |issn=0140-6736 |doi-access=free}}</ref> She resigned her position as chair of ophthalmology and followed her research pursuits as visiting professor at centers of excellence in France, England and Germany. In France, she served as visiting professor at the Rothschilde Eye Institute of Paris with Director, ]. In England, she served as visiting professor with Professor Emmony at the Loughborough Institute of Technology. In Germany, she served as visiting professor at the University of Free Berlin and the laser medical center.
== References ==
*{{cite web | url = http://www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine/physicians/biography_26.html | title = Dr. Patricia E. Bath | work = Changing the Face of Medicine | publisher = National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) | accessdate = 25 February 2011}}</ref>
*{{cite book|last=Henderson|first=Susan K.|title=African-American Inventors III|date=1 March 1998|publisher=Capstone Press|isbn=978-1-56065-698-2}}
*{{cite book|last= Lambert | first = Laura|title=Inventors and Inventions|date=1 September 2007|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|isbn=978-0-7614-7763-1}}
*{{cite journal | journal = ] | volume = 53 | number = 12 |date = October 1998| accessdate = 25 February 2011 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=qwUDRnr2e-AC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false | title = Modern Black Inventors | publisher = Johnson Publishing Company | ISSN = 0012-9011}}
*{{cite journal | journal = ] | volume = 101 | number = 7 | date = February 4, 2002 | accessdate = 25 February 2011 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=AbUDAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false | title = Modern Black Inventors | publisher = Johnson Publishing Company | ISSN = 0021-5996}}
*{{cite journal | title = 1997 Women of Color | date = Oct-Nov 1997 | issn = 1088-3444 | journal = U.S. Black Engineer & IT}}
*{{cite web |url= http://www.blackinventor.com/pages/patricia-bath.html |title= Patricia Bath |work= Black Inventor On-Line Museum |publisher=Adscape International |accessdate=25 February 2011}}
*{{cite book|last=Stewart|first=David|title=What's the Big Idea?|date=1 October 2005|publisher=Salariya Publishers|isbn=978-1-904642-56-5}}
*{{cite book|last=Williams|first=James Henry|title=African American Inventors and Pioneers|date=21 January 2011|publisher=Xlibris Corporation|isbn=978-1-4568-4000-6}}
*{{cite book|last1=Wilson|first1=Donald|author2=Jane Wilson|title=The Pride of African American History|date=20 June 2003|publisher=AuthorHouse|isbn=978-1-4107-2873-9}}


In 1993, Bath retired from UCLA, which subsequently elected her the first woman on its honorary staff.<ref name="NIMH"/><ref name=Lambert/>
== External links ==
*
*


Bath served as a professor of ophthalmology at Howard University's School of Medicine and as a professor of ] and ophthalmology at ]<ref name="Jet"/><ref name= "mosca" /> ophthalmology training program.<ref name="WOC"/> Being a strong advocate for telemedicine, Bath had supported the innovation of virtual labs, as a part of the curriculum in ophthalmology residency training programs, to provide surgeons with more realistic experience, made possible by ]. In an article written by Bath, in the Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, she had proven that with better training and supervision in residency programs, students were able to achieve better results in their surgeries, leading to greater visual acuity.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bath|first=Patricia E.|date=June 1998|title=Cataract Surgery Training of Residents in an Urban and Virtual Environment|journal=Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery|language=en|volume=24|issue=6|pages=727–729|doi=10.1016/S0886-3350(98)80118-1|pmid=9642577|s2cid=7409725|issn=0886-3350}}</ref>
<!-- Metadata: see ] -->
{{Persondata
|NAME= bath patricia
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
|SHORT DESCRIPTION= first ] woman doctor to receive a ] for a medical invention
|DATE OF BIRTH=November 4, 1942
|PLACE OF BIRTH=], ]
|


Bath lectured internationally and authored over 100 papers.<ref name="WOC"/>

===Blindness studies and community ophthalmology===

Based on her observations at Harlem Hospital, Bath published the first scientific paper showing the higher prevalence of blindness among Blacks.<ref name="Bath1979" /><ref>Bath, Patricia E. (October 1990). "Blacks at Greater Risk of Blindness," ''Archives of Ophthalmology'', 108, pp. 1377–8.</ref> Bath also found that African American people had eight times higher prevalence of ] as a cause of blindness.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kermode-Scott|first=Barbara|date=July 19, 2019|title=Patricia Bath: ophthalmologist, inventor, and humanitarian|journal=BMJ|language=en|pages=l4768|doi=10.1136/bmj.l4768|s2cid=199609085|issn=0959-8138}}</ref>

Based on her research, Bath pioneered the discipline of ] in 1976<ref name="Logan_Williams2018">"U.S. Ophthalmologist, Dr. Patricia E. Bath first defined the term community ophthalmology in her 1976 presentation to the American Public Health Association meeting in Miami, Florida." Source: Logan D. A. Williams, "Introduction", ''Eradicating Blindness: Global Health Innovation from South Asia,'' Springer, August 20, 2018, p. 9.</ref> after observations of epidemics rates of preventable blindness among under-served populations in urban areas in the US as well as under-served populations in third-world countries.<ref name="Bath1979">{{cite journal| pmc=2537323 | pmid=423288 | volume=71 | number= 2| date = February 1979 | title=Rationale for a program in community ophthalmology | journal=J Natl Med Assoc | pages=145–8 | last1 = Bath | first1 = Patricia E.}}</ref><ref>Bath, Patricia E. (May 1978). " {{Dead link|date=May 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}", ''Excerpts Media Series 442'', Amsterdam, Oxford CCIII International Congress of Ophthalmology, 1913–1915.</ref> Community ophthalmology was described as a new discipline in medicine promoting eye health and blindness prevention through programs using methodologies of ], ] and ] to bring necessary eye care to under-served populations.<ref name="NIMH"/>

