Jacquelin Perry

Jacquelin Perry, M.D. (May 31, 1918 – March 11, 2013) was an American physician. Perry made major contributions to the fields of post-polio syndrome and gait analysis. A building named after her stands at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center.

Biography Perry was born on May 31, 1918 in Denver, Colorado before moving to California in 1924. Perry graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1940 with a bachelor's degree in physical education. Perry completed her medical degree and residency at University of California, San Francisco in 1950 and 1955 respectively. In 1958, Perry became a board certified orthopedic surgeon through the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery. Perry then worked on various orthopedic surgeries with the team in Downey, California. Notably, Perry performed surgeries on adults who had spinal cord injuries that resulted in paraplegia and patients with cerebral palsy; Perry performed spinal fusion surgeries on paralyzed Polio patients in an effort to help increase their mobility. Perry, alongside Vernon Nickel, designed the halo-gravity traction device for patients that had undergone spinal fusion surgery; the halo is a fixation device that includes metal rods and a ring that attaches to the skull with four screws and immobilizes the spine and neck.

Perry was forced to leave surgery when she sustained a cerebral artery thrombosis in the late 1960s.