Mary Ellen Avery

Mary Ellen Avery (May 6, 1927 – December 4, 2011), also known as Mel, was an American pediatrician. In the 1950s, Avery's pioneering research efforts helped lead to the discovery of the main cause of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in premature babies: her identification of surfactant led to the development of replacement therapy for premature infants and has been credited with saving over 830,000 lives. Her childhood, mentors, drive, and education inspired Avery to be the visionary that she was. In 1991 President George H. W. Bush conferred the National Medal of Science on Avery for her work on RDS.

Early life Mary Ellen Avery was born May 6, 1927, in Camden, New Jersey. Her father owned a manufacturing company in Philadelphia and her mother was vice-principal of a high school in Newark, New Jersey. An early inspiration was pediatrician Emily Bacon, who was a professor of pediatrics at Woman's Medical College. Bacon was Avery's next door neighbor and she would visit her frequently. Avery greatly admired Bacon, since she took Avery to see her first premature baby. "She kindly reached out to me in many ways, and I saw her life as more exciting and meaningful than most of the women I knew," Avery has recalled. Bacon's single, career driven lifestyle was inspiring to Avery and she wanted to lead a similar life.

Education Avery's parents devotion to their daughters education led to both Avery and her older sister to attend Moorestown Friends School, a private school in Moorestown, New Jersey. At the time, Avery was not old enough to attend school, so her mother worked to have the rules changed. Avery was able to begin her education earlier than others, which put her ahead of children in her age group. She continued to be successful in school and even skipped the seventh grade. Avery and her sister were the first in their family to attend college. She went on to attend Wheaton College while her sister finished up at New Jersey College for Women. Graduating summa cum laude from Wheaton College in 1948 with a degree in chemistry, Mary Ellen Avery continued to earn a medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where she was one of four women in a class of 90, in 1952. Avery obtained several mentors during her time at Johns Hopkins, which included Dr. Helen Taussig and Dr. Harriet Guild. Being only one of four women, Avery received a lot of attention from her mentors. Soon after graduating, Dr. Avery was diagnosed with tuberculosis, and it was during her recuperation that she became fascinated with how the lungs work. At the same time, she was appointed professor and the first woman chair of the department of pediatrics at McGill University. In Montreal, Avery designated pediatric care for the Inuit of the eastern Arctic and pediatric education for a medical school in Nairobi. In 1974, Dr. Avery joined the faculty of Harvard Medical School as professor of pediatrics. She was the first woman to head a clinical department at Harvard Medical School.

In 1990–91, Dr. Avery became the first pediatrician to head the President of the American Pediatric Society. 1984 Trudeau Medal from the American Lung Association 1991 National Medal of Science, in recognition of contributions to understanding and treating respiratory distress syndrome. The award cited Avery as one of the founders of neonatal intensive care and "a major advocate of improving access to care of all premature and sick infants." 1994 Member of the National Academy of Sciences 2005 John Howland Award