=== Humanitarian work ===
Bath's main humanitarian efforts are at the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness(AIPB). Co-founded in 1976 with Alfred Cannon, an American psychiatrist and community organizer, and Aaron Ifekwunigwe, a Nigerian-born pediatrician and human rights advocate, the organization was created on the principle that "eyesight was a basic human right." Through this organization, Bath spread eye care worldwide by providing newborns with free eye drops, vitamins, and vaccinations against diseases that can cause blindness, including ]. Bath spent her time as director traveling the world performing surgeries, teaching and lecturing at colleges.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kennon|first=Caroline|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yn5mDwAAQBAJ&q=patricia+bath+harlem+hospital+1969&pg=PA83|title=Hidden No More: African American Women in STEM Careers|date=December 15, 2017|publisher=Greenhaven Publishing LLC|isbn=978-1-5345-6243-1|language=en}}</ref><ref name="AmericanInstitute">{{Cite web |title=American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness |url=http://www.blindnessprevention.org/about.php |access-date=May 9, 2020 |website=blindnessprevention.org}}</ref> Bath claims her "personal best moment" was while she was in North Africa and using ], was able to restore the sight of a woman who been blind for over 30 years.<ref>{{Cite news|date=February 12, 2017|title=Dr. Patricia Bath's genius helped eye doctors.|work=Philadelphia Tribune}}</ref>

With AIPB, Bath traveled to ] in 2005, where cataracts were the main cause of childhood blindness.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bowman|first=R. J. C.|date=October 2005|title=How should blindness in children be managed?|journal=Eye|language=en|volume=19|issue=10|pages=1037–1043|doi=10.1038/sj.eye.6701988|pmid=16304582|issn=1476-5454|doi-access=free}}</ref> In Africa, AIPB provided computers and other digital resources for visually impaired students, specifically at the Mwereni School for the Blind in Tanzania and St. Oda School for the Visually Impaired in Kenya.<ref name="AmericanInstitute"/>

Bath was recognized for her philanthropic work in the field of ophthalmology by President ]. In 2009 she was on stage with President Obama, and was appointed to commission for digital accessibility to blind children.<ref>{{Cite book|last=President|first=United States|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qLtpqKA7ANYC&q=patricia+bath+ophthalmology&pg=PA201|title=Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States|date=2009|publisher=Federal Register Division, National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration|language=en}}</ref>

In April 2019, Bath testified in a hearing called the "Trailblazers and Lost Einsteins: Women Inventors and the Future of American Innovation" at the ] in Washington D.C. Bath discussed gender disparities in the ] and lack of female inventors.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Trailblazers and Lost Einsteins: Women Inventors and the Future of American Innovation {{!}} United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary|url=https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/meetings/trailblazers-and-lost-einsteins-women-inventors-and-the-future-of-american-innovation|website=www.judiciary.senate.gov|date=April 3, 2019 |language=en|access-date=May 9, 2020}}</ref>

=== Inventions ===
In 1986, Bath did research in the laboratory of ], a pioneer researcher in lasers and ophthalmology at Rothschild Eye Institute of Paris,<ref name= "AAO interview">American Academy of Ophthalmology, , Orlando, FL, October 23, 2011. Retrieved February 24, 2018.</ref> and then at the Laser Medical Center in Berlin, where she was able to begin early studies in laser ], including her first experiment with ] ] using human eye bank eyes.<ref name= "AAO interview" />

Bath coined the term "laser phaco" for the process, short for laser photoablative cataract surgery,<ref>Bath, P. E., "Laserphaco: an introduction and review," ''Ophthalmic Laser Therapy'', Vol 3, no. 2 (1988), pp. 75–82.</ref> and developed the laser phaco probe, a medical device that improves on the use of lasers to remove cataracts, and "for ablating and removing cataract lenses". Bath first had the idea for this type of device in 1981, but did not apply for a patent until several years later.<ref name=" Dr. Patricia Bath remembers inventing the laser phaco probe pt. 1">{{cite web|date=November 29, 2012|title=Dr. Patricia Bath remembers inventing the laser phaco probe pt. 1|url=https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/643475|access-date=March 21, 2021|website=The History Makers}}</ref> The device was completed in 1986 after Bath conducted research on lasers in ] and patented in 1988,<ref name="PatentUS4744360">Patricia E. Bath, , ''Apparatus for ablating and removing cataract lenses'', issued May 17, 1988 (filed December 18, 1986). Retrieved February 24, 2019,</ref> making her the first African-American woman to receive a patent for a medical purpose.<ref name="Henderson"/> The device — which quickly and nearly painlessly dissolves the ] with a ], irrigates and cleans the eye and permits the easy insertion of a new ] — is used internationally to treat the disease.<ref name="NIMH"/><ref name="Wilson"/><ref name=Lambert/> Bath continued to improve the device and successfully restored vision to people who had been unable to see for decades.<ref name="Jet"/><ref name=Stewart/>

Bath holds five patents in the United States.<ref name="patents_list" /> Three of Bath's five patents relate to the Laserphaco Probe.<ref name="Jet"/> In 2000, she was granted a patent for a method for using pulsed ] to remove cataracts,<ref name=Lambert/> and in 2003 a patent for combining laser and ultrasound to remove cataracts.

