Catherine Annie Neill

Catherine Annie Neill (3 September 1921 – 23 February 2006) was a British pediatric cardiologist who spent the majority of her career at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore, where she worked alongside Helen B. Taussig. Her primary interest was congenital heart defects; she discovered one type of defect, scimitar syndrome, in 1960.

Over the course of her career, Neill co-directed the Baltimore Washington Infant Study of the 1980s, contributed to 100 journal articles and 40 book chapters, and co-authored two books. In 1970, she was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. She retired twice, first in 1989 before returning to work and being promoted to professor of pediatrics and senior consultant for pediatric cardiology, and then again in 1993, though she continued to volunteer in the Hopkins medical archives. Her teaching and mentorship ability held her in esteem among colleagues and trainees; according to Edward Clark from the University of Utah, at the time, “a place for women in medicine was hard to find," and Neill's "quiet mentoring and support was one of the reasons so many women chose pediatric cardiology, because they had such a strong role model and mentor.” She was the eldest of four children born to Sir Thomas Neill, a health insurance executive, and his wife Annie Strachan Neill (née Bishop). One of her three younger brothers was Patrick Neill, Baron Neill of Bladen, who would become a barrister. Her other brothers were Brian and Desmond. She was awarded a Diploma in Child Health in 1946 and an MD in 1947. frequently going out of her way to admit patients with polycythemia, a disease state in which the hematocrit (the volume percentage of red blood cells in the blood) is elevated.

Neill was remembered by trainees for her teaching and mentorship ability. Edward Clark from the University of Utah noted that at the time, “a place for women in medicine was hard to find," and that he believed that "her quiet mentoring and support was one of the reasons so many women chose pediatric cardiology, because they had such a strong role model and mentor.” She was posthumously listed in the Johns Hopkins Children's Center's list of influential faculty.