====List of U.S. patents====
*U.S. patent 4744360, "", issued May 17, 1988
*U.S. patent 5843071, "" issued December 1, 1998
*U.S. patent 5919186, "", issued July 6, 1999.
*U.S. patent 6083192, ", issued July 4, 2000.
*U.S. patent 6544254, "", issued April 8, 2003.

==Honors and awards==
* 1995: ]'s Black Woman of Achievement Award<ref name="StGeorgesUniversity">{{Cite web |title=Patricia E. Bath, January 1999 |url=https://www.sgu.edu/wcc-speaker/patricia-e-bath-january-1999/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210902074605/https://www.sgu.edu/wcc-speaker/patricia-e-bath-january-1999/ |archive-date=September 2, 2021 |access-date=May 9, 2020 |website=St. George's University |language=en-US}}</ref>
*2000: Smithsonian Museum's Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation included her in the Innovative Lives program<ref>{{Cite web|last=Center|first=Smithsonian Lemelson|date=March 3, 2005|title=Innovative Lives: The Right To Sight: Patricia Bath|url=https://invention.si.edu/innovative-lives-right-sight-patricia-bath|access-date=March 24, 2021|website=Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Center|first=Smithsonian Lemelson|date=July 23, 2014|title=Patricia Bath Innovative Lives Presentation, February 17, 2000 and March 1, 2000|url=https://invention.si.edu/patricia-bath-innovative-lives-presentation-february-17-2000-and-march-1-2000|access-date=March 24, 2021|website=Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation|language=en}}</ref>
* 2001: ] induction into Hall of Fame<ref name="LessonsIveLearned" />
*2006: ]'s Sheila Award<ref>{{Cite news|last=Ramati|first=Philip|date=September 30, 2006|title=Accomplished doctor/inventor to be honored with Tubman's Shelia Award|work=McClatchy-Tribune Business News}}</ref>
* 2011: Dr. Bath was interviewed for the American Academy of Ophthalmology's Museum of Vision oral history collection that "preserves the memories and experiences of people whose lives are an inspiration."<ref>{{Cite web|date=March 9, 2017|title=Museum of Vision: Biographies|url=http://museumofvision.org/bios/?key=69&subkey=1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170309030601/http://museumofvision.org/bios/?key=69&subkey=1|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 9, 2017|access-date=March 24, 2021}}</ref>
* 2012: Tribeca Film Festival Disruptive Innovation Award<ref>{{Cite web|title=Dr. Patricia Bath – Laserphaco|url=https://www.disruptorawards.com/2012-honoree-blog/2017/1/19/laserphaco-dr-patricia-bath|website=Disruptor Awards|date=January 19, 2017 |language=en-US|access-date=May 9, 2020}}</ref>
* 2013: Association of Black Women Physicians Lifetime Achievement Award for Ophthalmology Contributions<ref>Association of Black Women Physicians. (2020). Virtual 39th Annual Charity and Scholarship Benefit. .https://www.blackwomenphysicians.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ABWP-2020-BOOK-updated-10-22.pdf</ref><ref name="Dr. Patricia Bath – Just another WordPress site" />
* 2014: Alpha Kappa Alpha Presidential Award for Health and medical Sciences<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Distinguished Women of Alpha Kappa Alpha|url=https://theshadowleague.com/the-distinguished-women-of-alpha-kappa-alpha/|date=January 15, 2016|website=The Shadow League|language=en-US|access-date=May 9, 2020}}</ref>
* 2014: Howard University Charter Day Award for Distinguished Achievement in Ophthalmology and Medicine<ref name="Dr. Patricia Bath – Just another WordPress site">{{cite web|title=Honors – Dr. Patricia Bath|url=https://drpatriciabath.com/honors/|access-date=March 21, 2021|website=Dr. Patricia Bath – Just another WordPress site}}</ref>
* 2017: Medscape one of 12 "Women Physicians who Changed the Course of American Medicine"<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.medscape.com/features/slideshow/women-physicians#page=13| title = Medscape: Medscape Access}}</ref>
* 2017: ''Time Magazine'' "Firsts: Women Who Are Changing the World” for being the first to invent and demonstrate laserphaco cataract surgery<ref>, Firsts, ''Time''.</ref>
* 2017: Hunter College Hall of Fame induction<ref>, Hunter College.</ref>
* 2018: New York Academy of Medicine John Stearns Medal for Distinguished Contributions in Clinical Practice, for invention of laserphaco cataract surgery<ref>, The New York Academy of Medicine, November 1, 2018.</ref>
* 2018: Alliance for Aging research: Silver Innovator Award for contributions and research towards blindness prevention<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190112044350/https://www.agingresearch.org/event/2018dinner/awardees/ |date=January 12, 2019 }}, Alliance for Aging Research, October 2, 2018.</ref>
*2021, it was announced that she would be one of the first two black women (along with ]) to be inducted into the ].<ref>{{Cite web|author=Scottie Andrew|title=Black women will be inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for the first time|date=September 28, 2021 |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/28/us/inventors-hall-of-fame-first-black-women-scn-cec/index.html|access-date=September 28, 2021|publisher=CNN}}</ref>

Dr. Bath had also been a Fellow of the ] from 1976 to 1989, a fellow of the ], as well as a member of the ] and the ].<ref name="StGeorgesUniversity" />

Bath has been honored by two of her universities. Hunter College placed her in its "hall of fame" in 1988 and Howard University declared her a "Howard University Pioneer in Academic Medicine" in 1993.<ref name="Lambert" /> Several books for young people have been published about her life and work in science, including "Patricia’s Vision: The Doctor Who Saved Sight" by Michelle Lord;<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lord |first1=Michelle |title=Patricia's Vision: The Doctor Who Saved Sight |date=2020 |publisher=Sterling Children’s Books |isbn=978-1454931379 |pages=48 |url=https://www.unionsquareandco.com/9781454931379/ |access-date=January 13, 2022}}</ref> "Patricia Bath and Laser Surgery" by Ellen Labrecqua,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Labrecqua |first1=Ellen |title=Patricia Bath and Laser Surgery |date=2017 |publisher=Cherry Lake Publishing |isbn=9781634721806 |pages=24 |edition=21st Century Junior Library |url=https://cherrylakepublishing.com/shop/show/50780 |access-date=January 13, 2022}}</ref> and "The Doctor with an Eye for Eyes: The Story of Dr. Patricia Bath" by Julia Finley Mosca,<ref name="mosca">{{cite book| title=The Doctor with an Eye for Eyes: The Story of Dr. Patricia Bath (Amazing Scientist)|publisher=The Innovation Press |url=https://www.theinnovationpress.com/thedoctorwithaneyeforeyes |last=Mosca|first=Julia Finley|isbn=9781943147311|date=2017}}</ref> which was cited by both the National Science Teachers Association and the Chicago Public Library's list of best children's books of the year. She is also the subject of a short play, "The Prize (about Dr. Patricia Bath)" by Cynthia L. Cooper<ref>{{cite web |last1=Cooper |first1=Cynthia |title=The Prize (about Dr. Patricia Bath) |url=https://newplayexchange.org/plays/1652547/prize-about-dr-patricia-bath |website=NPX: National New Play Network |access-date=January 13, 2022}}</ref>

==See also==
* ]
*]
*]

==References==
'''Notes'''
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name=Biocom>{{cite web|title=Patricia Bath {{ndash}} Inventor, Doctor, educator|website=Biography.com|url=http://www.biography.com/people/patricia-bath-21038525|access-date=October 28, 2015}}</ref>
<ref name="Pioneers">{{cite book|title=Voices of Historical and Contemporary Black American Pioneers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O8tEwW7E8PIC|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2012|isbn = 978-0313392252|language=en|first1=Vernon L.|last1=Farmer|first2=Evelyn|last2=Shepherd-Wynn|pages=21–22}}</ref>
<ref name="NIMH">{{cite web|url=https://www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine/physicians/biography_26.html|title=Dr. Patricia E. Bath|work=Changing the Face of Medicine|publisher=National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)|access-date=February 25, 2011}}</ref>
<ref name="Jet">{{cite journal|journal=]|volume=101|number=7|page=55|date=February 4, 2002|title=Modern Black Inventors|issn=0021-5996}} ()</ref>
<ref name="WOC">{{cite journal|title=1997 Women of Color|date=October–November 1997|issn=1088-3444|journal=U.S. Black Engineer & IT|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u74L5QqENbYC&q=%221997%20Women%20of%20Color%22%20%22U.S.%20Black%20Engineer%20%26%20IT%22&pg=PA42|page=42|last1=Group|first1=Career Communications}}</ref>
<ref name=Lambert>{{cite journal|last=Lambert|first=Laura|title=Patricia Bath: Inventor of laser cataract surgery|journal=Inventors and Inventions|volume=1|date=September 1, 2007|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|isbn=978-0-7614-7763-1|pages=69–74|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Is_rosCeKUC&q=%22Laura%20Lambert%22%20%22Inventors%20and%20inventions%22%20%22Patricia%20Bath%22&pg=PA70}}</ref>
<ref name="Henderson">{{cite book|last=Henderson|first=Susan K.|title=African-American Inventors III|year=1998|publisher=Capstone Press|isbn=978-1-56065-698-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=giau6wTGOfcC&q=%22African-American%20Inventors%20III%22%20%22Patricia%20Bath%22&pg=PA9|pages=9–13}}</ref>
<ref name="Wilson">{{cite book|last1=Wilson|first1=Donald|author2=Jane Wilson|title=The Pride of African American History|date=2003|publisher=AuthorHouse|isbn=978-1-4107-2873-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FVhFX0VC4FMC&q=%22The%20Pride%20of%20African%20American%20History%22%20%22Patricia%20Bath%22&pg=PA25|page=25}}</ref>
<ref name=Stewart>{{cite book|last=Stewart|first=David|title=What's the Big Idea?|date=2005|publisher=Salariya Publishers|isbn=978-1-904642-56-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7mg6T2yzCPcC&q=%22What's%20the%20Big%20Idea%3F%22%20%22Patricia%20Bath%22&pg=PA57|page=57}}</ref>
<ref name=Williams>{{cite book|last=Williams|first=James Henry|title=African American Inventors and Pioneers|date=2011|publisher=Xlibris Corporation|isbn=978-1-4568-4000-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xxwdp7M0odwC&q=%22African%20American%20Inventors%20and%20Pioneers%22%20%22Patricia%20Bath%22&pg=PA45|page=45}}</ref>{{Self-published inline|certain=yes|date=December 2017}}
}} }}

==External links==
*
*
* by the American Academy of Ophthalmology, 2011
* –&nbsp;a nonprofit organization founded by Bath
{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bath, Patricia}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Bath, Patricia}}
] ]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
]
]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]

Latest revision as of 09:24, 17 November 2024

First African American woman doctor to receive a patent for a medical invention

Patricia Era Bath
Born(1942-11-04)November 4, 1942
New York City, U.S.
DiedMay 30, 2019(2019-05-30) (aged 76)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Alma materHunter College (B.A.)
Howard University (M.D.)
Occupation(s)Ophthalmologist, humanitarian

Patricia Era Bath (November 4, 1942 – May 30, 2019) was an American ophthalmologist and humanitarian. She became the first female member of the Jules Stein Eye Institute, the first woman to lead a post-graduate training program in ophthalmology, and the first woman elected to the honorary staff of the UCLA Medical Center. Bath was the first African-American to serve as a resident in ophthalmology at New York University. She was also the first African-American woman to serve on staff as a surgeon at the UCLA Medical Center. Bath was the first African-American woman doctor to receive a patent for a medical purpose. A holder of five patents, she founded the non-profit American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness in Washington, D.C.

Early life and education

Born 1942, in Harlem, New York, Patricia Bath was the daughter of Rupert and Gladys Bath. Her father was an immigrant from Trinidad, a newspaper columnist, a merchant seaman and the first black man to work for the New York City Subway as a motorman. Her father inspired her love for culture and encouraged her to explore different cultures. Her mother was descended from African slaves and Cherokee Native Americans. Throughout her childhood, Bath was often told by her parents to "never settle for less than best" and had been encouraged by their support of her education. Her mother, encouraging her dreams and love of science, had bought her her first chemistry set. By the time she had reached high school, Bath was already a National Science Foundation scholar. This led to her cancer research earning a front-page feature in the New York Times. Patricia and her brother attended Charles Evans Hughes High School where both students excelled in science and math.

Inspired by the French Nobel Peace Prize laureate Albert Schweitzer's work in medicine, Bath applied for and won a National Science Foundation Scholarship while attending high school; this led her to a research project at Yeshiva University and Harlem Hospital Center studying connections between cancer, nutrition, and stress. In this summer program, led by Rabbi Moses D. Tendler, Bath had studied the effects of streptomycin residue on bacteria. Through this, she was able to conclude that cancer, itself, was a catabolic disease and tumor growth was a symptom. She had also discovered a mathematical equation that could be used to predict cancer cell growth. The head of the research program realized the significance of her findings and published them in a scientific paper. Her discoveries were also shared at the International Fifth Congress of Nutrition in the fall of 1960.

In 1960, at the age of eighteen years old, Bath won a "Merit Award" of Mademoiselle magazine for her contribution to the project.

Bath received her Bachelor of Arts in chemistry from Manhattan's Hunter College in 1964. She then relocated to Washington, D.C. to attend Howard University College of Medicine. Her first year at Howard coincided with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. She co-founded the Student National Medical Association and became its first woman president in 1965. At Howard, she was awarded a Children's Bureau National Government Fellowship Award to do research in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, in the summer of 1967, where her research focused on pediatric surgery. The highlight of the award ceremony was the meeting of Earl Warren, chief justice of the United States Supreme Court, at the US Embassy in Belgrade. Bath graduated with honors from Howard University College of Medicine in 1968. She was awarded the Edwin Watson Prize for Excellence in Ophthalmology by her mentor, Lois A. Young.

The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., in 1968, caused Bath to dedicate herself to achieving one of the dreams of King, namely the empowerment of people through the Poor People's Campaign. She organized and led Howard University medical students in providing volunteer health care services to the Poor People's Campaign in Resurrection City in the summer of 1968.

Bath returned to her Harlem community and interned at Harlem Hospital Center, which had just become affiliated with Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. During her internship, she observed large proportions of blind patients at Harlem Hospital in comparison to patients at the Columbia University Eye Clinic. Prior to beginning her ophthalmology residency study at NYU in 1970, Bath was awarded a one-year fellowship from Columbia University to study and contribute to eye care services at Harlem Hospital. She began collecting data on blindness and visual impairment at Harlem Hospital, which did not have any ophthalmologists on staff. Her data and passion for improvement persuaded her professors from Columbia to begin operating on blind patients, without charge, at Harlem Hospital Center. Bath was proud to be on the Columbia team that performed the first eye surgery at Harlem Hospital in November 1969.

Bath served her residency in ophthalmology at New York University, from 1970 to 1973, the first African American to do so. She gave birth to her daughter, Eraka, in 1972.

Career

After completing her residency at NYU, Bath began a Corneal fellowship program at Columbia University, which focused on corneal transplantation and keratoprosthesis surgery (1973 to 1974). While a fellow, she was recruited by both the UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute and Charles R. Drew University to co-found an ophthalmology residency program at Martin Luther King, Jr. Hospital. She then began her career in Los Angeles, becoming the first woman ophthalmologist on the faculty at Jules Stein Eye Institute at UCLA. When asked who her mentor was, Bath responded by saying her relationship with family physician Cecil Marquez inspired her to pursue this specific career. She was appointed assistant chief of the King-Drew-UCLA Ophthalmology Residency Program in 1974, and was appointed chief in 1983.

At both institutions, Bath rose to the rank of associate professor. At UCLA, she founded the Ophthalmic Assistant Training Program (OATP) in 1978. The graduates of the OATP are key personnel to provide screening, health education, and support for blindness prevention strategies.

While at UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute, Bath established the Keratoprosthesis Program to provide advanced surgical treatment for blind patients. The program continues today as the KPRO and thousands of patients have had their eyesight restored with this innovative technology. Based on her research and achievements with keratoprosthesis, Bath was chosen to lead the first national keratoprosthesis study in 1983.

In 1983, Bath was appointed Chair of the KING-DREW-UCLA Ophthalmology Residency Program, becoming the first woman in the US to head an ophthalmology residency program.

While at UCLA, Bath had wanted to pursue research, though being denied the grants and resources by the National Institutes of Health and the National Eye Institute. It was then she had decided to look further for the best laboratories in the world, to support her plans for innovation in the world of ophthalmology. In 1986, Bath elected to take a sabbatical from clinical and administrative responsibilities and concentrate on research. She resigned her position as chair of ophthalmology and followed her research pursuits as visiting professor at centers of excellence in France, England and Germany. In France, she served as visiting professor at the Rothschilde Eye Institute of Paris with Director, Daniele Aron-Rosa. In England, she served as visiting professor with Professor Emmony at the Loughborough Institute of Technology. In Germany, she served as visiting professor at the University of Free Berlin and the laser medical center.

In 1993, Bath retired from UCLA, which subsequently elected her the first woman on its honorary staff.

Bath served as a professor of ophthalmology at Howard University's School of Medicine and as a professor of telemedicine and ophthalmology at St. Georges University ophthalmology training program. Being a strong advocate for telemedicine, Bath had supported the innovation of virtual labs, as a part of the curriculum in ophthalmology residency training programs, to provide surgeons with more realistic experience, made possible by 3D imaging. In an article written by Bath, in the Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, she had proven that with better training and supervision in residency programs, students were able to achieve better results in their surgeries, leading to greater visual acuity.

Bath lectured internationally and authored over 100 papers.

Blindness studies and community ophthalmology

Based on her observations at Harlem Hospital, Bath published the first scientific paper showing the higher prevalence of blindness among Blacks. Bath also found that African American people had eight times higher prevalence of glaucoma as a cause of blindness.

Based on her research, Bath pioneered the discipline of community ophthalmology in 1976 after observations of epidemics rates of preventable blindness among under-served populations in urban areas in the US as well as under-served populations in third-world countries. Community ophthalmology was described as a new discipline in medicine promoting eye health and blindness prevention through programs using methodologies of public health, community medicine and ophthalmology to bring necessary eye care to under-served populations.

Humanitarian work

Bath's main humanitarian efforts are at the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness(AIPB). Co-founded in 1976 with Alfred Cannon, an American psychiatrist and community organizer, and Aaron Ifekwunigwe, a Nigerian-born pediatrician and human rights advocate, the organization was created on the principle that "eyesight was a basic human right." Through this organization, Bath spread eye care worldwide by providing newborns with free eye drops, vitamins, and vaccinations against diseases that can cause blindness, including measles. Bath spent her time as director traveling the world performing surgeries, teaching and lecturing at colleges. Bath claims her "personal best moment" was while she was in North Africa and using keratoprosthesis, was able to restore the sight of a woman who been blind for over 30 years.

With AIPB, Bath traveled to Tanzania in 2005, where cataracts were the main cause of childhood blindness. In Africa, AIPB provided computers and other digital resources for visually impaired students, specifically at the Mwereni School for the Blind in Tanzania and St. Oda School for the Visually Impaired in Kenya.

Bath was recognized for her philanthropic work in the field of ophthalmology by President Barack Obama. In 2009 she was on stage with President Obama, and was appointed to commission for digital accessibility to blind children.

In April 2019, Bath testified in a hearing called the "Trailblazers and Lost Einsteins: Women Inventors and the Future of American Innovation" at the Senate Office Building in Washington D.C. Bath discussed gender disparities in the STEM and lack of female inventors.

Inventions

In 1986, Bath did research in the laboratory of Danièle Aron-Rosa, a pioneer researcher in lasers and ophthalmology at Rothschild Eye Institute of Paris, and then at the Laser Medical Center in Berlin, where she was able to begin early studies in laser cataract surgery, including her first experiment with excimer laser photoablation using human eye bank eyes.

Bath coined the term "laser phaco" for the process, short for laser photoablative cataract surgery, and developed the laser phaco probe, a medical device that improves on the use of lasers to remove cataracts, and "for ablating and removing cataract lenses". Bath first had the idea for this type of device in 1981, but did not apply for a patent until several years later. The device was completed in 1986 after Bath conducted research on lasers in Berlin and patented in 1988, making her the first African-American woman to receive a patent for a medical purpose. The device — which quickly and nearly painlessly dissolves the cataract with a laser, irrigates and cleans the eye and permits the easy insertion of a new lens — is used internationally to treat the disease. Bath continued to improve the device and successfully restored vision to people who had been unable to see for decades.

Bath holds five patents in the United States. Three of Bath's five patents relate to the Laserphaco Probe. In 2000, she was granted a patent for a method for using pulsed ultrasound to remove cataracts, and in 2003 a patent for combining laser and ultrasound to remove cataracts.

List of U.S. patents

Honors and awards

  • 1995: NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund's Black Woman of Achievement Award
  • 2000: Smithsonian Museum's Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation included her in the Innovative Lives program
  • 2001: American Medical Women's Association induction into Hall of Fame
  • 2006: Tubman's Sheila Award
  • 2011: Dr. Bath was interviewed for the American Academy of Ophthalmology's Museum of Vision oral history collection that "preserves the memories and experiences of people whose lives are an inspiration."
  • 2012: Tribeca Film Festival Disruptive Innovation Award
  • 2013: Association of Black Women Physicians Lifetime Achievement Award for Ophthalmology Contributions
  • 2014: Alpha Kappa Alpha Presidential Award for Health and medical Sciences
  • 2014: Howard University Charter Day Award for Distinguished Achievement in Ophthalmology and Medicine
  • 2017: Medscape one of 12 "Women Physicians who Changed the Course of American Medicine"
  • 2017: Time Magazine "Firsts: Women Who Are Changing the World” for being the first to invent and demonstrate laserphaco cataract surgery
  • 2017: Hunter College Hall of Fame induction
  • 2018: New York Academy of Medicine John Stearns Medal for Distinguished Contributions in Clinical Practice, for invention of laserphaco cataract surgery
  • 2018: Alliance for Aging research: Silver Innovator Award for contributions and research towards blindness prevention
  • 2021, it was announced that she would be one of the first two black women (along with Marian Croak) to be inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

Dr. Bath had also been a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons from 1976 to 1989, a fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, as well as a member of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery and the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.

Bath has been honored by two of her universities. Hunter College placed her in its "hall of fame" in 1988 and Howard University declared her a "Howard University Pioneer in Academic Medicine" in 1993. Several books for young people have been published about her life and work in science, including "Patricia’s Vision: The Doctor Who Saved Sight" by Michelle Lord; "Patricia Bath and Laser Surgery" by Ellen Labrecqua, and "The Doctor with an Eye for Eyes: The Story of Dr. Patricia Bath" by Julia Finley Mosca, which was cited by both the National Science Teachers Association and the Chicago Public Library's list of best children's books of the year. She is also the subject of a short play, "The Prize (about Dr. Patricia Bath)" by Cynthia L. Cooper

See also

References

Notes

  1. Genzlinger, Neil (June 4, 2019). "Dr. Patricia Bath, 76, Who Took On Blindness and Earned a Patent, Dies". New York Times. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  2. ^ Patricia E. Bath, Google patent search. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  3. ^ "American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness". blindnessprevention.org. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  4. ^ Wilson, Donald; Jane Wilson (2003). The Pride of African American History. AuthorHouse. p. 25. ISBN 978-1-4107-2873-9.
  5. ^ "Dr. Patricia E. Bath". Changing the Face of Medicine. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Retrieved February 25, 2011.
  6. ^ Lambert, Laura (September 1, 2007). "Patricia Bath: Inventor of laser cataract surgery". Inventors and Inventions. 1. Marshall Cavendish: 69–74. ISBN 978-0-7614-7763-1.
  7. ^ "Patricia Bath – Inventor, Doctor, educator". Biography.com. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
  8. "Ground breaking African American female doctor says she had to 'shake off haters' on her way to success". ABC News. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  9. Genzlinger, Neil (June 4, 2019). "Dr. Patricia Bath, 76, Who Took On Blindness and Earned a Patent, Dies". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  10. Farmer, Vernon L.; Shepherd-Wynn, Evelyn (2012). Voices of Historical and Contemporary Black American Pioneers. ABC-CLIO. pp. 21–22. ISBN 978-0313392252.
  11. ^ Henderson, Susan K. (1998). African-American Inventors III. Capstone Press. pp. 9–13. ISBN 978-1-56065-698-2.
  12. Williams, James Henry (2011). African American Inventors and Pioneers. Xlibris Corporation. p. 45. ISBN 978-1-4568-4000-6.
  13. Osmundsen, John S (August 31, 1959). "28 Science-Minded Teen-Agers Report on Summer of Research: Such Heady Stuff as the Metabolism of Tritiated Thymidine in Mice Fails to faze Special Yeshiva Group". The New York Times. Proquest.
  14. ^ "Teen-age Scientist Is Named One of 'The Ten Young Women of the Year'". Atlanta Daily World. Proquest. December 31, 1960. ProQuest 491214922.
  15. Chamberlain, Gaius (November 26, 2012). "Patricia Bath | The Black Inventor Online Museum". Retrieved May 10, 2020.
  16. Mazique, E. C. (1968). "Health services and the Poor People's Campaign". Journal of the National Medical Association. 60 (4): 332–333. PMC 2611562. PMID 5661208.
  17. "Patricia Bath | Influential Women". Influential Women. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
  18. ^ "Lessons I've Learned". The Ophthalmologist. September 7, 2016. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  19. ^ "Modern Black Inventors". Jet. 101 (7): 55. February 4, 2002. ISSN 0021-5996. (pdf at google books)
  20. Aquavella J.; Bath, P.; Buxton, G.; Cardona, H.; Dohlman, C.; Farris, L.; Girard, L.; McNeil, J.; Polack, F.; Waring, G. and; Also, D. Willard.; Helmsen, R.; Binder, P.; Groden, L. and; Fogle, J., "Keratoprosthesis Conference", Cornea, September 1983, Volume 2, Issue 3, pp. 229–236.
  21. Green, Andrew (August 10, 2019). "Patricia Bath". The Lancet (Obituary). 394 (10197): 464. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(19)31684-8. ISSN 0140-6736.
  22. ^ Mosca, Julia Finley (2017). The Doctor with an Eye for Eyes: The Story of Dr. Patricia Bath (Amazing Scientist). The Innovation Press. ISBN 9781943147311.
  23. ^ Group, Career Communications (October–November 1997). "1997 Women of Color". U.S. Black Engineer & IT: 42. ISSN 1088-3444. {{cite journal}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
  24. Bath, Patricia E. (June 1998). "Cataract Surgery Training of Residents in an Urban and Virtual Environment". Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery. 24 (6): 727–729. doi:10.1016/S0886-3350(98)80118-1. ISSN 0886-3350. PMID 9642577. S2CID 7409725.
  25. ^ Bath, Patricia E. (February 1979). "Rationale for a program in community ophthalmology". J Natl Med Assoc. 71 (2): 145–8. PMC 2537323. PMID 423288.
  26. Bath, Patricia E. (October 1990). "Blacks at Greater Risk of Blindness," Archives of Ophthalmology, 108, pp. 1377–8.
  27. Kermode-Scott, Barbara (July 19, 2019). "Patricia Bath: ophthalmologist, inventor, and humanitarian". BMJ: l4768. doi:10.1136/bmj.l4768. ISSN 0959-8138. S2CID 199609085.
  28. "U.S. Ophthalmologist, Dr. Patricia E. Bath first defined the term community ophthalmology in her 1976 presentation to the American Public Health Association meeting in Miami, Florida." Source: Logan D. A. Williams, "Introduction", Eradicating Blindness: Global Health Innovation from South Asia, Springer, August 20, 2018, p. 9.
  29. Bath, Patricia E. (May 1978). "Blindness Prevention Through Program in Community Ophthalmology in Developing Countries ", Excerpts Media Series 442, Amsterdam, Oxford CCIII International Congress of Ophthalmology, 1913–1915.
  30. Kennon, Caroline (December 15, 2017). Hidden No More: African American Women in STEM Careers. Greenhaven Publishing LLC. ISBN 978-1-5345-6243-1.
  31. "Dr. Patricia Bath's genius helped eye doctors". Philadelphia Tribune. February 12, 2017.
  32. Bowman, R. J. C. (October 2005). "How should blindness in children be managed?". Eye. 19 (10): 1037–1043. doi:10.1038/sj.eye.6701988. ISSN 1476-5454. PMID 16304582.
  33. President, United States (2009). Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States. Federal Register Division, National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration.
  34. "Trailblazers and Lost Einsteins: Women Inventors and the Future of American Innovation | United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary". www.judiciary.senate.gov. April 3, 2019. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  35. ^ American Academy of Ophthalmology, Conversation Between Patricia Bath, MD and Eve Higginbotham, MD, Orlando, FL, October 23, 2011. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
  36. Bath, P. E., "Laserphaco: an introduction and review," Ophthalmic Laser Therapy, Vol 3, no. 2 (1988), pp. 75–82.
  37. "Dr. Patricia Bath remembers inventing the laser phaco probe pt. 1". The History Makers. November 29, 2012. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
  38. Patricia E. Bath, US Patent 4,744,360, Apparatus for ablating and removing cataract lenses, issued May 17, 1988 (filed December 18, 1986). Retrieved February 24, 2019,
  39. Stewart, David (2005). What's the Big Idea?. Salariya Publishers. p. 57. ISBN 978-1-904642-56-5.
  40. ^ "Patricia E. Bath, January 1999". St. George's University. Archived from the original on September 2, 2021. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  41. Center, Smithsonian Lemelson (March 3, 2005). "Innovative Lives: The Right To Sight: Patricia Bath". Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  42. Center, Smithsonian Lemelson (July 23, 2014). "Patricia Bath Innovative Lives Presentation, February 17, 2000 and March 1, 2000". Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  43. Ramati, Philip (September 30, 2006). "Accomplished doctor/inventor to be honored with Tubman's Shelia Award". McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
  44. "Museum of Vision: Biographies". March 9, 2017. Archived from the original on March 9, 2017. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  45. "Dr. Patricia Bath – Laserphaco". Disruptor Awards. January 19, 2017. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  46. Association of Black Women Physicians. (2020). Virtual 39th Annual Charity and Scholarship Benefit. .https://www.blackwomenphysicians.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ABWP-2020-BOOK-updated-10-22.pdf
  47. ^ "Honors – Dr. Patricia Bath". Dr. Patricia Bath – Just another WordPress site. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
  48. "The Distinguished Women of Alpha Kappa Alpha". The Shadow League. January 15, 2016. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  49. "Medscape: Medscape Access".
  50. "THE INVENTOR: Patricia Bath | First person to invent and demonstrate laserphaco cataract surgery", Firsts, Time.
  51. "Hispanic Federation President Jose Calderón Inducted Into The Hunter College Hall of Fame by Hunter College President Jennifer J. Raab", Hunter College.
  52. "The 171st Anniversary Discourse & Awards and Annual Meeting of the Voting Fellows", The New York Academy of Medicine, November 1, 2018.
  53. "25th Annual Bipartisan Congressional Awards Dinner" Archived January 12, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, Alliance for Aging Research, October 2, 2018.
  54. Scottie Andrew (September 28, 2021). "Black women will be inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for the first time". CNN. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
  55. Lord, Michelle (2020). Patricia's Vision: The Doctor Who Saved Sight. Sterling Children’s Books. p. 48. ISBN 978-1454931379. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  56. Labrecqua, Ellen (2017). Patricia Bath and Laser Surgery (21st Century Junior Library ed.). Cherry Lake Publishing. p. 24. ISBN 9781634721806. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  57. Cooper, Cynthia. "The Prize (about Dr. Patricia Bath)". NPX: National New Play Network. Retrieved January 13, 2022.

External links

Categories: